From: owner-diesel-benz-digest-at-digest.net (diesel-benz-digest) To: diesel-benz-digest-at-digest.net Subject: diesel-benz-digest V1 #399 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 Sunday, September 24 2000 Volume 01 : Number 399 Forum for Discussion of Diesel Mercedes Benz Automobiles John Meister Digest Coordinator Contents: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences Re: Interesting item on eBay web site item#439835049: Mercedes-Benz : G-Wagen 280 GE Re: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences RE: Block heaters Re: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences RE: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences RE: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences tire wear and block heaters and fuel prices RE: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences RE: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences Montana Wildfire picture block heaters - dutch auction 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, 22 Sep 2000 00:14:54 -0400 (EDT) From: Dan Jacobs Subject: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences >sure they pollute, but when you look at the toxins side by > side with a gas engine the Diesel is by far a less dangerous >system... And my personal favorite comeback to the gas vs. diesel debate: Why do gasoline powered cars get tested for many different emmisions when my diesel car or big truck only gets checked for the cosmetic/visual effect of combustion? (IOW, why do they care if you can _see_ my exhaust, but yours is invisible and more harmful?) Not named John, Dan ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 21:27:51 -0700 From: john Subject: Re: Interesting item on eBay web site item#439835049: Mercedes-Benz : G-Wagen 280 GE I have a guy in Indonesia that want's me to get him a shop manual for a 300GD. He's taking a 280 GD and making it a Diesel. I found him a manual in New Mexico. Gwagen USA 888.538.7672 they used to do restorations, now only sell new... $140,000 :) I asked... john At 07:57 PM 9/21/00 -0700, matthew-mason-at-uiowa.edu wrote: >(Sending this off-list, as I'm currently not subscribed) > >Thought you might want to pass this along to the listers. Not a diesel, I >know, but cool nonetheless. > >Title of item: Mercedes-Benz : G-Wagen 280 GE >Seller: ghewson >Starts: Sep-15-00 22:29:53 PDT >Ends: Sep-22-00 22:29:53 PDT >Price: Starts at $24,700.00 >To bid on the item, go >to: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=439835049 > > >Item Description: > Beautiful black G-wagen with all California smog, etc. 3 tops > (folding cabrio, full hard top with sunroof, bikini) Grey and black > checkered cloth interior in Great condition, rare 4-speed Automatic, all > records for my 2 plus years of ownership (never offroad once), > beautifully maintained by authorized Europa G-Wagen mechanic (Pacific > Motors, Los Angeles). Fully reconditioned with new exhaust and catalytic > converter, brakes, Bilstein shocks, Michelin tires, new alternator, > starter, water pump, fuel pump, hoses, transmission and differential > mounts, etc. Sony ES Stereo cassette head, 6- disc Sony ES glovebox > changer, MB Quart Speakers, all the best. Car is in excellent shape > except paint is original and is just o.k. with door dings, scrapes, etc. > A/C compressor is non-functional, everything else works > beautifully. Also includes front crash bar wired for lighting, rear > towing hitch option with electricity, 2 rear jump seats to seat 7, and > canvas tonneau cover for cabrio top when down. Vin # is 46021217039633. > EMAIL ME AT GARYHEWSON-at-EARTHLINK.NET FOR MORE PICS! > >Ultimate Off-Road or Urban Chic machine. Selling to make room for my new >mercedes, a 2000 CLK. > > Visit eBay, the world's largest Personal Trading Community at > http://www.ebay.com - ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.WAGONEERS.com/ "The truth which makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." ---Herbert Sebastian Agar Snohomish, WA - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... jesus, don't leave life without him, please! - ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 22:21:57 -0700 From: john Subject: Re: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences exactly my point too... Ever heard of anyone committing suicide by locking themselves in their garage with a Diesel? Ain't gonna happen... what would you rather breath? :) john At 12:14 AM 9/22/00 -0400, Dan Jacobs wrote: > >sure they pollute, but when you look at the toxins side by > > side with a gas engine the Diesel is by far a less dangerous >system... > >And