From owner-diesel-benz-digest-at-digest.net Thu Aug 4 10:39:26 2005 From: diesel-benz-digest diesel-benz-digest Thursday, August 4 2005 Volume 01 : Number 1907 Forum for Discussion of Diesel Mercedes Benz Automobiles Derick Amburgey Digest Coordinator Contents: Re: [db] New Personal MPG Best and Coolant Question Re: [db] New Personal MPG Best and Coolant Question [db] New diesel to the fold [db] My girl's outta rehab! No more Mustang for me! (long ramblings about latest repairs) [db] Diesel: The Engine of the Future? 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, 02 Aug 2005 09:29:48 -0400 From: "J.B. Hebert" Subject: Re: [db] New Personal MPG Best and Coolant Question At 11:55 PM 8/1/2005, you wrote: >>Now for the question: About 2 weeks ago I started loosing coolant. My >>first thought was, "God, not another head gasket." But inspection >>reveals no leaks around the head; no visible leaks anywhere, for that >>matter. The odd thing is that if I add coolant to the cold fill line >>when the engine is cold, it will rapidly drop to about an inch from the >>bottom of the reservoir (right around the top of the low coolant sensor, >>so it blinks on and off while driving) in a matter of a day or so, and >>then it stays there. As a test, I drove a week without topping off and >>the coolant level never dropped more than another 1/'2" or so, still >>visible in the reservoir. The other odd thing is that the coolant level >>is always higher when cold; most often when I start the car the light >>will be out, then as the car warms up the light comes on. The coolant >>should expand when hot, so I'd expect the opposite to be true. The cap >>is new and appears to be holding pressure fine. There is no coolant >>smell, nor have I found any coolant under the car, in the splash guards, >>or anywhere else that I can see. The overflow hose is dry and there is >>no evidence of dry coolant residue near it. This car does not have the >>second coolant reservoir in the fender. >> >>Any suggestions would be appreciated. >> >>Thanks. > >There may be air in your system. Did you run out of coolant in the reservoir? >Do you park your car at an angle where the coolant in the reservoir is >tilted away from the outlet to your radiator? >Have someone drive behind your car and see if there is any steam coming >out. It's going somewhere, if there is no air in your system that it is >replacing. > >This happened on my motorcycle. I had left air in the system when I >changed the coolant. It is a little tough to burp it. > >Dan I never ran the reservoir empty, and it's always parked flat. The car has been driven about 10,000 miles since the last coolant flush, so I'm not sure it's a bubble from that... it would have to be new. I'll double check the exhaust for traces of coolant, but it seems good from what I've seen. Thanks, J.B. Hebert - ---------------------------------------------- Current Vehicles: '76 Ford Bronco '78 Volvo 262C Bertone V8 '80 Alpina B7 Turbo Coupe '82 Mercedes 300CD (Deceased) '93 GMC Sierra 2500 '95 Mercedes E300D ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Aug 2005 09:30:17 -0400 From: "J.B. Hebert" Subject: Re: [db] New Personal MPG Best and Coolant Question At 04:46 AM 8/2/2005, you wrote: >On Mon, Aug 01, 2005 at 03:20:24PM -0400, J.B. Hebert wrote: > > So, it was a banner day on Friday when I set my personal best, finally > > breaking the 30 MPG barrier in my E300D with an average of 30.56 MPG over > > 558 miles. While I'm sure having a non-operational A/C system has helped, > > I swear it has been better since the vacuum pump was replaced. Maybe the > > old pump was on its way out for a while and not operating the diverter > > flaps in the intake to best effect. This is still lower than I had hoped, > > but at least it's better. > >Interesting. Something to keep in mind if I ever end up with a NA 606. > > > Now for the question: About 2 weeks ago I started loosing coolant. My > > first thought was, "God, not another head gasket." But inspection reveals > > no leaks around the head; no visible leaks anywhere, for that matter. The > > odd thing is that if I add coolant to the cold fill line when the > engine is > > cold, it will rapidly drop to about an inch from the bottom of the > > reservoir (right around the top of the low coolant sensor, so it blinks on > > and off while driving) in a matter of a day or so, and then it stays > > there. As a test, I drove a week without topping off and the coolant > level > > never dropped more than another 1/'2" or so, still visible in the > > reservoir. The other odd thing is that the coolant level is always higher > > when cold; most often when I start the car the light will be out, then as > > the car warms up the light comes on. The coolant should expand when hot, > > so I'd expect the opposite to be true. The cap is new and appears to be > > holding pressure fine. There is no coolant smell, nor have I found any > > coolant under the car, in the splash guards, or anywhere else that I can > > see. The overflow hose is dry and there is no evidence of dry coolant > > residue near it. This car does not have the second coolant reservoir in > > the fender. > >I can think of five possibilities - > - overflow (which you seem to have ruled out, but check for cracks in the > tank, BTDT) > - pinhole leak in a hose or the radiator - won't put water on the ground, > but instead steam coolant out slowly at operating temperature > - loose hose - won't necessarily leak noticeable traces out, but will leak > out water to a point. BTDT with the wagon, it was the top hose. I think > I'm fighting another loose hose in that car, but I don't drive it much, > so I haven't really messed with it. > external leaks ruled out, it's internal: > - into the oil through the head gasket or head > - into the combustion chamber through the head gasket or head > >FWIW, when the white car cracked its head, trace amounts of antifreeze >were detectable in the oil - just barely on the scale. > >Have you tried operating the car without the cap pressurizing the cooling >system? It's an effective diagnosis tool, but you have to watch your temp >gauge like a hawk on the hills or in traffic. The always higher when cool >makes me think there's a bubble of air in the cooling system on the other >side of the thermostat. Running it without pressure may alleviate this, >burping the system. > >K It could be the overflow tank or other small leak. I am planning on having the system pressure tested which should indicate if that's the case. We both know my thoughts on any kind of head gasket issue. (Speaking of which, did you ship your old one yet? :) If I find traces of coolant in the oil or tailpipe, that motor is coming out, even if it means replacing it with a gerbil wheel. I haven't tried operating it without pressure, but if it's reasonably cool today when I leave work, I might top it off and give that a try. Thanks. J.B. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2005 11:43:30 -0400 From: "Black, Waylon" Subject: [db] New diesel to the fold http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4559446996 What a beast. $600.00 plus the $125 to have it towed > 25 miles to the house. Charged the batteries - got it to run for about 30 seconds. Sounded good until I let off the pedal and it died and would not restart. I was surprised that the batteries would take a charge as they were born on 12-2000 and were completely dead. Has the 6.9 v8 diesel with a huge 4 speed automatic(Allison?). The lift gate is great. I figured it would be cheaper than a storage building of the same size and has the possibility of being mobile in the event I need to move. Waylon Black Little Elm, Texas ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2005 20:34:49 -0500 From: "Alec Cordova" Subject: [db] My girl's outta rehab! No more Mustang for me! (long ramblings about latest repairs) My 89 300CE is back from Ben's Workshop, where she was sent to address her drinking problem. She was up to almost one full quart of oil per 300 mile tank of gas. :-( I was ready to have the head pulled. What have we here? Barry the Tech calls me and says he found a tail end of a plastic cable tie stuck under the lip of the valve cover. And Barry was the last one to reseat that valve cover. Twice. They did charge me 21 bucks for yet another valve cover gasket, but they volunteered that they were responsible for the labor on that before I even had a chance to open up on them. Good boys. Two good engine cleanings and a couple days of diagnostic driving, plus checking the spark plugs while they replaced them, strongly suggests that this was the only source of her oil drinking and dribbling problems. We'll see. I made it clear that the oil appetite was number one on this session's list. With that money from the "Show me some love" budget freed up, they also replaced the front driveshaft flex joint and the rear tranny mount, redid the front wheel bearings that a friend of mine had left too loose many years ago, and put in a fresh air filter. She was also unable to hide her transmission fluid habit from the good folks at this qualified (but not cheap) MB-only independent shop. She was leaking it out the "governor pump," which I guess is the official name for the second pump in our automatics. They resealed that cover ("Note additional time to extract seized Allen bolts (chisel)," says the 2 hour charge on the work order), resealed the tranny dipstick tube, and R&R'd with LocTite the cam oiler tube bolts under the valve cover. Hmm. With this last look through the bill, I think they DID charge me labor for this round on the valve cover. The Tech had told me last week that they would cover that cost. I'll have to talk to Ben tomorrow. Still came in for half of the Pull the Head budget, and she may actually (cross your fingers) no longer mark her parking spaces or smoke at stop lights. I have to try to find a clean parking space. With a planned week or so in the shop, I upgraded from a tin can and rented a 2005 Mustang from Hertz. Shop rate wasn't bad at all. V6 automatic with 18,000 miles. Not a horrid little car, and the air conditioning worked. Decent low and mid range power, if you don't mind all the shifting that tranny has been taught to do. Steering was decent, brakes not half bad, and a good looking ride. (I did notice that all positive comments came exclusively from male coworkers.) Between the retro typeface and the glare from the styling, the dash was hard to read, and the all season tires were complete crap. The ride was just a little on the harsh