While looking for my first car and daily driver, I came across a 1982 Mercedes 300D with ~288k miles...

after checking it tops off full, which seems to be a good sign!

If you have low oil pressure, that means you have blow-by, which means your engine's compression is FUCKED and you'll need a complete engine rebuild. Blow-by is about the only thing that can actually kill one of these things.

It means you've lost oil pressure, which means BLOWBY OUT OF THE ASS which means the pistons, piston rings and/or the cylinder walls are gone muchahos.

You can do a simple blowby test by turning the car on, letting the engine warm up properly then opening the oil cap without removing it, just leave it open in its hole. It might rattle a bit, but it shouldn't jump around like a tea kettle lid. Also, if you remove the oil cap and steam shoots off like in an ancient steam locomotive, that's a pretty good sign of things being fucked sideways int he car.

They're fun cars when working right and classy to boot, but they no way in hell are beginner friendly nor good first cars.
I'd say get rid of it before it's to late and do what Veeky Forums always memes about and get a fucking civic.
Ancient luxury cars are never a good first car, nor good beginner cars.

Does it top off full even when properly warmed up.

Also broken lifters and rubberband timing chains.
The cars aren't all that unkillable, although much better built and more reliable than anything come out back during those days.

The feed pumps are starting to show their age too and are very prone to fail.

I'll have to double check in the morning, but from what I remember while driving it last I think it was good. Before buying it I took it to a merc mechanic for a "presale check" and he seemed optimistic. However, all he seemed to do was hoist the car overhead and poke around the undercarriage for 15 minutes or so. He claimed the car, was in solid shape and should be good for another hundred or so thousand miles, which is why i felt comfortable with the purchase at the time. The only thing he suggested replacing were the front brakes and rotors, which didnt bother me because I'm sure I can figure out that out on my own after securing the parts. Like I mentioned paranoia really set in when I realized the engine leaked, after the last owner claimed it didn't, and a notably slower turnover time than I remembered, suggesting he had probably warmed up the car before i got there.

That or the starter is dying OR the battery could be fucked OR the cables could be corroded.
Also, old mercs share the same quirks as old rolls royces, if there isn't apuddle under the car in the morning, something's fucked.
Then again, mine never had a puddle under it because I went through every single seal in the engine.

The starters on those things are extremely finicky too, the bendix drive starts to slip quite easily in these things, causing the starter to "run empty" and make this godawful sound.

Just wanted to thank you guys for all the replies! I'm very grateful to get this kind of feedback.

>notably slower turnover time than I remembered, suggesting he had probably warmed up the car before i got there.

Oh, psssh. That just means you need to check the battery. If it started up faster before, that means he probably gave the battery a charge before you showed up. Put a new battery in there and it should start right up every time. You're in SoCal, so you should barely even need your glow plugs.

>The starters on those things are extremely finicky too, the bendix drive starts to slip quite easily in these things, causing the starter to "run empty" and make this godawful sound.

Oh yeah, fucking hate that. Made me worry that I was stripping my flywheel every goddamn time it happened. Whenever it did it with people around it made me want to sink into the seat.

And to fix the damn thing, you had to put it on a lift and use a longass drive extender to get at the starter from the back.

Somewhat reassuring. I'm by no means opposed to quirks as long as they dont cost me a fortune and I'm able to consistently get myself to school. I also dont mind putzing around with a wrench on weekends. I've always wanted to be able to hold my own as a weekend warrior mechanic. It amazes me how reluctant my peers seem to be when it comes to maintaining their vehicle themselves. Again as of now I know nothing, but I would like my car to be something I can play with and take pride in.

As someone who bought another... slight oddity, I can feel the sentiment here as well.
It's neat to own something a little outside the box.

Bought an '86 Integra LS as opposed to the generation that came after. It's in pretty good shape too for what it was worth.

I know right? Replaced my starter with a 240d starter, brand new fucker. Took me a good few hours on the lift to get that fucker in. Fucking 4 weeks later it was fucking ruined again god damn piece of shit fuck you.
I just didn't give a fuck at that point, turned blowers and heat full, all lights on and just as much power consumption as possible, didn't let the bendix slip that way for some reason, usually.

It's a 300D, nigger. It'll leak and burn oil, it'll be a pig to start and probably keep running for a few seconds after you turn the key off, it'll be completely gutless and drink tons of diesel

But it will never stop.

This is what I've been trying to tell OP. As long as he can get it started, it will never stop running. Worst come, it actually might never stop running and you have to give the feed pump a few good smacks on the emergency lever in hopes of killing it, unless there's so much blowby it's squirting oil on top of the pistons, which means he's royally fucked.

What you just described is exactly what I'm hoping for. As long as it runs, and gets me around without costing an arm and a leg if anything I would take pride in all those qualities. I have really bad anxiety, so the nature of the whole "first car" thing is really getting to my head i think. Still better to be paranoid than an idiot - then again looking at my purchase I'm mostlikely both.

It will cost you an arm and a leg to get you to work and school though. It will run "forever" and extremely expensive.
The fuck you thought, it's German and luxury, those two never equal cheap, not even after 40 years. Especially after 40 years.
Thank god you didn't go full retard and buy a W126

Dude, just... why? Sure, its dependable when in a good condition, but the thing is super fucking slow

Get the glow plugs checked/replaced, and make sure the battery is in good working order

It could also perhaps need a compression check

OP, if the problems you have with the car are that it leaks oil (something these cars will ALWAYS do) and that it starts slower than it used to (problem with the battery that will likely be fixed by switching it out), you're fine. That's just to be accepted with buying a 300k mile 30+ year old car.