my personal favorite comeback to the gas vs. diesel debate: > >Why do gasoline powered cars get tested for many different emmisions when my >diesel car or big truck only gets checked for the cosmetic/visual effect of >combustion? (IOW, why do they care if you can _see_ my exhaust, but yours >is invisible and more harmful?) > >Not named John, >Dan - ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.WAGONEERS.com/ "The truth which makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." ---Herbert Sebastian Agar Snohomish, WA - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... jesus, don't leave life without him, please! - ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 23:06:03 -0700 From: john Subject: RE: Block heaters I was looking through the latest JC Whitney sale catalog, they have one that connects on the heater hose and pumps coolant through the system... range from 300 Watts through 2000 Watts. Claim to take 2 hrs to heat a V8 or a Diesel. I've used these kind before, they work ok... I may get the smallest one and just leave it plugged in all night. Timers are a pain... If it got really cold here I'd most likely be driving one of my 4 Jeeps anyway because there would be ice/snow or heavy frost... the Benz is allergic to slippery stuff like that... especially since he wouldn't get out of the driveway if it were.... :) john At 01:32 PM 9/21/00 -0600, John Bathory wrote: >Not sure about the block heater but the in line heaters work well although >I've never had to install one on a benz. If you do decide on an inline >heater make sure you size it 1/8 inch larger than the actual hose as one >mechanic told me. This is to ensure that the restriction inside the heater >does not come into play. In an unheated garage I never plug in the block >heater and if parked out doors I plug in at around -15 degs F. The block >heater has little effect at -40, so under those conditions the car remains >running. A eberspacher diesel fired engine preheater would be on my wish >list but as I recall this unit was 5kw worth of heat. A normal block heater >runs at 400 watts while an inline heater at 800 watts does wonders after 4 >hours. A A eberspacher diesel fired engine preheater at 1200 watts would be >the ideal solution in my opinion. > >81 - 300 TDT from Calgary where we had 2" of snow this morning 20 degs no >probs starting but did need a butane torch to unlock the frozen door locks. >Freezing rain before the snow. > >-----Original Message----- >From: john [mailto:john-at-virtual-cafe.com] >Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2000 8:10 AM >To: S.D.Byers >Cc: diesel-benz-at-digest.net >Subject: RE: Block heaters > > >does anyone know if the block heater on 300SD requires dropping >the tranny to install in the rear freeze plug like the 300D did? > >john > >At 06:55 AM 9/21/00 -0400, S.D.Byers wrote: > > > >I have the eberspacher D5W diesel fired engine preheater. If you run it > >for 15 minutes the head of the block is too hot to touch. It hasa timer > >and remote control. > > > >I also have a Mercedes plugin thing for when there is free power. > >I did not need any tranny dropping for that. > > > >In addition I have an artic fox fuel line heater that is not plumbed in > >yet. > > > > > >Right now here in NY I need none of it, but the eberspacher does give a > >really nice hot start. Instead of a 20+ second glow I get a 2 secdon > >glow. Mine is a 1975 300D with the series plugs. > > > > SDB > > > > > > > > > >On Wed, 20 Sep 2000, john wrote: > > > >|I used to plug my Diesels in even here in the Seattle area, made for an > >|easy start > >|and quick warm up. Don't really need 'em here... In fact, my last two > >|Diesels > >|haven't even had a block warmer... :( I was looking to add one to Fritz, > >|my 81 300D, > >|but you have to drop the tranny to get 'em in the back... I guess I'd > >have the > >|same problem if I tried to do one on this 83 300SD... right? > >| > >|I've thought about aftermarket heaters, you know the kind that fit on the > >lower > >|radiator hose, or on a heater hose... might try that... > >| > >|I also have an oil pan heater, magnetic mount I used to use on my Diesel > >|tractors... > >|Kind of a pan to use on a low slung mercedes though... :) > >| > >|If it snows here I'll be driving one of my Jeeps anyway. So I'm not > >|worried... Besides, > >|if it did snow there is NO way I'd get the Benz up the driveway... > >| > >|Most of my Jeep friends use low range to get out... ;) > >| > >|john > >| > >|At 09:56 PM 9/20/00 -0400, Chris Straut wrote: > >|>I am curious about the engine block heaters on diesels. How much power >do > >|>these