side, with a hint of choppy thrown in. You can definitely feel the solid rear axle. I'm still not sure if the engine/exhaust sounded American Sporty or just buzzy and loud when pushed. A little cramped, and the seats were not good German all day models. The kicker was that it got no better mileage than my 16 year old, 190,000 mile, this is what suspension damping is supposed to be, good old W124: just over 20mpg, although on regular gas. I'm glad to be back in my baby. Now when the heck is MB going to send us the high mileage grille badge that we sent off for months ago? Happy Benzing, Alec Cordova Taylor, Texas 89 300CE, 190K ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2005 10:33:24 -0700 From: chuck goolsbee Subject: [db] Diesel: The Engine of the Future? Editorial of this month's "Winding Road" magazine: http://www.windingroad.com/ (A great magazine BTW... I love it.) The Engine of the Future? I recently had the opportunity to drive eight sports cars in the 400- to 600-hp range, in many cases over quite long distances. I noticed during hundreds of miles, both behind the wheel and riding shotgun observing other journalists, that the upper limits of the rev range are almost never used in these cars. Of course, that's partially because, for most of these cars, second gear at redline will get you way above a U.S. speed limit. I think there is a deeper significance to this observation, though. Without fail, my colleagues and fellow members of the motoring press would jump out of each of these cars and make some witty remark about the joys of high-powered sports cars, but when we say things like this, we're literally wrong. We love these cars because you can get into the throttle at 2800 rpm and find a tremendous shove in the back as you wind out to 5000 rpm or so. These cars feel relatively relaxed, and you can do this all day long without losing your license. With peak power at 7500 or 8500 rpm, the horsepower spec isn't really the key to our fondness for the way these cars accelerate. We love these cars on the street because they have great mid-range punch. I also had a chance to drive our test Jetta TDI while it was floating around WR World Headquarters. Reflecting on my experience with today's supercars, I began to wonder why I liked the Jetta so much despite its meager 100 hp. It dawned on me that the Jetta had decent mid-range, part-throttle acceleration. No, it isn't really that strong, but the Jetta does a little of what supercars do. It just gets there in a very different way. After some investigation, I think I can safely say that most diesels are really good mid-range engines. Consider the estimated torque figures at 3000 rpm for high-performance gasoline engines: Ferrari F430 275 lb-ft BMW M5 (V-10) 305 lb-ft Porsche Carrera S 250 lb-ft Now consider the torque numbers of a few diesels: Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI 350 lb-ft Mercedes-Benz SL400 CDI 500 lb-ft BMW 535d 375 lb-ft Note that the diesels make a lot more torque, but are available in cars at more affordable prices. Consider, then, that these diesel engines will get in the range of 50-percent better gas mileage, all while delivering substantially lower carbon dioxide emissions (about 20-percent lower). Carbon dioxide is the greenhouse gas associated with global warming. While carbon dioxide is unregulated in the United States, concern about global warming, along with the torque advantages of diesels as shown above, have to make you think that diesels might be the performance engine of the future. Yes, the performance engine. Diesels have gotten a rather bad rap for emissions, which mostly stems from a lack of current information. In fact, diesels have several inherent emissions advantages over gasoline engines, including lower hydrocarbon and lower carbon monoxide emissions, to add to their carbon dioxide advantage. There is work to be done on emissions of nitrous oxide and particulates, where diesels have disadvantages. But Europe is making a bet that diesels are the green way to go, and these problems will almost certainly be solved. Given this, the general view is that Americans won't accept diesels because of bad memories about noisy, smoky diesels of the past. I find this view a bit insulting, not to mention logically flawed. It is a bit like saying, circa 1980, that Americans won't accept personal computers because of bad memories about the size and heat generated by mainframes. Americans, as much as any other group, have shown great flexibility in adopting new technologies when those technologies deliver real value. But if all the interesting diesel engines stay in Europe, and if manufacturers bury their dullest diesels in mundane cars, then, sure, Americans will stay away (actually, they'll be over at the Toyota/Lexus store buying hybrid SUVs). Mercedes has shown that it might be willing to break the mold on this one, with the announcement of the SLK320 CDI and the SL400 CDI. That is to say, diesel sports cars. That's a future I can sign up for. Bill Campbell Editor, Winding Road editor-at-windingroad.com Thoughts? - -- - --chuck goolsbee 02 Jetta TDi (but also looking for a 300SD or SDL) arlington, wa, usa ------------------------------ End of diesel-benz-digest V1 #1907 **********************************