mercedes benz diesels

[jltcasper3]

I just bought a 90 benz 300d 2. 5 turbo diesel. Does any one have a similar vehicle, i am just wondering what u are getting for fuel econmy?

 

[Gene Heck]

I have a 99 E300TD with 57000 on it thats loaded. It's a 6cyl. 3. 0. It usually gets 30 mpg if I stay under 75. I do a fair amount of interstate driving. If I start running faster, 80-85, it will drop to about 28. 5. If I stay off of I-95 and don't run over 65 I get about I can get up a best of 33 mpg. If your 5 cyl. is a turbo engine you should get about the same. If it is non turbo about 23-26 is the norm. Hope this helps

 

[jltcasper3]

i checked my milage today and it was 29. 4 and i was driving it like i stole it. I am going to back down on it a little and well see. I am pretty happy so far.

 

[erobb]

We had an '87 300D turbo, 6 cyl turbo a couple of years ago, I have kicked myself for selling it a dozen times. I actually found the guys name and # who I sold it to and called him after work tonight to see if he'd consider selling it back, no good his son has it at college and loves it. Anyway the thing was peppy as I recall and the other guys where right on the mpg 28-30 even running 70mph.

 

[jltcasper3]

you said it was peppy ha, I can't tell if theres anything wrong with mine or not, to me it seems slow as hell, compared to my cummins, but the mpg seem ok, it doesn't smoke and seems to run good. So i don't know, im just gonna keep driving it

 

[erobb]

For some reason I think Mercedes only used a 6 cly turbo for like 2 years in the E-class. the rest of the years were 5 cyl turbo's because I know after research that the tweakers sought out our year for the higher performance engine. Still the 5 cyl shouldn't be slow. I do know that Mercedes had a recall on part of the exhaust system and it doesn't matter how old or how many miles they will still replace it free. I'm not sure which years were covered (Call a Mercedes dealer and give them your VIN # they can tell you if it has any outstanding recalls) If your car has a big tin barrel where the exhaust manifold is supposed to be it may be affected by the recall. Our car was,, we took it in they replaced the exhaust manifold and the entire exhaust system for free, zip, zilch, NADA. Just the parts alone that they replaced were over $1300. After that the car ran harder and got better fuel mileage, also if the turbo seems sluggish to spool up, or if you hear a rattle besides the usual diesel clatter the timing chain probably needs to be replaced, Our car was sluggish of the line then the turbo would catch up and you'd go, after we had an independant Mercedes machanic do the timing chain it was right there as soon as you stepped down they run great when they run right. It takes special tools to do the chain, they have to break the old chain, then turn the motor over and feed the old chain out while feeding the new one in then use a special tool to rivet the new chain together. I figured it was worth paying someone to do this because so many things could go wrong, not only that if they screwed something up it would be on them, if I screwed it up, well you're looking for a used motor on the net. Sorry to be so long, maybe this helps.

 

[WDixon27]

that was the particle trap, someone had the brilliant idea to put it between the head and the turbo, when it takes a crap it takes the turbo with it, but till then it squashes any hint of performance :-laf

. I do know that Mercedes had a recall on part of the exhaust system and it doesn't matter how old or how many miles they will still replace it free. I'm not sure which years were covered (Call a Mercedes dealer and give them your VIN # they can tell you if it has any outstanding recalls) If your car has a big tin barrel where the exhaust manifold is supposed to be it may be affected by the recall. Our car was,, we took it in they replaced the exhaust manifold and the entire exhaust system for free, zip, zilch, NADA. Just the parts alone that they replaced were over $1300. After that the car ran harder and got better fuel mileage,

 

[Dieselnut59]

that was the particle trap, someone had the brilliant idea to put it between the head and the turbo, when it takes a crap it takes the turbo with it, but till then it squashes any hint of performance :-laf

Yep, mama's 1987 300SDL had that on it. It came apart and a chunk of catalyst lodged in the turbo inlet. I took it off, gutted it and put it back on. Awesome performance gain! The dealer tried to tell her one time that she needed to get the recall done. She said it is taken care of already. :-laf She sold the car to a friend of hers and when they took it to the dealer for service, they performed the recall, free of charge, which puts a connector pipe in place of the cat, then moves the cat down stream of the turbo, on the down pipe.

The catalyst material is about like the one on my Jeep or a 12 valve '94-'98 Cummins.

 

[jltcasper3]

does any one know how to get a little more power out of these engines. Are there any screws to turn or what?

 

[Yo Hoot]

I saw an advertisement in the paper today. . brand new diesels are available locally.

