My 1979 Mercedes 240D

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:36:00 GMT

I decided to put this site together on InstantSpot to keep track of my ownership of a new-to-me 1979 Mercedes 240D. For a little history on how I came about this car, check out this blog entry. This is my 6th day of ownership and after 259 miles of driving I am just over half of my first tank of fuel! Coming from my big 11MPG 5.9L Grand Wagoneer, that is almost inconceivable.

So, what are my thoughts so far?

First... this was a very inexpensive car. I purchased it for $1200, so this dollar value should be put into perspective as I describe it. It is no beauty pageant winner, and I bought it knowing there would be goofy little things about it. However, all goofiness aside, I wanted dependability and so far I have seen no signs that lead me to believe that it won't be. Here are the current known issues:

A little rust - There is a spot of rust on the edge of the sunroof. I plan to apply some rust inhibitor there and do some touch-up paint so that it blends a little better. There is also a bit behind the driver's rear wheel well. I haven't seen any really critical spots.
Sunroof - While I am on the subject of the sunroof, it doesn't open. The previous owner told me that when he put in the new stereo, he apparently didn't hook 12v back to the sunroof switch and to the radio antenna switch. Who knows how truthful that is, but that is what he said. I will find out soon.
Leaks - I can't tell where it is coming from, but with all the rain we have had the past few days I have ended up with a very wet floor in the rear. I mean actual standing water! The obvious suspect is the sunroof, but I felt around the edges of it and it appeared dry as a bone. As I was driving home in heavy rain yesterday I also noticed water coming in from the firewall area on the passenger side as well. It wasn't terrible amounts, but enough to make the passenger carpet get wet.
Speedometer and Odometer - When I purchased the vehicle I didn't notice that the odometer wasn't working. When I reset the trip meter after filling up the first night I quickly realized that nothing was moving. However, the speedometer was working fine which indicates to me that at least the speedo cable was spinning. Then on Sunday whle driving home from a local coffee shop, the speedo needle just dropped to 0 and hasn't budged since. I haven't looked into this at all, but I am guessing that something in the gauge itself has failed.

Oh, and how do I know how far I have driven you ask? Google Maps! There is a really cool feature on Google Maps where you can chart your path and it tells you exactly how far it is. Each day I have traced my path and added into a spreadsheet. Nerdy? Perhaps, but I really want to see what kind of mileage I am getting. More on this later.

So there it is in a nutshell. I have several things I will be doing soon and hopefully blogging about such as doing a diesel purge, valve adjustment, and a little experiment I have in mind running veggie oil!

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My 1979 Mercedes 240D