This is a copy of my posting at the w123 forum at the MBCA website. I have over 30 photos of my yet unnamed baby. I will upload some of them for you to chose which ones to post at the Gallery.

"New" 1985 300CDT - My 1300m trip home

Well, I did it! After looking for a W123 online and locally for over a year now, I found one I liked enough to fly out to look at it. I exchanged emails, phone calls and photos for over a month with the previous owner, and with the owner before him, and even with the MB dealership which did most of the maintenance on it. I agreed to a bottom line price pending my prior purchase inspection.

I left Memphis, TN on 31/10, arriving at Logan IAP in the early afternoon. The previous owner picked me up at the subway station. A very pleasant and interesting human being, with a great family, originally from Romania. I ate dinner with them and when I left, Mrs J. gave me a small cooler full of broiled chicken, potatoes and carrots, two apples, two bananas, two bottles of water, napkins, and two moist towelettes... Oh, yeah! and a small bottle of home made pear brandy, which will be saved for special occasions. I also left with new friends and an invitation to come back with wife and kids (5), for a vacation in Boston...

The car was more beautiful than the photos showed. I will post some photos in the gallery later. A 1985 300CDT with only 121,000 pampered miles and no Winter driving, winner of Best in Class and Best in Show a couple of times. I had compiled what I think was a thorough PPI checklist, based mostly on two W123 buying guides I found online, and numerous comments from current owners and techs who were super kind enough to respond to my obsessive compulsive querries... Thanks to all of you everywhere!!!!!

The only item that concerned me during the PPI, was a wetness, not even dripping, on the water pump weep hole. The PO went directly to the MB dealership and brought me back a new pump, on his dollar. I decided to take my chances on the return trip, and do the rnr once I got home, since I did not have my tools and equipment with me. Due to airport security, I had decided against the hassle of bringing them along, and instead relied on what the PO called his complete tool kit. Both ended up being bad choices as I will explain shortly...

The maintenance records were nearly as complete as my own fleet's, and more than confirmed the conversations I'd had with both PO's and the MB tech. All fluids were fresh, absolutely no rust, even in the jacking points, all hoses and rubber ok, glow plug light out in about 7 sec, OP pegged upon a flawless start, about 1.6 bars in 5 min, no serious exhaust smoke, except a normal small black puff upon start, coolant temp about 85-90C at 5 min's drive, 0-60mph in 12sec (ckd twice), tranny shift at dot marks under full accel, braking qty and dist normal, no major vibrations or wierd noises/smells, a/c cooling and heating fine, hot eng insp blowby ok, and breather hose/compression ck ok at about 8-9 sec to dead engine. Even the old analog phone powered up, and my 911 call to test it worked too (I know, I probably should not have done that...)

I left that evening a happy customer with a full belly and a big smile on my face. I had just over 1300 miles ahead of me, during the colorful Fall season, and I looked forward to it. That night, I made it all the way to near Scranton PA. Everything was fine so far.

The next morning I headed South again, but a couple of hours later I began to notice the coolant temp rising slightly. I was just entering Harrisburg PA went it climb up to near 120C, so I pulled over. When I came to a stop, I was surprised by coolant steam blowing from under the hood. I called MB Road Side Assistance, and they patched me to the nearest MB dealership. I explained my case, and they called a tow truck for me. Once the temp dropped, I opened the bonnet, expecting to find a ruptured hose, but everything was wet and I couldnt ID the leak source. The overflow tank was empty, and I decided not to open the radiator just yet. Within about 30 min, the tow truck appeared and took me to the Sun Motor Cars MB dealership, at Camp Hill PA, just about 10 miles from my location. I have to tell you, I am not best friends with most dealerships. My experiences with them up to then had all been negative, but what a pleasant surprise!!!! The telephone receptionist who first got my "Mayday" call, the service tech (David Foore) who handled my request, to his boss, Don Yesacavage, and the technician who worked on my car, John Yesacavage, were all great. I was literally at their mercy, and mercy and kindness they showered me with. John worked passed his regular time and let me hang out with him while he worked on my car, from about 1 to 7 PM. After pressure testing the cooling system, he found not a busted hose, but a bad leak in the, guess what, water pump... They had no issues with using my new pum, since I had the receipt and it was in the MB box... While under the hood, I noticed an injector loop line wet with fuel, and asked John to please replace all of them, while at it, as well as the fan belts, since two of them were out for the water pump rnr anyway... I had the thermostat replaced as well. I was out of there by 7 PM, and since John and Don live 40 miles South of there, they offered to follow me till their turn off ramp, just in case. Of course, I agreed and thanked them both profusely. That night, late, I made it all the way to Roanoke VA, without any more glitches.

The next day was uneventful except for a continuously overwhelming feeling of gladness at the sight of all the trees turned to their majestic Autumn best. I even got a call from John, to check on how everything was going. Isn't that great! I made it home to Ripley MS by dinner time, and in time for my first born son's 13th birthday, the next day.

Well, after that 1300+ mile road trip, three weeks ownership, 1500 new miles, and despite the water pump incident, I can say I am still very happy with my rare 300CDT purchase. This is my first Diesel, and I had originally planned to experiment with bio-diesel/WVO, but now, I am not so sure.

Anyway, I apologize for the long read, but I thought other forum members would like to learn there is a new W123 enthusiast in the club.

Happy motoring!

/s/ Serge Trullet
85 300CDT, 124k miles, my new daily driver
94 C280, 199k miles, was daily driver, now daughter's
99 Suburban LT, 90k miles, family vehicle (5 kids!)
90 BMW 325 iS, 218k miles, was daughter's. FOR SALE
78 F150 Lariat, 35k miles, farm truck