Newly acquired 300D - trap oxidizer
 

I just acquired an 87 300D and have been following this forum for several weeks now in anticipation of the cars arrival. The first thing I wanted to take care of was the trap oxidizer. I called the dealer today and set up an appointment to bring it in for the recall work. I gave them the VIN and they said that the trap oxidizer recall had already been performed at 40,000 miles. Based on pictures I have seen in this forum of cars with and without the trap oxidizer, it appears that my car still has one (pic below). The service manager did mention that there were two other campaigns that hadn't been performed:
1) Throttle bushing
2) catalytic converter
Has anyone heard of either of these issues and can you give me your thoughts on the trap oxidizer issue based on the picture?

(These are the only two pictures I have available at the moment, I will try to post a better one when I have access to my camera.)
http://www.zoomail.org/gallery/album...s/DSCF0428.jpg
http://www.zoomail.org/gallery/album...s/DSCF0429.jpg

The car is scheduled to go in tomorrow morning. Is there anything else I should have them do that will cost me little to nothing?

Thank you,

J

Don't let them do anything else unless its covered under factory recall.
Even filling the w/s wiper juice container will cost you.
Find a good Indy shop and let them do any of the suggested items the dealer comes up with.
That engine does still have a trap. It should be replaced by a narrower pipe and they add the CAT under the car.
The PO of my '87 got a complete new exhaust line at the same time the CAT was installed, at no charge. They indicated the normal cost as I remember on an "invoice" - it was in the range of $1400 as I recall.
I hope you enjoy the car!
Dieseldiehard
1971 220 (gas) 4-spd manual 106441
1979 300TD w/ ’85 turbo engine 295530
1983 300D 243280
1985 300TD 217300
1987 300D 258230

they said that the trap oxidizer recall had already been performed at 40,000 miles
 

Maybe they replaced the trap at 40K.
How many miles are on the car now (I didn't see anything about it in your post)?
And plan on installing a BB in the vac line to disable the EGR valve (or remove it completely) Oh yes, for Off road evaluations only ;)

The car now has 130,000 miles on it.

I will make sure they know not to do anything except the items covered by the factory. The person I talked to on the phone indicated that all of those items I listed above would be done at no charge, but since I hadn't seen any of them mentioned, other than the trap oxidizer, I wanted to get some others input.

I do need to get a second key made and I saw a post somewhere on here about that being a good thing to have done at the dealership.

J

130K miles is just getting broken in :D
Yes, the dealer gets keys cut to code, so as long as the cylinders haven't been changed, a code cut key will work and better than any garbage cut by a locksmith (my brother is a locksmith and he supports this fact!)
Also, you may need to carry your owner's title to the dealer at least the dealers always confirm ownership out here in Calif. before accepting key orders.
DDH

Dieseldiehard may be correct about your car. But the trap ox and replacement catalyst on my car looked exactly the same.

Bad "start" to this relationship
 

I went out to start the car this morning to take it to the dealership and what do you know, it doesn't want to start. It cranked once, but then every attempt to start it after that did absolutely nothing. I'm hoping it is just a battery issue, but I didn't have time to play with it because I had to get to work. Is there any thing else I should look at, other than the battery, that is a common cause of starting problems on these cars?

J

It's a big battery and it takes a lot of power to start these diesels. Check the battery and the connections.

My trap replacement looked the same as the trap ox also, just a different part number.

Craig

On the '85s the trap replacements look the same. The '87 is different and actually replaces the trap with a foil wrapped pipe and installs a cat downstream. I think what the dealer is really telling you is that the trap was at one time replaced with a new trap but the later cat retrofit has not yet been done. You'll want to get that done and have them check the turbo at the same time. It should all be under warranty.

Trap has not been replaced
 

Let the dealer see it and they will change their tune. Another issue is that the head problems with this engine are said to be related to how long the trap is on prior to replacement.

Concerning the hard start: did you do the glow plugs prior to attempting to start?

