From: owner-diesel-benz-digest-at-digest.net (diesel-benz-digest) To: diesel-benz-digest-at-digest.net Subject: diesel-benz-digest V1 #515 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 Monday, March 19 2001 Volume 01 : Number 515 Forum for Discussion of Diesel Mercedes Benz Automobiles John Meister Digest Coordinator Contents: misc from the last digest Re: Cheap source for european lights? RE: Are there performance upgrades for the 5cyl MB Diesel? RE: Cheap source for european lights? ingnition tumbler RE: Are there performance upgrades for the 5cyl MB Diesel? Re: ingnition tumbler the Benz is back... W123 sedan and parts for sale Fw: W123 sedan and parts for sale more on john's update... Mercedes 400E Re: clunks, surges and dreaming... RE: FWD: RE: two questions for the list RE: Cheap source for european lights? cleared while testing? 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: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 09:51:47 -0800 From: john Subject: misc from the last digest - - performance improvements? I'd say these motors are pretty well optimized... You could tweak your pump up a bit and gain some that way, also you could play with pump timing. on my VW Diesel setting it to European specs made a difference. For a more radical approach I've heard of PROPANE INJECTION, kind of like Nitrous for a Diesel... maybe someone nearing an engine rebuild can experiment for us. :) - - cheap euro lights, waiting to hear from my friend in Belgium. I'm helping him with Jeep parts, and he me with Benz goodies. If he can't find any I've got a few more contacts over there... - - my '83 300SD has been doing wonderful the last two days. The thunking seems to have gone away, yet the shifts are firm. The surging seems to have gone away as well!!! PTL! Just got back from Sea-Tac, about 80 miles or so round trip... smooth as a Benz should be at 60mph... john - ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.WAGONEERS.com/ Snohomish, WA - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... jesus, don't leave life without him, please! - ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 19:23:36 +0100 (MET) From: nepppi-at-gmx.de Subject: Re: Cheap source for european lights? Hi there, are you sure that you can simply change the US-lights buy the european ones? If so I can offer you to take a look at the prices for the euro lights in Germany and if they are much cheaper than the ones from adsit send them to you. But this will take a minimum of two months since I am still in Montana. But as I said, I doubt that it is easy to exchange the headlights. We had the problem with a VW Golf III a friend bought it in New Mexico when he was working there for a year and shipped it to Germany. Of course we had to change the headlights to Eurolights. I bought the new headlight units but could not fit them. The mountings of the US lights were different than the ones for the Eurolights. In fact the whole front part of the car was different from the original. So I had to take the car to a body shop and let them customfit the new headlights. What I am now thinking is that the adsit headlights might be a mixture between the Euro and US ones, using the US mountings and Euro reflectors. But I might as well be wrong with this guess. Maybe the old Mercedes cars are all the same since all of them were build in Germany in the same factory. Thorsten > John mentioned this in one of his posts, and I figured it deserved its own > thread. > > Anyone know where we can get european lights at a good price? (i.e. > cheaper than from Adsitco) > > It would be great if we could get a list of interested people and maybe > get some kind of group-buy deal going to save some cash... > > Chris Straut > strautc-at-citynet.net > '85 300D, 90k > - -- Sent through GMX FreeMail - http://www.gmx.net ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 13:12:47 -0500 From: "Barnes, Mark" Subject: RE: Are there performance upgrades for the 5cyl MB Diesel? The vehicle in question is a Turbo 1985 300SD. Thanks for your answers and suggestions! Mark - -----Original Message----- From: Alec Cordova [mailto:acordova-at-austin.rr.com] Sent: Sunday, March 18, 2001 11:31 AM To: diesel-benz list Subject: RE: Are there performance upgrades for the 5cyl MB Diesel? Not much you can do to increase the amazing durability, except to not tweak the motor to heavily for performance. ;-) If you provide year and model, and turbo or non-turbo, you'll have a better chance at answers. Regards, Alec Cordova Taylor, Texas 95 C280 89 300CE 85 300DT - -----Original Message----- Greetings, I was wondering about BB trick I saw on the W126 site that supposedly adds power. Does it hurt the motor or create some other problem. And are there other things commonly done to improve the performance and durability of these motors. Regards, Mark ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 12:33:18 -0600 From: "Alec Cordova" Subject: RE: Cheap source for european lights? You figured out the answer at the end of your post. All country-specific versions of MBs use the same mounting locations for