Theproject

Hey all, I've been doing some reading around on here and some other forums and I've got a decent grasp on what I need to do for a general clean up of the car and engine, how to do fluids and etc. But this is my first diesel so I would very much appreciate some tips or pointers. This thing is beat up to hell, I got it for 600 bucks from a friend of an older brother. Someone ruined the nice wood center console trim and bolted a metal plate down over it and threw In a single din stereo with another plate. Stereo didn't work by the time it got to me. The interior is disgusting, there was even an actual mushroom growing under the back seat. The outdoors has been slowly making its way in. The thing does run though, battery is kinda shot, with it being so cold right now it really doesn't want to crank but it kicked on for me after a couple 10 or 15 second tries this mornin, then wouldnt start a few minutes down the road at the feed store I had to get it jumped but the feed store's big Ford had it started almost instantly, maybe like 5 or 6 revolutions. I desperately need pointers for the wiring under these panels there were actually squirrels or mice living in there at some point. The odometer stopped working at 190k with my older brothers friend and I have seen you can attempt to fix it yourself which ill try to do soon. The tachometer also doesn't work but the speedo does, fuel gague doesn't exactly work but I've seen you can attempt to clean that as well. The heat does not work exactly and I think I may have found why. There's a connector labeled with the part number 008 545 09 28, I Googled it and it seems to be a generic connector but its near the stereo wiring, some of the results say something about hvac so I assume this ties in somehow but im not sure how. I think im supposed to have a glove box too? I have what appears to be a airbag cover with a little segmented tray underneath. Its screwed in with a philips head wood screw right through the front of the panel. i know this thing is ****ed i just need something to pass inspection id actually like to fix it up and sell it for maybe 10x what I bought it for, or cruise for the next decade until the thing dies. Speaking of, i know I need to change the oil, filters for oil, and fuel, they put a shortty k&n on the turbo so ill have to clean or replace that soon. I should do the trans oil and filter probably. Glow plugs need to be checked, starting up cold is a bit rough, adjust the valves, what else am I missing that you would do to a POS to make it nice?

Theproject

This is the rats nest that is my center console

Thats the stereo wiring moved away

This is the mystery cord with the 008 part number

This is the switch panel that they made, only the driver side window works which is one of those metal switches, but it gets stuck so i havent put it all the way down, you can also see the metal plate for the console in the backround.

Theproject

Driver side door is missing the buttons and the controls dont work i dont think, pushing the sticks does nothing, the passenger seat will move about 2 inches forward or back

Theproject

This is the passenger side where i think a glovebox might have been supposed to go, although this does look like it would fit there if it wasnt broken somehow

I had the regular under dash trim in the trunk but i left it out last night and it got wet so its drying off in the shed now, also dont know if the parking brake works, dont want to try in case it works too well, and i have no gas pedal ive been using the ball the drive around

The antenna is just gone im pretty sure, my older brother put a hole in the trunk and tied a bouy through it because "the thing is such a boat", had to shop vac water out of the wells and i threw sawdust down to soak in the residual and ill be vaccing it out

Theproject

No grille or logos, what kind of headlights are these though? The euros i saw in videos didnt look like this and the american styles were alot more segmented, seperate pieces

Heres the heart, i cleaned off around the oil cap and the vent, wiped a bit more, you can see the shorty

Theres the custom windshield washer reservoir, the old one was in the trunk iassume it was broken

Heres the other side, theres a fuel filter ziptied to the side im not sure why its there

I drove a saturn s series before this, im keeping it as a project. Ill miss that fun tiny little manual that i straight piped and chirped the tires on, noe its time to relax a bit and pull out slow from stop signs

Theproject

Thats all for now, thanks in advance for any help or encouragement haha ❤

vdubpower

wow... dunno what to tell you

there isnt much 126 action here
head to benzworld.org and 126board

Theproject

Haha thanks man, yeah the thing is clapped but I don't mind putting in the effort to clean it up a bit. The alignment is straight, it sails smooth, and it should pass inspection when im done

vdubpower

keep all 126s on the road for sure

Theproject

I went to a local yard today they have a year older sd there, just one, and the headlights are indeed different, theyre the regular stock headlights, anyone got an idea on what those are at least? Maybe just an aftermarket pair or are they off of a newer 126 chassis maybe? My introduction to mercedes was this car so im completely new to these vehicles

vdubpower

Do u have a photo

Theproject

Yes its posted above, let me know if you can't see it

vdubpower

your car is wearing 86-91 headlights
the ones u saw were pre that

Theproject2

I forgot my password and stuff so I had to make a new account. The project is coming along. I redid the seals for the trunk and rear glass, new door straps all around, ive got all the filters and some new radiator pipes. I was driving in town and my car died though! Terrible time waiting for a tow triple a is almost useless these days I swear, I ended up having to pay 120 for a tow at 1am. I *think* my lift pump needs a rebuild, I dont know much about diesels this is my first one but my siblings have truck friends so they cracked my injector lines and nothing came out, I got an electric pump for a potential bypass in the future as well. I dont mind having to rely on electricity. I havent checked to see if the shaft in injector pump spins but in my reading I've seen that it is very unlikely to fail. The valve kit is 8 dollars on pelican so it looks like ill pay 50 for the shipping so I can drive in a few days as this is my only car haha. As far as the engine and transmission are concerned its running very well besides this lift pump. It had been having a few rough starts in this cold weather but I tested the plugs at the connection to the control box, all connections sparked so I figure that rough stuff is from the lifter needing a rebuild. The smart man who owned the car before me also was putting dex 4 into the trans so I was wondering how badly that ****s up the transmission? Its having some rough shifts depending on how im driving, I figure it's half dex2 and half Dex4, ive got a replacement filter and gasket. Ive gotta fix the electric driver side door lock and finish the interior besides all that. I got a sticker for the thing like 4 hours before it died, story of my life haha one step forward two steps back. At least you can rebuild these old cars and you dont need to just throw chinese parts at em!