Did the dealer change out the trapox?

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

The car hasn't made it to the dealer yet. I had the appointment for Wednesday morning, but since the car wouldn't start, I need to reschedule. I'll update this thread once the car returns from the dealer.

J

The car is now at the dealer having the following campaigns taken care of:
Trap Oxidizer removal / exhaust system replacement
Throttle bushing replacement

I should have it back in a couple of days since they had to order parts.

Jeremy

I have just been informed (today) by my local MB dealer that MB Canada will no longer honour the trap oxidizer recall on my '87 300 SDL. Apparently, they only replace the trap oxidizer if the car is less than 15 years old. My car is a California car, and the dealer suggested that I return the car to California, to see if they would replace the trap oxidizer there.

I'm thinking that since I cannot buy a replacement trap oxidizer, and since it is part of the emissions equipment on my car, that I should contact whomever is responsible for overseeing emissions requirements in Canada, and see if perhaps MB Canada will change their policy.

I'm glad that your trap is being replaced; wish me luck with the bureaucracy up here, if you don't mind.

On the bright side, my car has already had the turbo replaced under warranty (several years ago), and a new #22 head was installed shortly before I purchased the car. I've disabled the EGR, and tweaked the ALDA. I turned the ALDA up 1-and-a-half turns at first, but found that although the power was amazing (I could spin the tires when starting out on anything less than a perfect surface), the fuel economy suffered too much, so I am currently running at a half turn CCW. My best mileage so far has been 31 mpg (Imperial), on a long trip over a mountain pass, where I reached an indicated speed of 125 mph (on the level). Too bad I didn't have a GPS to confirm the speed.

This list is one of the reasons that I purchased my car. Without it, I wouldn't have had a clue regarding what issues to look for when I decided to buy my old Benz diesel.

I have a trap that has only about 60K miles on it that I don't need anymore for an '85 300D. It was a warranty replacement. PM me if anyone wants it.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

Traps belong in landfill.
The reason I went to the trouble and added expense of getting a 1985 300TD that wasn't a Calif car, was to avoid the difficulties involved with getting rid of the darned trap oxidizer. At the time I was looking at a salvaged '85 300TD, the local dealer refused to sell a non-CA exhaust line to bypass the trap, they were saying it was against company rules or something to that effect, so I bought a Federal version '85 300TD from out of state, and had it shipped to Calif.

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Diesel Canuk, if you want to let me baby your '87 send it here and I'll hassle with the local dealer to get the trap bypassed under factory work, provided they aren't telling everyone the same thing. If you drive down you can borrow one of my cars for the duration of the work.

FWIW, I have seen two '87 300Ds show up on eBay, one was nearby in fact, both still had traps installed. It's amazing that this late in the game the owners didn't take them in for some reason and have the bloody things recalled or replaced or whatever.
Dieseldiehard
1971 220 (gas) 4-spd manual 106441
1979 300TD w/ ’85 turbo engine 295530
1983 300D 243280
1985 300TD 217300
1987 300D 258230

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Diesel Canuck,

Do you have access to another MB dealer? A friend of mine needed some warranty work on a Toyota he bought in California. One BC Toyota dealer wouldn't touch it, another was all over it.

One thing you might consider in the interim is gutting the trap oxidizer. It might act like some funky fluid mechanical version of a capacitor but there's no risk of matter falling into the turbo.

You might check how much MB wants for a replacemant pipe. It might cost less than the amount of Aspirin to get MB to own up to fixing it, and you won't get the downstream oxidizer catalyst that'll plug up in a few years.

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL

I must admit I was little nervous after reading Diesel Canuck's post that the dealer was going to call me and tell me the recall was no longer covered. They have had it since Monday so I called this morning and I guess they just got the parts in and are doing the work now. Should have it done by the end of the day unless a bolt gets broken.

J

lietuviai,
FYI the traps where a routine maintenance replacement every 30,000 miles so I'd be afraid to use one with twice as many miles on it. From what I understand they gradually get clogged and/or breakup which demos the turbo. Judging the way MBZ is about other things my guess is that they are good for far more than 30,000 but obviously the factory wanted to take no chances so I'd be inclined to do the same and suggest you toss your old trap.

LRG

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LRG
1987 300D Turbo 175K
2006 Toyota Prius, efficent but no soul
1985 300 TDT(130K miles of trouble free motoring)now sold

jksoft,

The reason that the Canadian dealers won't replace the trap oxidizer under the recall is that MBCanada and MBUSA are two completely separate entities. MBCanada doesn't want to pay for something which is MBUSA's responsibility, so they have arbitrarily set 15 years since the car was first sold as the limit to their involvement.

Does anyone know how I would contact DaimlerChrysler to complain about these siblings who refuse to replace emissions items under DaimlerChrysler's "indefinite" warranty (as they refer to it in their Service Campaign Bulletin No. 96-1121)?

DC,
Unfortunately, I do not know how one would get ahold of Daimler Chrysler. I'm assuming you want to go over the heads of both MB USA and MB Canada.

I just picked up my car from the dealer. Here is a list of the parts replaced:
Exhaust system - From engine to tail
Turbocharger
Two broken manifold studs repaired
A couple of seal rings and a turbo gasket

Looks good, but I didn't notice a huge difference on the drive home. I don't really have anything to compare it to though. It seems to have some getup and go, but it is not overwhelming. At least thats one part of the car I shouldn't have to worry about for a while.

J

I am continually amazed that most of us will not post local the area of the world that we live in our profiles. Mostt of us won't dropin without calling first. That said: Why don't you just drive the car across the border to the nearest MB dealer and say fix it!

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N. Hodges
1994 S350
1987 300 SDL (for sale)

Score!! Nothing like getting $4k worth of free work done!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Almost all CA cars are rust free and have had the trap ox recall done for the trap cat....so CA cars are not to be ignored when considering a purchase.