the lights. VWs are built in a variety of countries, and it is quite possible that the Mexican-built ones for the US market have significant changes in the front end, including headlight mountings. MB is at least a little smarter than that. For US Benzes that came with non-Euro lighting, replacement Euro units should mount and connect ssly. Alec - -----Original Message----- Hi there, are you sure that you can simply change the US-lights buy the european ones? If so I can offer you to take a look at the prices for the euro lights in Germany and if they are much cheaper than the ones from adsit send them to you. But this will take a minimum of two months since I am still in Montana. But as I said, I doubt that it is easy to exchange the headlights. We had the problem with a VW Golf III a friend bought it in New Mexico when he was working there for a year and shipped it to Germany. Of course we had to change the headlights to Eurolights. I bought the new headlight units but could not fit them. The mountings of the US lights were different than the ones for the Eurolights. In fact the whole front part of the car was different from the original. So I had to take the car to a body shop and let them customfit the new headlights. What I am now thinking is that the adsit headlights might be a mixture between the Euro and US ones, using the US mountings and Euro reflectors. But I might as well be wrong with this guess. Maybe the old Mercedes cars are all the same since all of them were build in Germany in the same factory. Thorsten > John mentioned this in one of his posts, and I figured it deserved its own > thread. > > Anyone know where we can get european lights at a good price? (i.e. > cheaper than from Adsitco) > > It would be great if we could get a list of interested people and maybe > get some kind of group-buy deal going to save some cash... > > Chris Straut > strautc-at-citynet.net > '85 300D, 90k > - -- Sent through GMX FreeMail - http://www.gmx.net ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 12:37:30 -0800 From: richard Subject: ingnition tumbler how do i remove the ingnition tumbler...please david ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 12:59:09 -0600 From: "Alec Cordova" Subject: RE: Are there performance upgrades for the 5cyl MB Diesel? - -----Original Message----- The vehicle in question is a Turbo 1985 300SD. Thanks for your answers and suggestions! Mark **************** Then you are in luck, Mark. Tweaking the OM617 turbodiesel has been quite thoroughly discussed on some of the lists. Dave's Mercedes Mailing List site even has a link to Stu Ritter's discussions about same, http://www.mercedesmailinglist.com/mercedes/turbo.txt, although THAT LINK APPEARS TO BE BROKEN RIGHT NOW, DAVE. First things to do for performance are to adjust the valves (should be done every 15,000 miles), make sure you have fresh fuel filters, good diesel-rated motor oil, and no vacuum leaks. Does your central locking for doors and trunk work properly? If not, you most likely have vacuum leaks that could actually affect the motor and transmission. The Stu Ritter stuff hidden somewhere on Dave's site talks about adjusting the fuel system to take full advantage of the turbo. Several parts may have accumulated some crud that should be cleaned out. After that, you can tinker with the ALDA. It's primarily (I think) a device to compensate for changing altitude's effect on air pressure, but it basically is the subsystem that tells your fuel injection pump how much more fuel to throw in the cylinders to take advantage of the additional air stuffed in by the turbocharger. I will repeat the standard disclaimer on this: the ALDA may break irreparably with absolutely no warning when you attempt to adjust it. I think it's at least a two or three hundred dollar part, although it could be even more than that. It usually does not break when adjusting it, but it can go at the first touch without warning. Once providing enough fuel, you could check and adjust the turbocharger wastegate. Many of these motors left the factory at below the factory-specified maximum boost pressure of something like 0.9 bar. You can (and probably should) disable the EGR system (by blocking a vacuum line). Motor is happier without that silly thing. You should also confirm that your car does not have a trap oxidizer. It was an emissions control device used on California versions of these diesels, but it turned out to not be such a good thing. It could kill the turbo and the motor. So there may be plenty of improvement available to you. Keep in mind that this is a heavy car, and that motor only has around 122 hp, although it does have something like 180 lb-ft of maximum torque. You should be quite satisfied if you can achieve 0-60 mph times of 12 seconds or so. Check Dave's site later to see if he has fixed that link. You might also check the archives of his and this list. Happy klatta-klatta-ing, Alec ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 14:10:36 -0800 From: john Subject: Re: ingnition tumbler there is a pin that can be depressed if you take the steering column