From owner-diesel-benz-digest@digest.net Sat May 28 02:06:20 2011 From: diesel-benz-digest diesel-benz-digest Saturday, May 28 2011 Volume 01 : Number 3429 Forum for Discussion of Diesel Mercedes Benz Automobiles Derick Amburgey Digest Coordinator Contents: [db] Diesel KJs Re: [db] w210 steering question [db] w210 steering question Re: [db] w210 steering question Re: [db] w210 steering question [db] the road trip pictures Diesel Benz Digest Home Page: http://www.digest.net/diesel-benz/ Send submissions to diesel-benz-digest@digest.net Send administrative requests to diesel-benz-digest-request@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: Mon, 23 May 2011 21:12:23 -0700 (PDT) From: john Subject: [db] Diesel KJs there's a number of Diesel KJ - Liberty's on ebay... 2.8 CRD... is that the VM Motori Diesel? the prices are realistic... what kind of mileage do they get? any issues? the seats aren't very good, but that isn't hard to fix... :) they're ugly, heavy, don't handle well, have limited storage in the back, but hey, it's a Diesel.... and a Jeep... (no jeep is completely perfect it seems... ;) thanx, john ----- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -o|||||o- Snohomish, Washington - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold http://AMSOIL.com/redirect.cgi?zo=283461 http://JohnMeister.com HTTP://WAGONEERS.COM http://fotomeister.us - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 06:19:37 -0400 From: Michael Frank Subject: Re: [db] w210 steering question At 12:02 AM 5/24/2011, you wrote: >1) the steering feels heavy... tight... doesn't positive center, but >doesn't pull either, he said they replaced >all the tie rods and bushings... but turning the wheel seems to take >more effort than any of my other mercedes... >they used a rack and pinion setup in it... is that heavier effort normal? No. The W210 was designed to weigh about the same as a W124, even though it packs more electronics and safety equipment. When my station wagon was new, I drove it in a slalom, just for the novelty of whipping a white elephant around a course. It was quicker than my Jaguar. The tires are wider, but that wouldn't explain what you're experiencing. Sounds like wheel alignment or a bad rack. Of the problems on this particular car, the check engine light is what would worry me most. Can you take it to a dealer, and have the codes read? >I am very grateful that Mike Frank is on the list and has shared all >the issues he had with his... hopefully the >Diesel version will have fewer issues, and I suspect it'll be better >than a 3.5L... love the ads that say "$35K" in maintenance >receipts... of course I did see a W210 advertised with $9k of >maintenace in the last three years... yikes... that's more >than I paid for 8 years of ownership and purchase of my 124. I found the W210 experience very painful in the wallet area. OTH, it did it's final service very well, so worth the cost. I ended up buying a new Subaru Outback. Easy on gas, nice and roomy on the inside. Handling needs some magic ;-0, but I know what needs to be done. Mike Frank ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 11:43:29 GMT From: "sensunique@juno.com" Subject: [db] w210 steering question John, I have a '91 300D and a '98 E300, both daily drivers. The '91 300D has a better paint job, no rust issues for me where I live. The diesel is quite reliable, has just enough electronics to get 32-34 MPG at highway speeds but not enough to be overly complicated. It is ok on the power, but most would call it slow by today's standards. I have no trouble driving 70+ on hilly highways. To wrap it up - solid, relatively basic, reliable. Huge advantage over predecessors in the MPG - and that is truly worth something today. I have original engine and transmission. The '98 E300 has much better drivability than the '91 300D. The 300D is safe and secure and predictable - --- the E300 is all that and really FUN. I always prejudiced your bread and butter mercedes of this era as being better, german cadillacs (that isn't a compliment). Meaning they are heavy feeling, isolated from the road (some like that, I don't), and a person who loves to feel the road, cornering, etc - --- buy an Audi, BMW or even a VW. The '98 helped me to see what the rest of you are excited about. It is better than a 2000 Audi A6 that I had. In fact it is a great mix of things, and hit that insulated but not isolated pretty well on the head. The diesel is sweet, TURBO gives adequate power - in fact it is fun to drive. My mileage on highway has been in the range of the '91 and sometimes even higher. The transmission feels more like a manual, and it is a better match for the engine. Now for the bad with the '98 E300 --- you know all the standard stuff. Paint job sub par --- there are rust areas that will happen - they messed