Newbie questions 603 related
 

Hi,

I have scanned through various posts, and the problems I have got with my car could be a combination of factors....I would be grateful if you guys could point me in the right direction.

Firstly the car is a 1988 w124 300D non turbo with a 603 engine. Car has done 141,000 miles and has a full service history.

Problem 1, car has a rough idle in the warming up stage. If I drive off and shortly thereafter come to a stop the car will vibrate quite badly....the rev needle stays rock steady at 650rpm.....is this engine mounts or injector related?......car no longer vibrates once the engine is warm.

I don't notice any nailing, however, it does appear that one of my lifters is noisy....loud ticking noise that goes away once the engine is warm and once I get past 1500rpm. As a seperate question if I have lifter tick, does this damage the engine or can I ignore it.

I understand that changing to synthetic may help...I have yet to do this.

Problem 2: Every time I put the transmission into reverse the car judders quite badly as I move backwards and will happen irrespective of whether the engine is hot or cold....is this linked to problem one, ie; is it likely to be the transmission mount and is it a prop-shaft mount or something else.

Problem 3; checked transmission oil...nice and red...however when I dip the stick the oil level goes way past the marks on the stick. Am I right in thinking that you check the level when the oil is hot and engine is idling?....will I damage anything if I have too much oil in the transmission?

Other than the problems mentioned above the car runs fine, no smoking, plenty of power and good fuel economy.

Any help would be appreciated as I just want to clear these nagging faults and put my mind at rest.

Cheers

Shaking problems
 

Yes, drain or siphon your fluid till you get the proper level. Check transmission mounts and your flex disc. Rough idle could be, dirty/bad injector, motor mounts, glow plugs, fuel filters (probrably not, but cheap to replace). Valves way out of adjustment can also make for a rough idle, usually does not go away after warm up. Also check parking brake and make sure it is not stuck on (again, probrably not). In order of cheapest, here goes the list:

Clean injectors, there are threads explaining this procedure
Check all mounts engine and transmission
check glow plugs, there are threads explaining this too
Check valve adjustment, there are threads explaining this too

Good luck!!

:D

Any progress on finding the fault(s)?

You will eventually want to replace the bad lifters as they contribute to rough running.

If the vibration is worse in reverse, I'd suspect the tranny mount being torn, allowing the tranny to lift off the mount. Bad engine mounts usually get smoother in reverse since the left side get the pressure then, and is usually in better shape than the right.

If not replaced in the last 60,000 miles, replace engine mounts. On the NA engine, this will be easy, and will probably cure most of the rough running cold.

Thumping idle stone cold is common on this engine -- let the glow plugs run a bit longer (15 sec or so) after the lamp goes out and you will have smoother idle.

When checking the tranny fluid, the engine must be at normal operating temp, the tranny must be hot, and you must both wipe the dipstick AND allow the fluid a minute or so to flow back down the pipe before measuring. If you pull the stick, wipe it off, and immediately thrust it back down, it will pick up fluid off the side of the tube that was dragged up when you pulled it, giving a false indication of level. Pull the stick, wipe it off, wait a bit, then re-insert. Pull again and check BOTH sides -- one usually has smeared out and up hte stick, the other will show the actual lever across the stick. A pain, alas, but over filling can ruin the tranny.

Peter

Thanks guys.....its given me some food for thought!

I'll be looking into some of the suggestions when I manage to find some time.

Thanks once again.