rufrob

The tank is as clean as it going to get. Tomorrow I'll rinse it with gasoline and reinstall it.

dolucasi

IMHO, you are better off putting in a plastic tank if possible or any other tank but not the one you got. The one in your hands is toast. No amount of cleaning will be satisfactory. It will not last anyway. Your best bet is to have someone reclaim a tank from a salvage yard from a dry state (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, etc) and ship it to you. Shipping costs would be a killer but all this should be under $1000, mostly shipping costs.

190Efan

I agree with Dolucassi. You're going to have to replace the fuel tank because the rust is only going to continue to get worse. The rust you are seeing is caused by the age of the tank which is 30 years old and years of neglect by previous owners I would check with the sellers of the 2 options you've posted pictures of to see what the dimensions of each of those tanks are and compare it to the dimensions of the tank you currently have. Also, my sincere condolences on the passing of former Prime Minister Abe. What a tragedy.

rufrob

Re: Shinzo Abe I'm just glad no foreigners were involved. The first rumor was the shooter was Korean. Had a non Japanese been involved my life would become difficult.
The eBay seller said the same thing that shipping cost would easily touch $700 plus the tank, if it would fit, over a $1k.
I'll probably sell it. I can't deal with it anymore. It has beaten me. Time to take a break from project cars and pay attention to my other cars which haven't gotten the attention they need.

dolucasi

The car will be worth a lot more with a new tank and in running condition. But I understand your options are limited. It would have been easy here in the states.
I do not recall the condition of the interior and if it is worth the $1000 investment in a fuel tank. I know you had to get the paint re-done so that is another expense.
How much do you believe the car is worth in Japan if it was in running condition and the paint is taken care of?

rufrob

The interior is perfect.
Here it's worth about 15k. Perfect paint might bring it to 20. It's over 100k km so Japanese are scared and repair shops are few.
I know state side it's worth a lot more but no one looks at eBay anymore and BAT doesn't support overseas transactions.

190Efan

So sorry you've had such a bad time. These are great cars when they're well maintained. You unfortunately got one that had been severely neglected on maintenance for years and this is the sad result.

dolucasi

Even with those numbers $15K-20K and around 100K km, some one is going to get a deal on this car. Most likely all they need is a new fuel tank and a cleaned out fuel system to get this back on the road. 60K miles is almost new for these cars. I never experienced any issues until I got to 120K miles. And those were minor issues. More expensive issues never showed up till 150K-170K miles.

Your call but I still think you should spend the $1000 to change out the tank.

- Cheers!

rufrob

I'm no stranger to neglect and abused cars, like my ex-girlfriends. I've handled projects way worse than this and prevailed, unlike ex-girlfriends.
The worst being a 1991 928 which was parted out. No exhaust manifolds and no driveline behind the engine. There was a screw in one of the cylinders stopping it from turning. Interior and engine mostly disassembled. I could get another parts car and rebuild. In fact the parts car too had a bad transmission. All said and done in 9 months I had beautiful 928S4 with complete leather interior, rebuilt motor and more than 10k profit.
The tank is the last piece of the puzzle. If I could get a used tank in better condition or somehow permanently repair the rust then I'd spring for the paint job. I've used POR-15 on 911s in the past with great success. But from what I've read, DONT with these tanks.

190Efan

I agree with Dolucassi that you should spring for the new gas tank since you have a particularly rare variety of W201 with low mileage .MB's with less than 100.000 miles are considered low mileage and not even broken in until they reach 100,000 miles. Another issue you've run into is the issue of time which takes it's toll on various parts of your car along with neglected or poor maintenance. The problems you've encountered are also why it's a good idea to have a pre-purchase inspection done by a marque expert who can spot such expensive future problems before you make your purchase. PPI's are well worth the money. These are great cars when they're well maintained. I love my W201 dearly and I'm a stickler for it's maintenance. I get rewarded every time I get behind the wheel or my car earns anther trophy at a concours.

