stewhamilton

[stewhamilton]

I have a couple of questions for you guys. I am a new owner of a '78 300D, non-USA verson with 240,000 miles on it. Cosmetically it appears to be in very good condition, and mechanically we will have to see how it sorts out, but so far it appears to be a sound vehicle. I like my four speed trans., but would like even better to have a five speed in it. Where does one begin to look for a sound, usable unit? I found at the salvage yard an instrument cluster which had a tack which fit in the hole with now houses a clock in my car. Is this car set up to attach a tach, or is it a hassle to plumb the engine/pump to fit the tech. The insturment cluster came from an 80 somthing US 300D. Finally, there are several five cylinder engines in the yard that can be had for little money. Is there any real incentive to pull one (or two) of those engines and stick it in the back of the barn as a spare??

thanks,

stewhamilton
Atlanta
1978 300D 4 speed 240,000
1983 Toyota LandCruiser fj60 265,000
1999 Ford SuperDuty diesel 115,000

[Maxbumpo]

Stew,

Five speed transmissions are pretty rare here in states, I used to have an '85 wagon with one. If you find one, do the swap with donor and recipient side-by-side to make sure you get all the parts.

I retro-fitted a tach to my wagon. There is a pick-up sensor, an amplifier, and the tach. Early US cars have the pick-up on the front of the engine - you can easily install that (your car probably has the magentic pin already installed in the edge of the harmonic balancer). Only took me about 3 hours once I had all the parts and the wires.

Used engines are a great value if they are in good operating condition, but original engines will last about 500k or even more miles if properly cared for, so you may be holding on to that spare for a loooooong time...

[stewhamilton]

Thanks Max for the insight and direction.

No way to know the condition of those junk yard engines. Something caused those cars to wind up there in the graveyard... I have to assume that, at best, the engines are rebuildable cores, and as such are worth the effort of salvaging before the whole unit goes to the crusher.

Regarding five speeds. I guess I will start shopping one through those folks who advertise with the Star and go from there. A few years ago I went through the same process with my Toyota Landcruiser and it took almost a year to find a unit to install. In that case, you could buy five speeds anywhere in the world...except in the US. Anyway, the car ran well with a four speed, 3000+RPM on the highway, but was a far more desirable vehicle with the five speed (and somewhat larger tires) and was able to do the same speeds at 2300RPM. Much more relaxed.

Stew

stewhamilton
Atlanta
'78 300D 240,000
'83 Toyota Land Cruiser 265,000
'99 Ford 250 Turbo diesel 114,000

[Maxbumpo]

Stew,

You may be able to source one from Germany or elsewhere in Europe (UK perhaps?), as they were much more common overseas. Try to get support plate and drive shaft at the same time.

Typically the OM617 engines break long before they wear out, and almost always they break due to improper care/feeding.

Many cars are junked due to rust or after a wreck or becaue the tranny finally died; I'd say the odds are better than 50% that a given engine will be a good one. Carry a batter and a container of clean diesel fuel, rig temp. fuel tank at the engine bay and try to start (but don't use ether - can destroy the engine occasionally by breaking pre-chamber and dropping parts into the cylinder).