In a parking lot at lunch today.

Old dude: "What year is that?"

Me: "It's a '63."

Dude: "I've got an '01 S430."

Me: "Oh, that's a nice car."

Dude: "Ya, it's got everything. My brother just picked up a '79."

Me: "A Mercedes? What model, a 280CE?" (just taking a stab at it)

Dude: "A diesel"

Me: "A 300 or 240?"

Dude: "I don't know. The body is really straight, the paint is nice and the interior is good. The only thing wrong is my brother has to use starting fluid to start it."

Me: GASP! "That's the worst thing you can do to a diesel engine! Tell your brother to stop doing that right now."

Dude: "Well the thingy, er uh the starting. . ."

Me: "The glow plug system?"

Dude: "Ya, the glow plug system doesn't work and they want $500 to fix it."

Me: "Really? The glow plug system is dead simple, it shouldn't cost that much to fix it."

Dude: "Well, there's something wrong with the uh, thingy in the uh. . .thing."

(Does he mean the relay?)

Me: "Tell your brother to stop using starting fluid."

Dude: "Well, he just got it."

Me: "It is going to destroy the rings."

(The best part)
Dude: "Well, my brother's a mechanic, he doesn't mind replacing rings."

Me: ?

Dude: "Ya, that S430 is really nice, have a good one."

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63 220S W111
76 300D W115
2013 VW JSW TDI M6

previously-
73 280 SEL 4.5
86 300E 5 speed
2010 VW Jetta TDI M6

If it wasn't so sad it may actually be funny!

Danny

__________________
1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

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(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination

You might be able to pick that up soon for cheap as a donor body needing a engine.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

That's enough to make me cry! A couple of years ago I tore an Olds 5.7 diesel apart that was hit with ether. Man what a mess. When it ignited it blew the main bearing caps and cracked the crank.

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1983 300-D turbo
1985 300-D turbo
1959 Harley Panhead chopper
1929 Ford coupe restored
I hang out with Boneheaddoctor at Schuman Automotive OBK#5
All liberals are mattoids but not all mattoids are liberal.

I doubt it would take ehter to nessecarily blow an Olds Diesel, but it sure would have sped that process along.
Get this, my dad has a 78 Olds Cutllass Diesel and it is still on the road. Only has 80 K miles. He is not willing to drive it much, keeps after me to use it for a week just to keep it running. I have been putting him off, had a Chev pickup with the Rocket Olds warmed over diesel blow on me once, don't want that mess again.

There was an ebay car last week that I was considering buying for the engine for my 240D. Considering until his description indicated that it only ran after using starting fluid. I almost sent him an email but if he kills it it just raised the value of our cars...

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Rich Mason
Chapel Hill, NC
1990 300D 285k miles
1993 VW Cabriolet converted to 1.6 TD
1985 VW Westfalia 1.6 TD

In my part of the country when we use starting fluid we use the expression, "Hit her with ether." It probably came from the days before aerosol starting fluid when you went to the drugstore and bought ether straight and put a little bit on a shop rag and held it to your air intake on the old farm tractors. Pretty potent stuff.

__________________
1983 300-D turbo
1985 300-D turbo
1959 Harley Panhead chopper
1929 Ford coupe restored
I hang out with Boneheaddoctor at Schuman Automotive OBK#5
All liberals are mattoids but not all mattoids are liberal.

A mercedes diesel is the only thing I have ever found that I couldnt start with a can of ether. Its not really bad for an engine as long as you dont over use it, hell tractors have a spot on the engine for mounting it and a button in the cab for those cold mornings.

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'85 300 Turbo Diesel- 308K

You got that right.


I went through 2 cans of ether on the 240D (Just to get it in place for work) before I pulled the engine. It made a hell of a racket but it never ran one turn on it's own power.