From: owner-diesel-benz-digest-at-digest.net (diesel-benz-digest) To: diesel-benz-digest-at-krusty-motorsports.com Subject: diesel-benz-digest V1 #80 Reply-To: diesel-benz-at-digest.net Sender: owner-diesel-benz-digest-at-digest.net Errors-To: owner-diesel-benz-digest-at-digest.net Precedence: bulk diesel-benz-digest Thursday, January 21 1999 Volume 01 : Number 080 Forum for Discussion of Diesel Mercedes Benz Automobiles John Meister Digest Coordinator Contents: Re: w123 Rear Shocks (little tech content) Re: hrumph... & injector update. Re: fuel additives I urge you to write MB addresses and dud brakes Diesel Benz Digest Home Page: http://www.digest.net/diesel-benz/ Send submissions to diesel-benz-digest-at-digest.net Send administrative requests to diesel-benz-digest-request-at-digest.net To unsubscribe, include the word unsubscribe by itself in the body of the message, unless you are sending the request from a different address than the one that appears on the list. Include the word help in a message to stag-digest-request to get a list of other majordomo commands. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 23:07:05 -0800 From: john Subject: Re: w123 Rear Shocks (little tech content) if you want to write up a how to I'll put it up on the DieselBenz site... pictures would be nice too. :) make sure you put your email in it somewhere. I get enough email on jeeps to keep me busy everyday... :) john At 07:18 PM 1/19/99 -0500, David Masinick wrote: >I installed new Bilsteins today. The temp got up to 42 F, so I braved the >replacement of the shocks that catastrophically leaked in our below freezing >Jan. weather. They lasted 16 1/2 years and 136k miles. Amazing. More >amazing is that the lower shock bolts came out (a little advance Liquid >Wrench) without any "additional persuasion". Whole job done in less than >one hour, including vacuuming. The key to the job for the DIY is to have a >floor jack and jack stands. Jacking up the control arm to the proper >height, once the rear is on the stands makes the job quite "enjoyable?" >I must give credit to the factory manual for helping to map out properly the >steps to completion. > >End result: that wonderful ride has returned. > >Dave Masinick >Hopkinton, New Hampshire >'82 M-B 300D >'96 VW Passat Wagon > > > > - ----------------------------------------------------- john-at-virtual-cafe.com http://www.wagoneers.com http://www.virtual-cafe.com/~john http://www.wagoneers.com/book-info.html jesus, don't leave life without him, please! Snohomish, WA - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... - ----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 23:27:45 -0800 From: john Subject: Re: hrumph... & injector update. The Diesel Guide by Chilton is an excellent book, none of that kind of anti-diesel rhetoric... Would love to put the writer IN FRONT of a new E300 Turbo Diesel and see if he could outrun it with his gas powered pig. :) BTW, the MB manual specs the 240D at 26 sec 0to 60 and the 300D at 20. My 80 Olds Diesel, with an upgraded targetmaster 5.7L did 26 sec in stock config, but with a modified air intake system and an amsoil filter did it in 19 seconds... AIR man, that's what a Diesel needs. The more you give it the better it works, to a point of course... :) There was some sort of bird living above a board holding a large halogen work lamp aimed at the J10... I turned it on and kind of wiggled the board to make sure it wasn't gonna fall on Fritz and about had a slight anxiety attack when something came fluttering out... didn't see what kind of bird it was... not sure who was more frightened. :) john At 12:13 AM 1/20/99 -0600, M. Mason wrote: > >Hey, get a load of this, everyone. I agree with just about everything up >until the second-to-last sentence, the stuff in parentheses. We diesel >fans know better, dont we? Any thoughts? > > >"For years, the use of diesel engines was confined to large trucks. Even >today, that remains the popular image of the diesel a smoke-belching, >rumbling monster that didnt go very fast, but would last forever. This >image of the diesel was bolstered by the occasional image of a stately >Mercedes diesel laboring away from a stop light. These glimpses only >reinforced our view of the diesel as reliable, but slow (and ignored the >fact that owners of these types of cars habitually drove as though they >were on a journey to somewhere disagreeable). Today, the diesel has >suddenly emerged as a possible alternative to the conventional >spark-ignition