apart, OR, you can insert the key and use a paperclip on some locks to depress that tab and extract the cylinder that way... oh, I just noticed that this was the Diesel Benz list... oops. that was for a GM style lock... see if there is a hole in the lock face... the concept should be similiar.... I'm heading out to my Benz for a drive, will look and get back later... john At 12:37 PM 3/18/01 -0800, richard wrote: >how do i remove the ingnition tumbler...please > >david - ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.WAGONEERS.com/ Snohomish, WA - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... jesus, don't leave life without him, please! - ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 18:53:17 -0800 From: john Subject: the Benz is back... I've driven from one end of Puget Sound to the other today... and my '83 300SD is working great!!!! oh man, I can't tell you how good it feels... I'm thankful for two things, one, it's working, and two, I didn't get any speeding tickets. :) I came up out of the valley by Mt. Vernon on I-5 pushing 80 without flooring it... it felt so good... I don't know what it was, but I'm glad it's ok now... It probably was an injector hanging or something clogged up in the return lines that cleared finally. Also found Diesel for $1.45!!! Just before the Stillaguamish River at the Arlington exit... Texaco. The Texaco up the street is $1.79! john - ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.WAGONEERS.com/ Snohomish, WA - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... jesus, don't leave life without him, please! - ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 21:20:54 -0500 From: mjmason-at-juno.com Subject: W123 sedan and parts for sale Hi all: Clearing out garage space (and potentially parting out my 1980-81-82 take-your-pick 240D)... I'll consider any and all offers on the following parts before I go the eBay route. All parts are in good to excellent condition, cleaned up and functioning, and as I said, they're for the 123 *sedans*. - - Left and right taillight-reverse light-turnlight assemblies, with the harnesses, hardware and gaskets. Will sell these individually or as a pair. - - Zebrano wood-covered ashtray with lighter plug - - complete (1980) instrument cluster, marked in 15mph increments (rather than the 10mph seen on later clusters). All gauges work, but clock needs rebuilt. (Would make a nice desk piece - didn't someone figure out how to run one from a potato and a cup of water?) :) - - relay box that holds the "door open / pre-ignition" buzzer relay, manufactured 1980 - - the standard jack and lugwrench from 123 cars If you have needs other than what is listed here, contact me - I'm looking to get rid of this stuff. If anyone knows of people who dismantle / salvage Benz parts (a potential buyer for the car, or the stuff I have neither the space nor the skill to remove), let me know! If anyone's close to the Iowa City area and wants to have a look at the 240D, I'm available. By the way, at present it's a great daily driver whose body is fading fast. Mercedes-rebuilt crate engine installed summer 1999, approximately 21000 on the rebuilt. Thanks - Matt ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 21:28:32 -0500 From: mjmason-at-juno.com Subject: Fw: W123 sedan and parts for sale Forgot to mention - I'm in digest mode, so the best way to reply is via direct e-mail. Thanks. - Matt ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 21:11:58 -0800 From: john Subject: more on john's update... >Boy John, I do not read my e-mail for a few days and this is what I come back >to! What's with the '67? That sounds cool, do you have any photo's up of >that? photos? who me? take pictures??? the fotomeister? ;) here's the "new" Panel and my '83 300SD: http://wagoneers.com/FSJ/67panel-83-300sd.jpg (more below) I've cooked up some crazy deals with locals over the years, but this one required a computer to work out... ;) ok, the net result by week's end is this: john: - '67 Jeep J-100 Panel http://wagoneers.com/FSJ/rigs/johns-67-Panel - '83 Jeep J10 Stepside http://wagoneers.com/SuperDawg (decided not to sell, looking for a 4.0L engine/Aisin Warner trans...) - '88 Jeep Wagoneer limited http://wagoneers.com/XJ/rigs/littlewagoneer - '83 300SD, for sale, no hurry, http://wagoneers.com/300SD mark's '67 J3000 was traded for the '67 Panel, paying off his '67 Fairlane http://wagoneers.com/fotos/Marks-Fairlane-1967/ jay traded the broken '67 Panel for Mark's '67 J3000 - http://wagoneers.com/FSJ/rigs/marks-67-J3000/ jay is also selling his '96 Grand Cherokee - (he needs to sell ASAP, help him out!) http://wagoneers.com/FSJ/rigs/Jays-67-Panel/96-GC-ForSale/ karl traded in his '77 Wagoneer that he bought from me a while back http://wagoneers.com/FSJ/rigs/Karls77Wagoneer/ and is buying the '80 Cherokee I got on valentine's day, (the tailgate crank and heater core leak pushed me over the edge and back to SuperDawg... ;) http://wagoneers.com/FSJ/rigs/johns-80-Cherokee he was over today in the rain destroying jackstands... ;) he was successful... he also understands why I need