 

[WDixon27]

it varies depending on the engine, i could tell you how to get a quicker spool up on a 617 but i don't know what the newer motors do, i looked into turning up a 617 motor (early-mid 80s 5 cyl turbo) and it's version of sliding the plate forward looks like a royal pain in the azz from the online thing i saw, i suggest searching around the benz boards

does any one know how to get a little more power out of these engines. Are there any screws to turn or what?

 

[04 Diesel Power]

I have a 1992 300D 2. 5 turbo diesel, with 212,000 miles. The most I have got is 34mpg, and the least was 28 mpg. I am looking for another one, my wife is driving the 1992, they are great cars.

 

[MEby]

does any one know how to get a little more power out of these engines. Are there any screws to turn or what?

A local diesel shop said they could get injectors for mine several years ago.



I got high 20's mpg.

 

[jltcasper3]

milage

milage

-i just checked my milage since i just fixed my cruise control, i was getting 31. 8 mpg. This is highway and stop and go and getting up to 70 mph on the interstates. I drive around 90 miles a day for work. My milage before i fixed my cruise was 29. 4 mpg. I am pretty happy with it so far.



-I will be running wvo with it soon, my pumping/filtering station is set up and my frybrid kit is on the way. I can't handle this 4. 99 disel around here anymore.

 

[Regcabguy]

Bigtime steering wheel.

I had a chance to buy an absolutely cherry '85 300D several years back but due to the biggest steering wheel the Germans could have fit on that thing,I couldn't get my thighs under it. I'm very lean but tall)6'3". It was an auto that shifted very abruptly too. Most of them are fairly smokey around here also.

 

[AKaiser]

I'm interested in the 98-99 MY E300TDs. Curious how good the overall reliability and cost of ownership is on these.

 

[Dieselnut59]

Since I posted earlier on this thread, I started a new one about my newly acquired Mercedes 300D. It is a 1987, 6-cylinder turbo. My neighbor gave it to me! It would not shut off. He bought a vacuum solenoid thing to go on the injection pump. I was checking the engine over yesterday and found a vacuum line loose by the vacuum pump. Plugged it in and it does fine. The car had been sitting for about 5 years. I had to put a battery in it, replace the power steering pump and flush the cooling system. I also have filters to service the fuel system (2 filters), engine, air filter and transmission. Got new headlight lenses, belt, rear view mirror and wiper blades. It will have to have tires and maybe brakes. Excellent, straight car and interior is nearly perfect. It has the earlier-mentioned "particulate trap" which will have to be gutted.

As I mentioned earlier, my mother had one similar (1987 300SDL, 6-cylinder turbo) and it was a great car. I wanted to buy it then but she had a friend that wanted it worse (still has it and LOVES it!). This one was a better deal though!

:-laf

 

[MOates]

The 87's are capable of a good bit more than 30 mpg. I've heard stories related that when new, and with the trap ox gutted (as DieselNut did to his mom's car) the owners saw upwards of 38 mpg highway.



I can vouch for that. I've had my '87 for 2 years and have been going over it. It was hitting 30 mpg commuting to work. 2 months ago I went over the throttle and control linkages, had the transmission pulled for a reseal job, and the running gear on the driveshaft replaced. After doing this, the beast immediately jumped up to 35 mpg.



Over the past 4 weeks, I've done a few other mods. Switched to 205/70R15 Cooper CS4 Touring tires - 1 1/4" taller than stock - speedo reads 1 mph low for every 20 mph - essentially at highway speeds I can run 3 to 4 mph below the limit by the speedo and knock 300 rpm off engine speed. Bypassed the fuel heater thermostat on the fuel pump suction and gained 1 1/2 psi fuel pressure downstream of the filters. Doubled my doseage of TC-W3 2 stroke oil in the fuel tank to 2 oz/gallon.



Also, I installed a water vapor bubbler jar in the CCV line downstream of a Provent CCV filter. I tapped into the heater hose and rigged a coolant heater in the bubbler jar with a throttle valve. I adjusted the coolant flow such that it was heating up the washer fluid in the jar (30% methanol) to around 130 F. The engine would suck down around half of the fluid in this 1/2 gallon container in 1 week (200 miles) as hot water/meth vapor. I ran it this way for 3 weeks - didn't do anything noticeable for fuel mileage, but given subsequent results I think it ended up "steam cleaning" the inside of the engine.



This past Sunday I shut off the coolant heat to the bubbler jar and switched to straight distilled water - it was now getting a reduced amount of cold water vapor. This is also when I replumbed the fuel pump suction, and refilled the tank adding 2oz/gallon 2 stroke oil.



Drove it like this the past week commuting to work (200 miles), and frankly was amazed at the results.



It wasn't until I got into the parking lot at work Friday - 180 miles - that the fuel gauge finally came down to the 3/4 mark. Essentially, that's 180 miles on 4 gallons of diesel.



THAT BEAST WAS PUSHING 45 MPG!!!



