From: owner-diesel-benz-digest-at-digest.net (diesel-benz-digest) To: diesel-benz-digest-at-krusty-motorsports.com Subject: diesel-benz-digest V1 #176 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 Saturday, July 24 1999 Volume 01 : Number 176 Forum for Discussion of Diesel Mercedes Benz Automobiles John Meister Digest Coordinator Contents: [none] Questions about early 70's 4.5 CD changer ideas, W123 (no diesel content) Re: CD changer ideas, W123 (no diesel content) Re: your mail Re: A-class gallery Re: Re: Oil condition 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: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 07:01:49 -0400 From: Richard ulrich Subject: [none] I have a new 1999 E-300 TD . I used a little over one quart of oil in the first 1,000 miles. The oil on the dip stick is quite dark. Is this "normal"? I have never had a diesel before, so I don't know what to expect. The manual says I don't need my FIRST oil change for 10,000 miles !.. this makes me very uneasy. ..richard-at-ulrich.com.. HTTP://www.richard.ulrich.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 08:12:01 -0500 From: Alec Cordova Subject: Questions about early 70's 4.5 I have a lead on an early 70's 4.5 sedan. I have very little info so far on the car. My wife spotted it on a recent trip, and was only able to describe it as a HiLine (over-and-under headlights) 4.5 sedan with a sunroof. Through a friend of a friend, I could pick this one up for around $2100. The questions: Anything in particular to check out, other than compression, tranny, self-leveling suspension, A/C? Can anyone recommend a mechanic in the Bryan, Texas area to check this baby out for me? Even if I get it, I promise to still proclaim the engine in my 85 300DT as one of the most glorious pieces of engineering in the known universe, but it sure would be nice to get a little more zip in my Benzing. ;-) Thanks, Alec Cordova Taylor, Texas 85 300DT, <200K 97 Z3 1.9, 56K ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 12:08:52 -0500 (CDT) From: matthew j mason Subject: CD changer ideas, W123 (no diesel content) (Declan: I'm in the minority here, I know, but my I.E. 4 brought up your A-class page just fine. Also enjoyed the Ford Cortina story.) on to business... I'm probably going to pick up a CD changer fairly soon, to install in the 240D... road trips from New York to Iowa sure do get boring sometimes, and with the new engine promising at least another hundred thousand miles on the car, I might as well have a little fun... ANYWAY... Does anyone have tips on the best place to mount a 6- or a 10-disc changer? I had considered doing it under the passenger seat and insulating it well from any errant moisture which might try to condense on it, or my other thought was a trunk-mounted changer, hung from the inside of the rear deck (next to the vacuum tank). My concern with the latter option is the thickness of the plastic into which the changer mounting screws would have to be screwed... remember, I don't have the car to refer to right now. Has anyone undertaken this before? Any help appreciated. ______________________________________________ Matthew J. Mason matthew-mason-at-uiowa.edu Colleges of Education and Liberal Arts University of Iowa ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 18:23:33 +0100 From: "Declan Berridge" Subject: Re: CD changer ideas, W123 (no diesel content) My thoughts on CD-changer locations... When I bought my A-class, I chose a (Sony) 6-CD changer over a 10-disc model on the grounds that my dealer advised me that it could be installed within the glove compartment. I find this extremely convenient, as discs can be swapped without leaving the driver's seat. It is also completely concealed when the lid is closed. OK, so you lose the stowage space, but it'd probably only fill up with junk anyway, and the A-class has the benefit of under-seat trays to compensate. Fitting it under the passenger seat wasn't really an option, due to the under-seat tray, and the fact that the seat is removable. It would also have been more awkward to get to. My Uno's CD changer is mounted in the boot (trunk), attached to the underside of the removable parcel shelf. This meant that I can take the shelf out to free up more boot space if required. It was also mounted in such a way that it could be loaded from within the car by flipping the seat-back forward. Hope this helps. Regards, dVb http://www.dberridge.dial.pipex.com dberridge-at-dial.pipex.com '99 Mercedes A170 CDI '85 Bertone X1/9 VS '85 Fiat Uno 55S '64 Vanden Plas Princess 1100 - -----Original Message----- From: matthew j mason To: diesel-benz-at-digest.net Date: 23 July 1999 18:08 Subject: CD changer ideas, W123 (no diesel content) > >(Declan: I'm in the minority here, I know, but my I.E. 4 brought up >your A-class page just fine. Also enjoyed the Ford Cortina story.) > >Does anyone have tips on the best place to mount a 6- or a 10-disc >changer? I had considered doing it under the passenger seat... [edited] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 15:11:47 -0700 (PDT) From: john Subject: Re: your mail Diesels do tend to make the oil black... What brand oil are you using? Since it has a turbo I'd be really hesitant to go that long unless you're running AMSOIL synthetic... they're the only ones I know of that have formulated for extended drain intervals. I ended up damaging the seals in my Jeep Cherokee Turbo Diesel letting the oil change go to "manufacturer's" recommended interval... (I was using a good dino oil like Motorcraft Diesel, Castrol or Kendall... forget which... john On Fri, 23 Jul 1999, Richard ulrich wrote: >-->I have a new 1999 E-300 TD . I used a little over one quart of oil in the >-->first 1,000 miles. The oil on the dip stick is quite dark. Is this "normal"? >-->I have never had a diesel before, so I don't know what to expect. The >-->manual says I don't need my FIRST oil change for 10,000 miles !.. >-->this makes me very uneasy. >--> >--> >--> ..richard-at-ulrich.com.. >--> >-->HTTP://www.richard.ulrich.com >--> ---- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- john-at-wagoneers.com **** Snohomish, Washington USA don't leave life without jesus, please... http://wagoneers.com - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 15:13:26 -0700 (PDT) From: john Subject: Re: A-class gallery I was amazed after getting the image! :) vastly different, excellent even... :) However, I refuse to bow to the nonstandard tactics of the boys from redmond... Long live Netscape (and Mosaic and Lynx and... :) john On Fri, 23 Jul 1999, Declan Berridge wrote: >-->My site has been set up under and optimised for Microsoft IE4+, and users of >-->other browsers may have difficulty in seeing or using it as intended. >--> >-->The photo galleries are Java-driven, and again work fine under IE4+ - >-->holding the mouse over a thumbnail makes it occupy the larger image slot, >-->while clicking on a thumbnail launches a full 900x600 image in a separate >-->browser window. Having said that, Netscape 4 seems to fail to follow the >-->links to any of my gallery pages at all (reporting "page not found"), >-->whereas Explorer finds them without any problem. How odd. >--> >-->I will be putting up a more generic version of the site within the next two >-->weeks to address these issues, and will post a notice on the digest when I >-->have done so. In the meantime, if anyone wants to receive the A-class >-->pictures (as jpegs, gifs or bitmaps), send me an e-mail stating your >-->preferred format and whether you can accept them Zipped. >--> >-->Sorry if I've disappointed anyone. >--> >-->Regards >--> >-->dVb >-->http://www.dberridge.dial.pipex.com >-->dberridge-at-dial.pipex.com >-->'99 Mercedes A170 CDI >-->'85 Bertone X1/9 VS >-->'85 Fiat Uno 55S >-->'64 Vanden Plas Princess 1100 >--> >--> >-->-----Original Message----- >-->From: Jason Zolghadr >-->To: Declan Berridge ; diesel-benz-at-digest.net >--> >-->Date: 23 July 1999 04:06 >-->Subject: Re: A-class info >--> >--> >-->>> >-->>>The address is: http://www.dberridge.dial.pipex.com >-->>>I can be reached at: dberridge-at-dial.pipex.com >-->> >-->>The thumbnails on your A-class gallary page >-->>(http://www.dberridge.dial.pipex.com/gallery9/page1j.htm) aren't set up as >-->>links, there is no way to view the larger images of the thumbnails you have >-->>provided. >-->> >-->>-Jason Zolghadr >-->> "Call you out our name...but be forwarned, dear" >-->> >-->> >--> >--> ---- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- john-at-wagoneers.com **** Snohomish, Washington USA don't leave life without jesus, please... http://wagoneers.com - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 04:17:22 -0500 From: "Jon Filina" Subject: Re: Richard was worried about the condition of his oil and asked: > I have a new 1999 E-300 TD . I used a little over one quart of oil in the > first 1,000 miles. The oil on the dip stick is quite dark. Is this "normal"? > I have never had a diesel before, so I don't know what to expect. The > manual says I don't need my FIRST oil change for 10,000 miles !.. > this makes me very uneasy. First off, diesel's are very hard on oil. It will turn very dark within a few hundred miles, if not sooner. That is nothing to be concerned about. As long as the oil on the dipstick is of uniform color...usually black...and contains no grit, it's fine. As far as 10,000 mi. between oil changes, I would be a bit uneasy. I understand that the newer MB's are using synthetic oils. Their recommendations, with regular oils, was 2500 mi. (heavy useage) to about 5000 mi. for the older (80's) engines. My experience with regular oil has been to change it, and the filter, every 3000 miles. I have never had an engine fail, following this regimen, for almost 600,000 mi. between 3 different vehicles. John is the expert on synthetics. I used Mobil1 in my 76 VW Dasher, gasoline engine, and was very happy with it. At that time, Mobil recommended 20,000 mi. between oil changes. I did it every 7500. I would feel very uneasy allowing even synthetic oil to be run in a diesel for more than 5000 mi. Diesels create acids which cause the oil to break down more rapidly. 10,000 mi. between oil changes just doesn't sound right to me. I guess the short answer to your question is don't worry about the color as that's normal, and change the oil at 5,000 mi. But, the last half of the answer is based on a dino oil user, Delo400 in my case. Jon '81 240D 229,500 mi. running dino oil being changed every 3000 miles... ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 07:24:46 From: Michael Frank Subject: Re: Oil condition I wouldn't worry about it, but if you want to be sure, have an oil analysis done. I usually send my oil out twice a year. Oil analysis will tell you whether the oil is abused in any way....it will determine whether there is fuel or antifreeze getting into the sump, how well the oil has held up under driving conditions, analyzes particulate impurities to determine wear patterns, etc. If you use the same lab every time, they can compare readings over the years and spot changes in engine performance. It's really one of the best preventive maintenance tools available. The process is very simple. Before you change your oil, you get a sampling kit from the lab. The kit itself is may be free, or you may be required to pay for the analysis in advance. It's really nothing more than a plastic vial and a shipping container. Take the sample when you change your oil. Then ship it to the lab. Your results come back in a week, and consist of a chemical analysis and an interpretive report. There are many labs which do this, the cost is about $20. The one I 've been using is: Blackstone Labs 4929 South Lafayette Street Fort Wayne, IN 46806 219 774-2380 Good Luck! Mike Frank 1979 300CD 1999 E320T At 04:17 AM 7/24/99 -0500, you wrote: >Richard was worried about the condition of his oil and asked: > >> I have a new 1999 E-300 TD . I used a little over one quart of oil in the >> first 1,000 miles. The oil on the dip stick is quite dark. Is this >"normal"? ------------------------------ End of diesel-benz-digest V1 #176 *********************************