rufrob

Took a break and went to a local car show.

dolucasi

That one is all decked out! Was it a 2.3-16V or just regular 2.3/2.6 with body claddings added.

rufrob

It's a 2.3 16v manual with lots of tools inside for immediate roadside repairs.
I was smitten by the C63 widebody wagon. Worth roughly the same amount as my car
The majority of the cars there were BMWs

dolucasi

Yeah, BMW's always have a wider fan club round the world, for many reasons. It is also true that most BMW admirers really appreciate a well built classic MB.
I always draw a nod and a thumbs up on the road from an E30 that passes by.
Heck in my household there are 3 BMW's and the lone W201. The W201 gets plenty of love....

rufrob

Cleaned the tank and level sender now the idle is oscillating between 1800 and 2000 even when hot but not in gear.

rufrob

Unplugged the IACV stopped the fluctuation but the idle is high at 1100rpm

What effect does the O2 sensor have on idle?

dolucasi

What you are describing happened to me once when I tried to clean the IACV in the process of diagnosing a very rare stall. My stall was not related to the IACV anyway.
But I did not clean the IACV totally and the cleaning process itself gummed up the mechanicals inside. If the IACV is stuck and everything else is in working order the system starts oscillating because it is so out of range. Since you are saying disconnecting the IACV cleans up the oscillations (but it will idle high) I would say it could be IACV sticking.

But before touching the IACV, tell us what else is wrong. How does the car drive? Just leave the IACV unplugged and tell us how it drives other than the high idle.
If anything else is not quite right with the drive test we need to know about it as then it is not just your IACV, it could be something else.

rufrob

The idle improved when I reconnected the O2 sensor. The engine revved smoothly. Found out the odometer doesn't work.

dolucasi

OK so what is the next issue? Or is all in good order?

rufrob

Slow engaging revs and odometer inop and ac inop. And paint. Let's not forget the paint.
At this point it's going to cost more than I'll make back. My other cars need attention so I'm going to leave the 190 alone. I've advertised it for sale as is. It has beaten me.
My e34 M5 needs OEM headlights not the cheap eBay HIDs and new leather interior.
My w210 e55 needs driver seat leather repair and has a few dings and scratches. The 996tt needs diverted valves and an alternator.
The heat isn't making these jobs any easier.

190Efan

Sadly this is the risk you take when you purchase a badly neglected 30 year old car with multiple neglectful owners. It really is buyer beware. This is why a pre-purchase inspection by a reputable marque expert is so well with the price because these kinds of problems can be found in such an inspection. It'll be interesting to see what kind of condition your current cars will be in when they reach 30 years of age. My W201 is almost 32 years old. I've been its only owner and I've been meticulous about its maintenance and it's a joy to own and drive. Dolucassi has a similar story. So sorry you had such a bad experience.

dolucasi

If you are not going to paint it you can still attempt to fix the "slow engaging rev's" and "odometer" . I would leave the AC inop alone as that is generally a trivial task and an AC specialist can address that with a new owner and probably does not reduce the value much.

odometer: the plastic gear in it is worn and free spinning most likely. A pain to replace as the cluster needs to come out, but the gear is sold on ebay for $25. I know highway robbery but at least they sell them. They will have to know the car's details, basically your differential ratio as that changes the gearing. Most likely your is 3.27 and that is stamped on the diff facing the rear of the car.

slow engaging rev's: sounds like you still have fueling issues that needs addressing. Most likely the EHA current is not level between idle and 2500 rpm, so the oxygen sensor loop has to compensate for it and that takes time (4-5 seconds). This is if I understand your description. If this is it, measure your duty cycle at idle versus after revving the engine to 2500 rpm right after and holding it there for 10 seconds. That might give you a clue. It could be other culprits but I would check the lowest hanging fruit first. You should be an expert on measuring duty cycle by now (:-))

- Cheers!