Newly acquired 300D - trap oxidizer - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

jksoft · #1 10-12-2004, 05:13 PM

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.)

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

dieseldiehard · #2 10-12-2004, 05:34 PM

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

dieseldiehard · #3 10-12-2004, 05:37 PM

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

jksoft · #4 10-12-2004, 05:49 PM

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

dieseldiehard · #5 10-12-2004, 06:02 PM

130K miles is just getting broken in

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

vwbuge · #6 10-13-2004, 12:48 AM

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

jksoft · #7 10-13-2004, 09:57 AM

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

jcyuhn · #8 10-14-2004, 11:56 AM

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

jksoft · #9 10-14-2004, 09:40 PM

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

Hatterasguy · #10 10-14-2004, 11:29 PM

Did the dealer change out the trapox?

jksoft · #11 10-15-2004, 12:23 AM

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

Diesel_Canuck · #12 10-18-2004, 03:45 PM

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.

lietuviai · #13 10-18-2004, 04:34 PM

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.

dieseldiehard · #14 10-18-2004, 06:14 PM

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.

dieseldiehard · #15 10-18-2004, 06:19 PM

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