engine." (7) > >- excerpted from Chiltons Repair and Tune-Up Guide, Mercedes-Benz 1974-84, > published 1984 by Chilton Book Company, Radnor, PA. > > >By the way, that injector job was going swimmingly until I ran out of leak >hose in decent condition. Faked it for a few minutes with 5/32" >windshield-washer hose and the car started like a dream, clattered a bit >though... good thing I've got fresh filters and some good hose on order >from Impco. (Come on, FedEx...) > >And okay John, you asked for it... :) Batman, indeed. The name for my >car, which I've decided to call Robin, comes from an incident Sunday night >- some friends picked me up at the airport in Cedar Rapids and brought me >back to the house, where I found that my roommate had left the garage open >for a few minutes, and a small bird seeking warm shelter found his way >inside. I had left my sunroof and window open over the break from school >(good thing the car was garaged), and this little guy fell through the >roof and couldn't think his way out. We ended up rocking the car in place >until he got seasick and flew out... :) > >(Sure, it was a sparrow, but THAT's a silly name for a car!) > >:) later -- mjm > > >_____________________________ >Matthew J. Mason >mmason-at-blue.weeg.uiowa.edu > > - ----------------------------------------------------- john-at-virtual-cafe.com http://www.wagoneers.com http://www.virtual-cafe.com/~john http://www.wagoneers.com/book-info.html jesus, don't leave life without him, please! Snohomish, WA - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... - ----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 23:56:24 -0800 From: john Subject: Re: fuel additives At 03:27 PM 1/19/99 -0600, Jon Filina wrote: >Evan was asking: >>>Am relatively new to the diesel world. >>Looking for suggestions for fuel additives to improve low-temp flow >>characteristics, engine longevity, and (if it's possible) performance. AMSOIL has three products that I've used and use. AMSOIL Diesel Fuel Concentrate - mainly aimed at big trucks, one can treats 150 to 200 gallons!!!! It's a challenge for me to figure out how many ounces to put in! Does help lower the pour point and so on. spec sheet should be on my website, if not let me know and I'll find it and put it there. :) AMSOIL Cetane Boost - boosts the Cetane rating, also useful for lowering the pour point and reduces smoking and helps performance. Useful for mountain passes. :) It really helped my 2.1L Turbo Diesel in my Jeep when they were dumping all that high-sulfur fuel before the law went into effect... AMSOIL Diesel Fuel Modifier - THIS IS THE ONE MOST OF YOU WILL WANT. Easy to use, designed for passenger cars. It lowers pour point, increases fuel dispersment, displaces moisture, and all that other good stuff... My Olds Diesel would get this when ever it didn't idle as smooth as I thought... cleaned the injectors right up. :) I have a case of the first two items that I ended up with when a Jeep dealer/retail account I supported was bought out and they cleared a lot of non-stock stuff out... (not a very bright parts manager... but that's another story...:) So I mix the Diesel Fuel Concentrate and the Cetane Boost in Fritz... There ya have it. Happy shopping. :) john - ----------------------------------------------------- john-at-virtual-cafe.com http://www.wagoneers.com http://www.virtual-cafe.com/~john http://www.wagoneers.com/AMSOIL/TECH-SHEETS To order 1-800-956-5695 customer# 283461 Snohomish, WA, where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... - ----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 00:00:37 -0800 From: "Weitlauf, Paul E" (by way of john ) Subject: I urge you to write From: Larry Heck (of the Pass Patrol) Grand Staircase Management Plan Boy I should not have gone to that BLM Open House on Grand Staircase. It really ruined my evening. Comments were not expected or welcome. We were instructed that we have until Feb 12 to mail in our comments. Everyone was to sit down, shut up, and watch the movie. The so-called "preferred" Alternative B closes the roads in 60% of the monument! Alternative C closes 70%. Alternative D closes 83%. Alternative E closes 62%. The only alternative that makes any sense at all is Alternative A which is the do-nothing alternative. It would take a major public rebellion to get that one to even be considered. In other words, YOU would have to vote for Alternative A by actually sending a letter to the BLM. As the movie stated, it only exists because the