The engine bay doesn't even look that bad its roomy

What state are you in OP?

My email is [email protected]
I had a ton of troubles with my first car and im doing a head gasket replacement

I suppose I just bought into the allegories online. From everything I read cost to operate was roughly comparable if not cheaper than the other options in my price range of ~3k. I ended up paying a little more than i expected to be honest, but at the time i convinced myself worst comes to worst i could list it online for what i paid and walk away without too much damage done, maybe make small profit even with the rates they go for in my area. But yeah while looking online it was pretty obvious a w123 was my only option from mercedes.

this. get the car checked by someone who knows what he's doing and then decide. Also do you know who drove it the last 30 years? If it was used mostly for long distance highway driving chances are good that it will run another 300k m.

I'm in Los Angeles, California! Its very spacious, and apparently w123 make good cars to learn basic mechanic skills with.

not too concerned about speed. I was mostly concerned with reliability, comfort, and affordability (though apparently I may have fucked those goals up). I also wanted something I could get my hands dirty with for the first time.

again, this is pretty reassuring. If these problems are inevitable, but not obstructive, then i am comfortable with them.

thanks buddy -- allegedly it was owned by a car enthusiast who babied it for a while, and sunk a ton of money into it. Remnants of this still show i think -- the paint though repainted looks very professional and the engine was removed, etc, when it was done which lead me to buy into that story. Said guy ended up letting the car sit in his garage for 7 years and gave it to his nephew who restored it to driving condition, drove it for a few months, and subsequently sold it to dopey me. Everything is really clean I think, even the engine bay, As mentioned I'm just the type to be overly paranoid and assume the worst in people/ my luck. Luckily a family friend is a merc mechanic so ill be taking it to his shop once I find insurance. I figured in the meantime it wouldnt hurt to get your opinions and hear advice

Bro im the one that sent my email, im in washington and if u want to do a team overhaul and do a partial rebuild on both cars engines i can make a roadtrip down because i have family and friends there

Honestly, i might take you up on that once i get the verdict from my mechanic. At this point i simply dont know what im dealing with, but if the occasion arises I would be down.

Im lookin for a reason to get off my ass, im suppose to be working 10 hour shifts but this week i had no work because i have an incompetent boss

Hit me up with an email and we can stay in the loop

>Just found out it leaks a bit of oil
From where?

>and doesn't necessarily start up immediently
Does it fire right up when the engine is warm?
Are you letting the glow plugs cycle properly?
Does it start easier if you give it a bit of gas? Does it idle well when cold?

Don't let these faggots scare you into thinking they aren't reliable.
They're more reliable at 30-40 years old than a modern car is at 5.
Small things do go wrong, but they are easy as to diagnose and repair at home.
Check out the pelican parts website. They have detailed guides.

I've got no clue as far as the specific source other than somewhere in the engine block. I had it parked for the day and noticed a puddle when i moved it.

once warmed, it doesn't seem to have any issues. I've been giving them as long as the light on the dash. Should i let them cycle longer?

I haven't tried the gas trick yet, is that common?

And yeah as far as I can tell the engine sounds strong. I test drove a bunch of these in my area, and it seemed typical. Not the smoothest of shifts, nor the fastest of the bunch, but for the price and the cosmetic condition it was tough to beat.

Thanks for the tip, I'll check out what they have for me. I'm excited for the massive amounts of learning I have to do.

>I've got no clue as far as the specific source other than somewhere in the engine block. I had it parked for the day and noticed a puddle when i moved it.
Buy some household degreaser or oven cleaner, spray it on the engine and pressure wash the oil and gunk off.

I don't think its anything to worry about. But its better to know where its coming from.

>I haven't tried the gas trick yet, is that common?
Sometimes the throttle isn't adjusted properly and the car isn't getting enough diesel, which makes it difficult to start. When this is the case idle is usually pretty rough until it warms up.

>once warmed, it doesn't seem to have any issues. I've been giving them as long as the light on the dash. Should i let them cycle longer?
They cut off when the light goes out.
Try turning the key to off again and cycling twice, or three times. And always start as soon as the dash light goes off.

If this improves the situation, you likely have one or more dirty or fucked glow plugs. They're easy to replace, and you can test them yourself before you buy new ones.

To test them you need a jumper cable.
Hook one end up to the Black terminal of the battery and clamp the other end to the middle of the glow plug.
Then touch the bottom of the plug to the Red terminal. If the tip glows orange then it works.

Yes

that price is only marginally high for one in this condition.

did you look at the picture. the body and trim is perfect. it's not that high.

what the fuck are you talking about. blow by doesn't cause low oil pressure. it doesn't even affect oil pressure. oil pressure is entirely mechanical.

low oil pressure means, worn bearings and worn oil pump gear. typical for a 300k mile car.

It needs a rebuild, but not because of blow by. questioning whether you even know what blowby is.

OP get the fuck off this board immediately and go to a w123 forum. there is nothing of value to learn from this board.
you are in over your head with this thing if you have no mechanical ability, but a forum is the place to start.

Your brake booster is going to fuck itself, soon.