I had two other diesel owners come out to the parking lot that night to verify the odometer and fuel gauge readings, so that I had witnesses to verify that I wasn't feeding everyone a line.



When it was averaging 30 mpg per tank, I would usually hit 120 miles by the 3/4 mark. At 35 mpg per tank, it would hit 140 miles by this point. But when it hit 180 miles at 3/4 tank Friday afternoon..... , let's just say the other people in the parking lot got treated to an enthusiastic display of jumping, whooping, and hollering!:-laf



That's VW TDI territory for fuel mileage! And I still haven't had the chance to pull those 20 year old injectors yet for a good going over. On second thought, I'm not going to even TOUCH those injectors.

 

[Dieselnut59]

Wow! That is impressive! I am not quite as concerned about that outstanding of fuel economy as I will be running bio in it and all my vehicles soon (when I get my refinery system set up) but i would love that 35 mpg with the "simpler" mods. The oxidixer cat will be hollowed out soon,along with figuring out how to disable or remove EGR. Amazingly, my transmission still pulls great. It has never been touched, according to the original owner, except for regular service from the dealer. This car has 258,000 miles on it. About to head back to the shop and get to tinkering on it some more!

The 87's are capable of a good bit more than 30 mpg. I've heard stories related that when new, and with the trap ox gutted (as DieselNut did to his mom's car) the owners saw upwards of 38 mpg highway.



I can vouch for that. I've had my '87 for 2 years and have been going over it. It was hitting 30 mpg commuting to work. 2 months ago I went over the throttle and control linkages, had the transmission pulled for a reseal job, and the running gear on the driveshaft replaced. After doing this, the beast immediately jumped up to 35 mpg.



Over the past 4 weeks, I've done a few other mods. Switched to 205/70R15 Cooper CS4 Touring tires - 1 1/4" taller than stock - speedo reads 1 mph low for every 20 mph - essentially at highway speeds I can run 3 to 4 mph below the limit by the speedo and knock 300 rpm off engine speed. Bypassed the fuel heater thermostat on the fuel pump suction and gained 1 1/2 psi fuel pressure downstream of the filters. Doubled my doseage of TC-W3 2 stroke oil in the fuel tank to 2 oz/gallon.



Also, I installed a water vapor bubbler jar in the CCV line downstream of a Provent CCV filter. I tapped into the heater hose and rigged a coolant heater in the bubbler jar with a throttle valve. I adjusted the coolant flow such that it was heating up the washer fluid in the jar (30% methanol) to around 130 F. The engine would suck down around half of the fluid in this 1/2 gallon container in 1 week (200 miles) as hot water/meth vapor. I ran it this way for 3 weeks - didn't do anything noticeable for fuel mileage, but given subsequent results I think it ended up "steam cleaning" the inside of the engine.



This past Sunday I shut off the coolant heat to the bubbler jar and switched to straight distilled water - it was now getting a reduced amount of cold water vapor. This is also when I replumbed the fuel pump suction, and refilled the tank adding 2oz/gallon 2 stroke oil.



Drove it like this the past week commuting to work (200 miles), and frankly was amazed at the results.



It wasn't until I got into the parking lot at work Friday - 180 miles - that the fuel gauge finally came down to the 3/4 mark. Essentially, that's 180 miles on 4 gallons of diesel.



THAT BEAST WAS PUSHING 45 MPG!!!



I had two other diesel owners come out to the parking lot that night to verify the odometer and fuel gauge readings, so that I had witnesses to verify that I wasn't feeding everyone a line.



When it was averaging 30 mpg per tank, I would usually hit 120 miles by the 3/4 mark. At 35 mpg per tank, it would hit 140 miles by this point. But when it hit 180 miles at 3/4 tank Friday afternoon..... , let's just say the other people in the parking lot got treated to an enthusiastic display of jumping, whooping, and hollering!:-laf



That's VW TDI territory for fuel mileage! And I still haven't had the chance to pull those 20 year old injectors yet for a good going over. On second thought, I'm not going to even TOUCH those injectors.

 

[MOates]

Real easy to disable the EGR - just drop by some place with a sporting goods department and pick up a jar of metal BB's.



There's two hard plastic vacuum lines that look as if they're running to the turbo - one goes up top to the EGR valve, the blue one goes to the ARV valve on the front of the turbo.



Just stick a BB in the hoses that connect the vacuum lines to the EGR and ARV valves. No vacuum, no work.



Or if you really want to minimize the chance of any vacuum leaks from all the EGR-associated gear, find the five-way vacuum line connector above the vacuum pump, and plug off the two lines that run over towards the air filter - that's what supplies vacuum to the transducers and other hardware that operate the EGR and ARV valves - cutting it off at the source.