concrete now... rofl... now Curtis, have we introduced Curtis? He's the guy that took the remains of my '85 GW, http://wagoneers.com/FSJ/ForSale/85GW-Parting/ and is taking the '77 Wagoneer in exchange for fixing the axles on my '67 Panel, the '77 wag has a good 360 with a new 4v on it, bad trans... Curtis came up yesterday and put the Panel on his flatbed taking it to his shop in Olympia... http://wagoneers.com/FSJ/rigs/johns-67-Panel/March17-PANEL/ On Tuesday I'll drive down to Kent to deliver the motorcycle that I loaded in my trailer Saturday that my son sold to a guy in Green Bay, Wisconsin to be crated up and then trucked back there... If Jim Blair (yes he's involved in all this too.) hasn't made it up here with the parts for Curtis, then I'll swing by Jim's and load up my trailer and then head down to Olympia where I'll be dropping off bits and pieces to go into the Panel. oh yeah, and I'll need to drop off the axle I traded for parts... So, is it clear now what happened? I need another weekend to rest now... believe it or not I'm going in to the house and attempt to finish a project... so I may not be replying to any more emails tonight... Driving that '67 Panel (front wheel drive) onto Curtis' trailer, having my Benz working finally and knowing that I'm keeping SuperDawg really made this a great weekend for me. The internet is not a wasteland. It's a fantastic source of knowledge, assistance and community. thanx all for the help, encouragement and ideas. you folks rock! john - ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.WAGONEERS.com/ Snohomish, WA - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold... jesus, don't leave life without him, please! - ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 14:50:40 From: "Mike Mehringer" Subject: Mercedes 400E Hello All: I know this is a DIESEL Benz list... but just curious if anyone has any info. I friend of mine is about to buy a 1992 Mercedes 400E (W124 chassis, 4.2 Litre V8). I know a few of you have W124s, and understand the W124s were great cars... I know most of them came with 3.0 Litre in-line 6 cylinder engines (hence the 300E). Does anyone have any input on the 4.2 Litre V8 (also found in the 400SE [W140], and 420SEL [W126])? It has 106,000 miles on it, but is in incredible shape. I'm going to have her take it in to a trusted mechanic to look it over... but I was curious if anyone knew if that engine had any design flaws (like the 350SDL!). Mike M. '83 300SD W126 '95 Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 14:58:00 From: "Mike Mehringer" Subject: Re: clunks, surges and dreaming... Hey John: I wrote about some of the odd shifting I had on my trans on the Benz... I just had my Benz at the mechanic's all weekend. He changed almost all vacuum tubes under the hood, and cleaned everything else under the hood. I also had him totally rebuild the vacuum pump and the trans shifts like an absolute dream. It went from extremely hard and erratic shifts to shifting better than a brand new car-- like butter. Most likely (and hopefully) your hard shifting is just vacuum related!! :) Mike M. '83 300SD W126 '95 Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ >From: john >To: John Fieber >CC: diesel-benz list >Subject: Re: clunks, surges and dreaming... >Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 15:28:52 -0800 (PST) > >On Fri, 16 Mar 2001, John Fieber wrote: > > >-->On Fri, 16 Mar 2001, john wrote: > >-->> >-->> As I drive my 300SD I'm realizing that the thunk isn't IN the > >-->> > >-->> >-->come to about $153 from Rusty. I've got a road trip coming up > >-->> >-->next month so I'm pondering the expense. I'll let you know if >it > >-->> >-->solves the 3-4 clunk. > >-->> > >-->> cool, I hope you've got it figured out! > >--> > >-->Done pondering. I've ordered the parts. Between other > >-->engagements and the long range weather forecast, it looks like > >-->next Friday is the soonest I'll have a verdict for you. > >-->-john > > >we'll all be waiting to hear the verdict. > >BTW, if my source in Europe can get these lights at a reasonable >price... ;) I'm bartering with hard to find old FSJ parts with him >right now, but a cash basis would still save us money. > >I'm thinking that going through and replacing all the rubber bushings >in the suspension might not be a bad deal. :) > >john > > > > ---- > >------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ** john-at-wagoneers.com via PINE on Linux **** http://wagoneers.com ** >** http://junkscience.com ** http://snopes.com ** http://freegift.net ** > Snohomish, Washington USA ...don't leave life without Jesus, please... >------------------------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 15:33:53 From: "Mike Mehringer" Subject: RE: FWD: RE: two questions for the list The Mercedes-Benz Workshop Manual lists a Mercedes tool that basically is a remote starting switch used to "goose" the engine to the right position. I'd say the guy to take your car to follows the Mercedes procedures (or laziness :) ) Mike M. '83 300SD W126 '95 Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ >From: Dan