things draw? I'm guessing that it's not very significant, but I'm > >|>interested to see what will happen to my electrical bill if I leave my >block > >|>heater plugged every night this winter. > >|> > >|>Thanks > >|>Chris Straut > >|>'85 300D, 86k > >|> > >|>-----Original Message----- > >|>From: owner-diesel-benz-at-digest.net > >|>[mailto:owner-diesel-benz-at-digest.net]On Behalf Of Dan Jacobs > >|>Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2000 9:53 PM > >|>To: B. K. Darnell; diesel-benz-at-digest.net > >|>Cc: bkdarnell-at-aol.com > >|>Subject: RE: Gulping Oil > >|> > >|> > >|>Issue #1: Other problems aside, diesel engines use more oil when run at > >|>higher RPM's. During your business trip, working the engine at high >RPM's > >|>to maintain 85-90 mph is going to burn more oil. I said burn, I haven't >the > >|>slighest clue where the rest of your oil is going. > >|> > >|>Issue #2: Leaving the engine block heater plugged in year 'round won't >hurt > >|>anything but the engine block heater. Face it, the more you use, the >sooner > >|>it may need to be replaced. I am the only person I know that has had to > >|>have one replaced, and that is due to pulling on the cord too hard while > >|>unplugging it. Luckily, they are pretty cheap. > >|> > >|>Also, your starting problems could have to do with slow engine turnover >from > >|>the starter, low compression, or the idle is not high enough to help it > >|>along when cold. My MBZ has an idle control knob on the dash. Yours may > >|>have a sismlar control. If your owners manual tell you it is an >automatic > >|>process, you may want to try pushing down on the throttle pedal _slowly_ > >|>(don't flood it) while cranking the starter to get some fuel in there. > >|> > >|>Dan > >|> > >|>------Original Message------ > >|>From: "B. K. Darnell" > >|>1.) > >|>I take a one-way, four hour business trip once a week via Interstate, > >|>running the car at a delightful 85-90mph for most of the journey --is >this > >|>an issue? 2.) In my protest of the dealership and the need for my >vehicle > >|>at all times, I have been plugging the car up through out the summer, >since > >|>my glow plugs are on the > >| > >|------------------------------------------------------ > >| http://www.WAGONEERS.com/ > >| "The truth which makes men free is for the most part > >| the truth which men prefer not to hear." > >| ---Herbert Sebastian Agar > >| Snohomish, WA - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... > >| jesus, don't leave life without him, please! > >|------------------------------------------------------- > >| > >------------------------------------------------------ > http://www.WAGONEERS.com/ > "The truth which makes men free is for the most part > the truth which men prefer not to hear." > ---Herbert Sebastian Agar > Snohomish, WA - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... > jesus, don't leave life without him, please! >------------------------------------------------------- - ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.WAGONEERS.com/ "The truth which makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." ---Herbert Sebastian Agar Snohomish, WA - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... jesus, don't leave life without him, please! - ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 08:44:06 -0700 From: Michael Frank Subject: Re: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences John: Nobody would do that, it smells too bad. Mike At 10:21 PM 9/21/00 -0700, you wrote: >Ever heard of anyone committing suicide by locking themselves in their >garage with a Diesel? Ain't gonna happen... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 08:10:16 -0500 From: Alec Cordova Subject: RE: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences What are you talking about??!! For me, that smell would be a relaxing anti-depressant. But that could be related to the fact that I've got around ten years of Diesel Benz ownership, and I'm probably just a little off. ;-) Alec -----Original Message----- From: owner-diesel-benz-at-digest.net [mailto:owner-diesel-benz-at-digest.net] On Behalf Of Michael Frank Sent: Friday, September 22, 2000 10:44 AM To: diesel-benz-at-digest.net Subject: Re: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences John: Nobody would do that, it smells too bad. Mike At 10:21 PM 9/21/00 -0700, you wrote: >Ever heard of anyone committing suicide by locking themselves in their >garage with a Diesel? Ain't gonna happen... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 09:20:27 -0700 From: john Subject: RE: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences yeah, it smells great... ;) much better than smelly old gasoline... At 08:10 AM 9/22/00 -0500, you wrote: >What are you talking about??!! > >For me, that smell would be a relaxing anti-depressant. But that could be >related to the fact that I've got around ten years of Diesel Benz ownership, >and I'm probably just a little off. ;-) > >Alec > >garage with a Diesel? Ain't gonna happen... - ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.WAGONEERS.com/ "The truth which makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." ---Herbert Sebastian Agar Snohomish, WA - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... jesus, don't leave life without him, please! - ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 10:37:55 -0500 From: "Randolph A Bennell" Subject: tire wear and block heaters and fuel prices Tire Wear - Thanks to those who responded to my query about tire wear. It does not seem like it is a major issue to be concerned about. Block Heaters - I have no idea where the block heater goes on a MB diesel. I do have considerable experience with block heaters however. I am in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (for those not quite up on Canadian geography - about in the middle of Canada - east to west and about 70 miles north of the USA border and 220 miles north of Fargo North Dakota). It gets very cold here in winter - 2 weeks where the temperature does not top -30 is not uncommon about the first of January. We routinely use block heaters to ensure starting of gas engines. A block heater is usually about 1500 watts so you can calculate the power that will use if you want to. Electricity is fairly cheap here but I don't think the cost of operating the block heater is excessive. I suggest you get most of that cost back in decreased wear on your engine and in increased fuel mileage by starting with a warmer engine. You can certainly tell the difference when the engine has been pre-warmed a bit. The other suggestion is that you can use a timer. I have mine set up in the garage so that it comes on about 6 AM and gives the vehicles a couple of hours of warming before I leave for work. During the coldest times, I sometimes leave one of the vehicles plugged in all night just in case I need it for some emergency. There are also set ups available that will turn the power on and off every 15 minutes to keep the engine warm enough to start without consuming unnecessary power. Fuel Prices - the price this morning is 73.5 cents per litre for regular unleaded. There are about 4.5 litres in an imperial gallon which is about 20% bigger than a US gallon. We are paying about In addition, a Canadian dollar is about 67 cents US according to the news but you don't get that at the banks. With current exchange at the banks - we figure about a 50% value for anything we buy in the US. That makes the price about $3.31 per gallon in Canadian dollars. If we calculate the size of a US gallon, that should make it about $2.65 Canadian for a US gallon. If we then calculate that the value of the Canadian dollar in US dollars is about 50 cents, then the cost is about $3.97 per US gallon in US dollars. I think I did my math right so that should be about it. We have pretty high taxes on fuel here which contributes to the high price. Diesel is still cheaper than gas here. I didn't look the last time I went by the pumps but I think it was recently about 13 cents per litre cheaper but is now only about 5 to 10 cents cheaper. My daily driver for the past 9 years is an 86 Chevy Suburban 2WD with a 350 and I am doing about 11 miles to a Canadian gallon around town. That is one of the reasons I have started to think about diesels. A neighbour has 2 Volks Jetta turbo diesels that he constantly raves about. I want something a little bigger so about the only thing out there is the MB. I have always admired them. Friends of my parents had a 1959? diesel, then a 1968 240D, a 1977? Diesel station wagon with the 5 cylinder non turbo and a 300 turbo that I heard about but never saw. The only one I ever drove was the station wagon and I was reasonably impressed. I have never had pockets deep enough to acquire a new one (and I am not into new cars anyway - my other cars are a 68 Chevy pick up and a 1980 Ford LTD - my wife has a 97 Mercury Sable) and I have always been concerned about the costs of parts for used ones but I have always wanted one and it may be about time to try it since I am not getting any younger. This is getting long so I will stop. Hope someone finds it interesting. Regards Randy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 10:35:42 -0600 From: John