the paint job up, it's that simple. Things like the spring perch and the v-belt adjuster can be watched for and fixed. The rear window regulators - get used to replacing them. The electronic gremlins --- definitely hold 12 Volts on the system when you change the battery - use a battery through the cigarette lighter (or you will experience lights you need to ignore for the next two weeks). Every now and then I get a light that I ignore and it goes away. Also I have never changed the glow plugs yet --- can't begin to tell you the anxiety I will experience when I do that, and the great time and care that will be spend CAREFULLY changing them. Sometimes you end up replacing the head when you replace the glow plugs from what I have heard. People say the transmission can be trouble (maybe because if we did what mercedes recommended, you would never change the transmission oil?!?!?), I have been fortunate so far. I have put 25kmiles on the E300, I have put more than 300kmiles on the 300D. I know the previous owner of my E300, put an incredible amount of money into it at a dealership (he owned it), and it is superbly maintained. I have hopes that my indie mechanic will help me keep all the repairs I expect within reason cost wise. To sum it up --- the '98 is a gem when you drive it. But you will always have a feeling that you are driving a Mercedes that, by Mercedes standards, they messed up on - and that is frustrating. If you do the work yourself, or have a good indie --- maybe - I will let you know - it will be worth it. It really drives nice - that is a big plus for it!!! If it had a VW badge, you would probably say it was above average for them (not in regards to the paint though). Being a Mercedes, its trouble areas is disappointing. Know what I mean by that? --- pick a water cooled VW, any of them and you will find a good value and a fun driving car --- that will have specific trouble areas that you will be dealing with and everyone knows about. That fits the W210 in my opinion. But if you go with the W124, you have a Mercedes that is properly put together, reliable, fairly trouble free, proven, good MPG, etc, etc. BUT it isn't as sweet to drive as a W210. Mine (W124) has been excellent - truly impressive and above average in build quality - still worthy of the badge. Thumbs up on the diesel W124 from '91-'93. I hear the gassers were nice too. Now you are looking at a '96 W210 --- probably everything I said but NO TURBO. That turbo is a big part of why my '98 is fun to drive. I decided to not buy a W210 without a turbo, and really had a tough time deciding to buy the one I bought. I guess price is an important decision, but seems like a lot of magic that makes me want to keep that W210 is because of the TURBO diesel. If it was normally aspirated, I believe for me - I would rather have the turbo W124. About same amount of power, but not many problems, gremlins, etc. I would personally pick the W124 over the non turbo W210. With the W210 turbo versus turbo W124 --- about even in my overall satisfaction for the reasons stated above, but only because I have an indie mechanic. My 2 cents... Good luck!Brian AlcornSmith Mountain Lake, VA'91 300D 432,000 miles'98 E300 275,000 miles PS - thanks for inviting me to this list a few years ago --- what a great community we have! ____________________________________________________________ Banks Forced to Forgive Credit Card Debt See how much of your debt could be settled! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3131/4ddb9a091b5d53a713st06duc ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 08:22:20 -0400 From: Michael Frank Subject: Re: [db] w210 steering question My transmission was tweaked while still under the warranty (electronics). I don't remember what they did, but it would have cost about $1500 if I didn't have coverage. Transmission fluid can be checked and changed, but you have to buy a dipstick from the dealer (!), and you have to buy replacement sealer caps. I don't know what was wrong with a good ol' dipstick, but that's one of the quirks. On rust...lift up the door gaskets and check underneath. Rust begins in these areas, and it's irreparable by the time it's obvious. Mercedes had a TSB for this...they injected liquid wax under the weatherseals to prevent corrosion. Another good thing to do every once in a while is to remove the plastic fender liners, clean out dirt and debris, and check for rust. By the time I discovered rust had started there, I had to replace a front fender. The left front is especially important: there's a vent in the inner fender that allows moisture to get to the A/C drier. If you hear a loud pop, you'll know it rusted through. Mike Frank At 07:43 AM 5/24/2011, you wrote: > People say the transmission can be trouble (maybe because >if we did what mercedes recommended, you