Jacobs >To: diesel-benz-digest , Michael Frank > >Subject: RE: FWD: RE: two questions for the list >Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 03:09:24 -0500 > >The guy at the shop I take my car to for stuff I don't like to do uses a >remote starter switch to turn the engine inards to the right spot for >adjusting the valves. Same as goosing, but he can watch whats happening >before his very eyes. > >Diesel Dan, your "Is goosing your secretary's starter considered >harassment?" >man in Vancouver, WA > > >===== Original Message From Michael Frank ===== > >I'm lazy, I goose the starter until the cams are in the right spot. You >can > >use regular wrenches, but it's more difficult. You need to hold two > >wrenches and the feeler guage all at the same time...hard with two hands. > >The special wrenches are bent just so. It allows you to one-hand two of >the > >wrenches while you check clearance with the guage in your other hand. You > >may have to hunt a bit for the right feeler guages, as well...you are > >better off with a long guage, not the usual shorty sets they sell in the > >tool bin. The right tools make this a quick job, if you try to get by >with > >your regular toolsit can be a struggle. > > > >Mike Frank > >1979 300CD > >New York > > > >At 08:54 PM 3/13/01, Greg Fiorentino wrote: > > > >> What way do you use to get the correct cam position for each cylinder? _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 15:42:38 From: "Mike Mehringer" Subject: RE: Cheap source for european lights? Alec is correct. The mounting from US to Euro are all the same on Benzes.. making is very easy to do. Mike M. '83 300SD W126 '95 Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ >From: "Alec Cordova" >Reply-To: >To: >Subject: RE: Cheap source for european lights? >Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 12:33:18 -0600 > >You figured out the answer at the end of your post. All country-specific >versions of MBs use the same mounting locations for the lights. VWs are >built in a variety of countries, and it is quite possible that the >Mexican-built ones for the US market have significant changes in the front >end, including headlight mountings. MB is at least a little smarter than >that. > >For US Benzes that came with non-Euro lighting, replacement Euro units >should mount and connect ssly. > >Alec > >-----Original Message----- > >Hi there, > >are you sure that you can simply change the US-lights buy the european >ones? >If so I can offer you to take a look at the prices for the euro lights in >Germany and if they are much cheaper than the ones from adsit send them to >you. >But this will take a minimum of two months since I am still in Montana. > >But as I said, I doubt that it is easy to exchange the headlights. We had >the problem with a VW Golf III a friend bought it in New Mexico when he was >working there for a year and shipped it to Germany. Of course we had to >change >the headlights to Eurolights. I bought the new headlight units but could >not >fit them. The mountings of the US lights were different than the ones for >the >Eurolights. In fact the whole front part of the car was different from the >original. So I had to take the car to a body shop and let them customfit >the >new headlights. What I am now thinking is that the adsit headlights might >be >a >mixture between the Euro and US ones, using the US mountings and Euro >reflectors. But I might as well be wrong with this guess. Maybe the old >Mercedes >cars are all the same since all of them were build in Germany in the same >factory. > >Thorsten > > > > > John mentioned this in one of his posts, and I figured it deserved its >own > > thread. > > > > Anyone know where we can get european lights at a good price? (i.e. > > cheaper than from Adsitco) > > > > It would be great if we could get a list of interested people and maybe > > get some kind of group-buy deal going to save some cash... > > > > Chris Straut > > strautc-at-citynet.net > > '85 300D, 90k > > > >-- >Sent through GMX FreeMail - http://www.gmx.net _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 10:17:54 -0800 (PST) From: john Subject: cleared while testing? the '83 300SD (which I should name so I don't have to type that everytime) is still running great... after so much fussing around you keep wondering if it's really ok... :) anyway, in the military the most probably RFO (reason for outage) would have been CWT (cleared while testing) I'm thinking that it was one of the injectors that got something in it and it dislodged it, or there was some blockage in the return line. The last incident only occurred at 7/8th throttle or under hard load. Now everything, thankfully, is working again. PTL! :) john ---- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** john-at-wagoneers.com via PINE on Linux **** http://wagoneers.com ** ** http://junkscience.com ** http://snopes.com ** http://freegift.net ** Snohomish, Washington USA ...don't leave life without Jesus, please... - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ End of diesel-benz-digest V1 #515 *********************************