Last article on part#2, recall I said this ; I will dwell on common technical attention on 80,000 km mileage, on the coming article; meanwhile for those looking for this awesome monster make a selection out of either 280GE or 300GE. Both have handling and ride characters that puts a shame on even the latest Lexus Landcruiser, yes the Landcruiser is more reliable. For occasional drive and with your loyal chauffeur a 280 would do, else get an auto shifter 300GE. And be prepare for fuel gulping ride, both are gas guzzler! Here we go....
As rewarding to drive it is common for G-wagen Benz to have common recurring problems at 80 K km mileage. Our 280GE had extra large 10 liter of oil capacity, quite extra ordinary as my mechanic friend told us. He added it might be a special order feature (Safari model?) for extra engine protection should the engine develop oil leak. Well I could not clarify further as back then the G-Wagen club was not existed yet! Fact was when the car was obtained at 40,000 km mileage it had good compression figures on all cylinders, no indication for past overheat problem.
It had as usual a boring spartan interior typical Benz of the era, all instrumentation were in perfect order. Unlike other assembled G-Wagen in other countries, the Indonesian version did not have either front nor rear differential locking mechanism. What a shame! Yet its four wheel transmission was already a shift on the fly, meaning you need not to stop to engage nor disengage. On the contrary most of the time disengaging did need to stop as it required several attempt to do that.
Should the car park for a long period the hand brake get jammed all the time. You need to reverse or forward the car a few times until you hear a loud bang as differential brake disengaging ! Funny as now I do not recall whether as such is actually a technical problem!
Poor steering damper life on using wide tyre; we were using 235 wide tyre and every semester the damper just simply gave in. To overcome this problem we modified steering damper's bracket to install not one but two dampers. It lasted then, but the steering effort needed Arnold Schwarzenegger to turn.
On early model you need to modify its exhaust plumbing further away from the driving shaft, many has suffer slight misalignment due to heat. A set of shaft replacement cost a good $ 1,000. After several attempt to balance the shaft failed, we eventually replace the bent shaft with a new one. Ouch!
Ignition, fuel railway, brake master and clutch master these were the lists hampering car to break down on road side with the exception of brake master, get them their replacement parts before you are stuck on the highway road side. It happened to us then, it was a headache to get the appropriate towing truck for such a 2.5 tonnes beast. On the cooling system I was not so sure whether the water pump was once replaced, It might had been. Sorry it was 13 years ago!
As I said earlier the engine was robust, we had not touch any of its mechanical parts. One thing though the fuel pump emitted humming noise after a long journey which then immediately subsided to whispering hum on the next engine start.
reference and/ relevant other articles;
- My own driving experience on 1986 280GE (G-Wagen #2) Benz, and;
- Leisure light modification for Benz, Volvo and Bimmer
- Accessories for your G-Wagen on part #3.
- Oil Change and maintenance for optimal daily workhorse drive
Should one of this G-Wagen is still lurking at the corner of your home garage, keep it for a dear life. Give it a loving care attention [5] & [6] don't ever consider to sell it! The awesome beast is one of the classical car well worth as an invaluable investment asset, as the beast is my favourite drive after 505 Pug then Citroen GS club avant! For now I have to settle for 740 and 960 Volvo turbo as well as a rebuild project awaiting on BMW e28 520is.
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