would never change the transmission >oil?!?!?), ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 15:03:28 +0000 From: john Subject: Re: [db] w210 steering question Confirmed my thoughts on a bad rack. The CEL is for the egr, he pulled the code with a tester, my pictures showed the code. It could be cleared from the dash after starting by pushing a reset button. Will drive a different one to verify. Even though this one is clean and price low, I may just walk away. When working on cars the tool I wish to use the least is my wallet. :). Seems that every part on thsese things are platinum plated. Thanx - ------Original Message------ From: Michael Frank Sender: owner-diesel-benz@digest.net To: dbl Subject: Re: [db] w210 steering question Sent: May 24, 2011 03:19 At 12:02 AM 5/24/2011, you wrote: >1) the steering feels heavy... tight... doesn't positive center, but >doesn't pull either, he said they replaced >all the tie rods and bushings... but turning the wheel seems to take >more effort than any of my other mercedes... >they used a rack and pinion setup in it... is that heavier effort normal? No. The W210 was designed to weigh about the same as a W124, even though it packs more electronics and safety equipment. When my station wagon was new, I drove it in a slalom, just for the novelty of whipping a white elephant around a course. It was quicker than my Jaguar. The tires are wider, but that wouldn't explain what you're experiencing. Sounds like wheel alignment or a bad rack. Of the problems on this particular car, the check engine light is what would worry me most. Can you take it to a dealer, and have the codes read? >I am very grateful that Mike Frank is on the list and has shared all >the issues he had with his... hopefully the >Diesel version will have fewer issues, and I suspect it'll be better >than a 3.5L... love the ads that say "$35K" in maintenance >receipts... of course I did see a W210 advertised with $9k of >maintenace in the last three years... yikes... that's more >than I paid for 8 years of ownership and purchase of my 124. I found the W210 experience very painful in the wallet area. OTH, it did it's final service very well, so worth the cost. I ended up buying a new Subaru Outback. Easy on gas, nice and roomy on the inside. Handling needs some magic ;-0, but I know what needs to be done. Mike Frank *** john at http://wagoneers.com *** ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 May 2011 02:05:29 -0700 (PDT) From: john Subject: [db] the road trip pictures here's the pictures of the road trip we took from Seattle to Chicago and back May 10th through May 20th, 2011 http://fotomeister.us/2011/05-May-20-ROAD-TRIP-SEA-CHI/00_ALL.html Went back to my home town for a family reunion... took pictures along the way. We drove around my wife's home town in South Dakota, and mine in Illinois to capture memories... Was a great trip. We averaged 45 mpg over the 4,500 mile trip. 10 days on the road... so much to see on the road... so much open space. One can not completely fathom the vastness of our country until you drive it. The Jetta Wagon turned out to do the job of interstate cruising and back road wandering quite well. The 11mm pump provided an abundance of power in the Rockies, allowing rapid passes up mountain grades on the two lane highway through SE Montana. We didn't get a chance to detour through Glacier or Yellowstone as we were too early, but we've been through both parks several times. One brief moment of excitement happened in South Dakota on US 12, we were forced to drive through standing water, taking turns as the road was limited to one lane... I'm used to driving Jeeps, so taking a VW TDI through standing water wasn't quite as much fun... created a nice wake in the deep part... had water splashing up on the side windows and windshield even though we were going slow... I don't mind driving through water... with a Jeep... but not with a VW... :) It's interesting to note that the junction of I-90 and US 212 in Montana also flooded, closing I-90 only 11 days after we went through, here's some pictures that were sent to me from the news: http://fotomeister.us/2011/05-May-20-ROAD-TRIP-SEA-CHI/bighorn-flood/ I incorporated a couple of the flood pictures into my collection... Heard that the North Cascade Loop just opened up... :) Maybe this weekend... john if you have slow connection I've got a smaller version at: http://fotomeister.us/2011/05-May-20-ROAD-TRIP-SEA-CHI/00_200_ALL.html ----- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -o|||||o- Snohomish, Washington - where Jeeps don't rust, they mold http://AMSOIL.com/redirect.cgi?zo=283461 http://JohnMeister.com HTTP://WAGONEERS.COM http://fotomeister.us - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ End of diesel-benz-digest V1 #3429 **********************************