Outofworkjoe,

Well, you asked, so I’ll answer. I may bore the crap out of most of the Volvo owners, but they don’t have to read it.

In my opinion, the 617 Benz engine will outlast the B-series Volvo, and is more reliable while it does it. No computer, no AMM, no TPS, no O2 sensor, none of that. I have never heard of anyone wearing one out. Most of the time they are killed by a loss of oil or coolant.

As far as the rest of the car is concerned my 740s and 940 feel a bit light duty compared to the Benz. I know the Volvo has a reputation for safety, but the Volvo doors sure feel tinny compared to the Benz. All of the little things that drive you crazy on any old car are about equal between the two cars, except that most Volvos don’t have the stupid climate control.

Don’t get me wrong, I love and respect my Volvos, and I think the B230 is about the best gas burner going. And because all of my Volvos (after the 544s and 122s) have been wagons, I sure do love being able to stretch out for a good night’s sleep when I’m on the road. And I love what I can pack in my Volvo wagons.

Please do not construe anything I say about Benz to have anything to do with any Benz other than a 123 or 126 chassis with a 617 series diesel engine. Benz has made their share of stinkers, some of which could almost rival the V-6 PRV engine that appeared in some Volvos.

I was an over-the-road owner/operator for years (still have my 66 Autocar), so we share the comfort of sitting behind a diesel. The 617 Benz engine will feel a lot like your truck engine. Fire it up, drive it all day and all night, and it will never miss a beat. Get up the next day and do it again. They are rock solid. If you got a good one, you will love it. If you got an abused one, you might be sorry. If you don’t do your own work, an 83 Benz is not a good choice because it will probably cost you more than a Volvo to have it repaired. If you do your own work, they are pretty much equivalent.

I’m on my second 1983 300SD (the larger 126 chassis, but the same running gear as your 123 chassis) and I will swear by them for durability and reliability. I bought the first one with 187k miles on it, and sold it 5 or 6 years ago with 317k on it to a friend of mine who is still driving it. The only reason I sold it was the leather was getting ragged on the front seats and I found another 83 300SD with Benztex seats and only 117k miles on it. The second one now has 213k miles on it.

So, I have put in about 225k miles behind the wheel on the two. I’ve driven them many times from Kentucky to California, Colorado, the east coast, and Florida, and they have been my daily drivers locally as well. In all those miles, they have never seen the back side of a wrecker or been hooked to a chain to get them home. They simply never quit. I’m not saying I never had things to fix, just that they never quit.

When I got my current one, I had to play catch up for some previous neglect before I put it on the road, but all minor stuff. Since then I have done 96k miles with nothing but brake work, filters, oil, valve adjustments, trans fluid changes, and a B-2 piston change in the trans. Oh, and I fixed the stupid HVAC system about 4 times.

I have never pulled a head off one, though I did put a timing chain on one as preventive maintenance. If I had been smart enough to check the chain stretch, I might not have needed it.

If you have climate control, which you probably do, it is a lousy system. If yours is working now, you might want to find the coolant pump for the heater and pull the wires off of it. If the pump seizes it will fry tracks in the circuit board of the dashboard control unit. You can patch them with solder and thin copper wire.

Pull out all of your fuses, clean the contacts in the fuse box, and put in all new fuses. DO NOT inspect your old fuses to see if they look good. Replace them all. Keep the old ones for spares.

Unless you know that the B-2 piston in the trans has been replaced with the newer design, you might want to buy one to keep on hand. It is installed with the trans still in the car from the outside of the trans, but I think it is close quarters on the 123 chassis. A nearly instant failure to go forward from a dead stop will alert you to the problem. You might not know it failed until you try to leave the house the next day. It will still go in reverse, and will pull forward with no problem if you roll it off a hill until you get to 10 or 20 mph. If your trans has a big time delay between putting it in D or R and feeling the engagement, that is not good news. I don’t think the trans in the Benz is as good as the trans in the Volvo. They often require a rebuild at about a quarter million miles. If you don’t have the delay, you are probably good.

When you change the trans fluid, you don’t have to screw around with flushing it. There is a drain plug in the torque converter. Also pull the trans pan and replace the filter because it has a real filter and not just a screen.

Be aware that there is a power steering fluid filter in the pump under the fluid level. I had my first one for years before I found out it had one.

Don’t let people scare you about prices for Benz parts. They aren’t that bad, though they are not as plentiful in junkyards. The thing that often makes Benz parts affordable is that they sell the individual part that breaks instead of the entire assembly. For example, I smacked my glove box door shut when it was too full, and the catch inside the release mechanism broke. I figured I would have to buy the entire latch, but I was able to buy just the part inside the latch that broke, so it was only about $2.50 from the dealer to fix it. However, I hear the parts prices from the dealers have gone up in the last 4 or 5 years. I haven’t had to buy much other than filters for the last 5 years, so I don’t know for sure.

Take a look at the boots on CV joints of the rear axels. If they look all cracked and rotted in the crevices, but are not leaking, LEAVE THEM ALONE. They can look like that for 10 years and never leak.

So, for now I own both a 1995 945 Volvo and a 1983 300SD Benz. Part of the plan is to be able to switch between the two as the gas/diesel prices swap places. I like them both.

Good luck with it,
Charley