Bathory Subject: RE: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences Propane smell is definitely the worst of the bunch diesel is 56.8 per l here while regular is running 66.9/l now thats CDN or 3.785412 l/g x 66.4 CDN/US = 1.68 regular and 1.41 for diesel attached is the best little unit converter I've run across and its even legal to distribute. - -----Original Message----- From: john [mailto:john-at-virtual-cafe.com] Sent: Friday, September 22, 2000 9:20 AM To: Alec Cordova Cc: diesel-benz-at-digest.net Subject: RE: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences yeah, it smells great... ;) much better than smelly old gasoline... At 08:10 AM 9/22/00 -0500, you wrote: >What are you talking about??!! > >For me, that smell would be a relaxing anti-depressant. But that could be >related to the fact that I've got around ten years of Diesel Benz ownership, >and I'm probably just a little off. ;-) > >Alec > >garage with a Diesel? Ain't gonna happen... - ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.WAGONEERS.com/ "The truth which makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." ---Herbert Sebastian Agar Snohomish, WA - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... jesus, don't leave life without him, please! - ------------------------------------------------------- [demime 0.97b removed an attachment of type application/octet-stream which had a name of Convert.exe] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 15:36:58 -0700 From: john Subject: RE: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences I've got that convert utility on my website... along with other goodies... you're not supposed to send attachments to the list... :) I'm sure I've got the bounced message somewhere... in fact, this probably didn't make it to the list. :) The utility is at: http://wagoneers.com/UNIX/PC-info/SOURCE/ ewan is an excellent terminal emulator... use it every day... lemmy is a great VI editor for windoze... use it every day... :) john At 10:35 AM 9/22/00 -0600, John Bathory wrote: >Propane smell is definitely the worst of the bunch > >diesel is 56.8 per l here while regular is running 66.9/l now thats CDN > >or 3.785412 l/g x 66.4 CDN/US = 1.68 regular and 1.41 for diesel > >attached is the best little unit converter I've run across and its even >legal to distribute. > > > > > >-----Original Message----- >From: john [mailto:john-at-virtual-cafe.com] >Sent: Friday, September 22, 2000 9:20 AM >To: Alec Cordova >Cc: diesel-benz-at-digest.net >Subject: RE: A late addition to the rant about fuel differences > > >yeah, it smells great... ;) much better than smelly old gasoline... > >At 08:10 AM 9/22/00 -0500, you wrote: > >What are you talking about??!! > > > >For me, that smell would be a relaxing anti-depressant. But that could be > >related to the fact that I've got around ten years of Diesel Benz >ownership, > >and I'm probably just a little off. ;-) > > > >Alec > > >garage with a Diesel? Ain't gonna happen... > >------------------------------------------------------ > http://www.WAGONEERS.com/ > "The truth which makes men free is for the most part > the truth which men prefer not to hear." > ---Herbert Sebastian Agar > Snohomish, WA - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... > jesus, don't leave life without him, please! >------------------------------------------------------- > - ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.WAGONEERS.com/ "The truth which makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." ---Herbert Sebastian Agar Snohomish, WA - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... jesus, don't leave life without him, please! - ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 15:45:47 -0700 From: john Subject: Montana Wildfire picture http://www.wagoneers.com/FOTOS/Montana-Wildfire/ - ---------------------------------------------------- john-at-wagoneers.com http://www.wagoneers.com http://www.freegift.net/ - ---------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 22:10:11 -0700 From: john Subject: block heaters - dutch auction what I need to find out is how hard is this thing to install??? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=446323027&r=0&t=0 - ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.WAGONEERS.com/ "The truth which makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." ---Herbert Sebastian Agar Snohomish, WA - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... jesus, don't leave life without him, please! - ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ End of diesel-benz-digest V1 #399 *********************************