law requires that it be one of the options. Oh well. For now I'll send my letter (included below). They hate letters from us. According to law, they can't ignore them no matter how badly they want to. They must count the number of responses in favor of Alternative A and if that is what the majority wants, they must accept it or throw the entire program out the window and start over. Either action would be a major victory in our favor. My letter is on this page. If you don't want to write your own, copy mine and send it in. If you want to read the various plans being offered, they are at: http://www.ut.blm.gov/monument Send your letter to: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument 337 S. Main, Suite 010 Cedar City, UT 84720 Dear BLM, There is only one alternative in your selection that keeps President Clinton's promises, and that is Alternative A. The plan that your people describe as the "do-nothing" plan. "Under the proclamation, families will be able to use this canyon as they always have - the land will remain open for multiple uses including hunting, fishing, hiking, camping and grazing." "Multiple uses." Those were the exact words of President Clinton. You can find them on your very own web site. On another page stored on that same site, the following clarification is added. "Existing uses under Federal or State laws - such as hunting, camping, travel, hiking, backpacking and other recreational activities - will continue." Two years later, you are proposing to close all the roads within in 60% of the monument, locking out the elderly, the handicapped, and the physically impaired. So much for families will be able to use this canyon as they always have. I urge you to implement Alternative A. The plan your people describe as the "do-nothing" plan. That one at least comes close to keeping President Clinton's promise. "Under the proclamation, families will be able to use this canyon as they always have - the land will remain open for multiple uses including hunting, fishing, hiking, camping and grazing." Larry E. Heck ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 22:00:56 +1300 (NZDT) From: euan-at-chch.planet.org.nz (Euan Kennedy) Subject: MB addresses and dud brakes Hi there. I have been reading the postings to this listserver for a month or so, having got here via the alt.autos.mercedes newsgroup. Some of you may have seen my postings to that group, so forgive me if these requests for help are familiar to you. I have a Dutch-built 1985 300TD (W123, manual, naturally aspirated, 132,000 miles) which has run nearly flawlessly since I bought it secondhand here in New Zealand in 1988. This is my first diesel. After all these years, I'm still delighted with the choice to switch from petrol, though I regret that this wasn't a turbo. Evenso, the quiet tremble of the diesel engine is a great reassurance. There are lots of questions I'd like to ask other 300TD owners, but for the meantime, I have two problems I'd love to solve. First, I need to replace the heavy steel, rubber-spoked harmoniser ring fitted to the driveshaft just aft of the gearbox. Mine is disintegrating. Without it, the driveshaft vibrates so that the car feels like it's running on its rims. Awful. This harmoniser doesn't show up on any of the NZ or Australian parts microfiches, so it must be peculiar to European models. I wrote back to the original sales point in Holland but got no reply. Unless someone can help me with the name of a specific dealer who can sell me the part, I'll start hunting with Mercedes Benz in Europe. Can anyone help me with the addresses of good MB parts shops, say in Holland, Germany or England? Thanks. Second, the rear brakes have been pulsing (snatching and releasing) at low braking velocities, as though the rotors (we call them disks) are warped. I've replaced both rotors at some expense ($NZ100 each, and you guys think your parts are costly!) and the problem went away entirely for about 1000 miles. But then it returned and has been getting worse again as time since replacement increases. Has anyone found a cause for this which isn't related to warped rotors? Thanks for your help, and the very interesting reading. Euan ___________________________________________________________ Euan Kennedy 5 Banks Avenue Shirley Christchurch 8006 New Zealand Ph 64 3 385 5714 E-mail (hm) euan-at-chch.planet.org.nz E-mail (wk) kennede-at-lincoln.ac.nz ------------------------------ End of diesel-benz-digest V1 #80 ********************************