Does it crank and not start or not crank? If it doesn't crank, does the shift lever have fore-aft sloppiness? If so, you might need new shift rod bushings. You can probably get by by holding the key in the start position and moving the shift lever a little forward and aft of neutral without clicking into the adjacent positions.

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL

Dcraig:
I checked the battery last night and it appears to be a very cheap battery that someone threw in just to get the car started once or twice. It has no markings on it at all so I don't even know how many amps it is. I tried to jump start the car and it started cranking, but slugglishly, and still wouldn't start. I took it over to Discount Auto Parts and had it tested and that was really a waste of time. The test said it was only putting out 5 volts and that I needed to retest it once it was charged. After all of the attempts to start the car, I'm sure it was drained down. I will replace it anyway so I have a fresh starting point. I found a battery thread on here that seems to have plenty of information regarding selecting a battery. The consensus seems to be get as large a battery that will fit, and preferrably a series 49.

theref:
When you say "do the glow plugs", I assume you mean turning the ignition on and letting them warm up, before starting actually starting the car. I have done that, but one question I have is what does the Glow Plug indicator light look like?

I do not have the original owner's manual, and the owners manual that is on my 124 service CD's, is not specifically for this car and it doesn't tell me what the glow plug light looks like. Through the process of elimination, I am guessing the Glow Plug light is the light on the far right hand side of the indicator display that has a couple of squiggly lines in it. This is the only one not identified in the manual that I have. That light never comes on though. If that is the Glow Plug light, then I guess I may have a problem with the Glow Plug system. If that is the case, I should be able to troubleshoot it based on the service manual.

sixto:
It wouldn't even crank at all until I tried jumping it last night, then it cranked but did not start.

J

Get yourself a Die Hard battery. I think there are several different ones, Silver or Gold series, about $100. I've never had a starting problem, and always use them.

That is the glow plug light on the dash. It should light for about 10 seconds, maybe a burned out bulb? Also might try turning on the key so that the glow plugs cycle 2 times, although they are supposed to stay hot after the light goes out. I have one (or more) plugs going out and it helps starting if I do this. Test the current to see if the plugs are good. I have a tester, but I don't know how to use it. So many settings on it, I'm confused.

Good Luck,

Craig

How many seconds do you have to crank the engine to get it started? If it requires more than 1-2 seconds this time of year there is a problem - possibly glow plugs, but other gremlins are possible too.

Here's a quick/easy way to tell if the glow plugs are actually operating. Open the drivers door and leave it open - the dome light should be on. Put the key in the ignition and turn it to the pre-glow position (all dash lights on), watching the dome light the entire time. You should see the dome light dim immediately when you turn the key to pre-glow. The glow plugs fire off right away and draw a large amount of current - enough to noticably dim the light.

If the glow plugs don't seem to be working and the dash light is off, the first thing to check is the special 80 amp fuse. You need to locate the glow plug controller relay. It's located on the drivers' side fenderwell. A small rectangular box with a black plastic cover. Pop off the cover. In plain sight is a strip fuse held in place by two phillips head screws. If the fuse is burned or broken, that's your problem. They just fail from age and use, so even if the fuse is bad it doesn't necessarily indicate another problem exists.

I don't know if you can source this fuse at your local McParts auto store. The dealer will have it, or you can mailorder. Get two.

- JimY

Got it running
 

I went out and purchased a brand new battery tonight and swapped it out. Much to my surprise, it fired right up. I say I'm surprised because it didn't want to fire when I tried to jump it. FYI, I bought a Autozone Group 49 battery, mainly because that is what was convenient for me and some of the recomendations of people on this board.

The car drives and handles very nicely. The only noticeable problem was the pulsating brakes. I would suspect a warped rotor, but it can't hurt to change to brake fluid and bleed the brakes first.

Now I can get on to other repairs. Things like the power antenna, left side power windows, and driver door power lock. I plan on changing all of the fluids and filters as well.

Thank you all for your help, I am sure I will have more questions in the weeks to come.

J

'87 300D White
'01 Aprilia Falco
'01 Suziki SV650S