Oil Filter question and long trip tips...
 

I'm headed to Colorado from Kentucky tomorrow morning for 3 or 4 weeks of kayaking in the Rockies. Taking the 'cedes and had a few questions. First of all, and this is kind of unrelated, I have a new oilfilter that is slightly dented from getting moved around in the back of my car, is it still good to go? The dent is minor, nothing is ripped/torn or broken. Secondly, the drive will probably take about 22 hours at least (Lexington to Vail) so are there any long distance driving tips? It seems like my car has been running warmer as the temp is starting to warm up. I have a damn fahrenheit guage with 2 unidentified lines and I don't know what the temps are on it. I only have 100, 175, and 250. As far as I know, 175 isn't and has never been half way between 100 and 250. go figure.
thanks,
will

hello
 

your oil filter is ok,,

i am in louisville... where do you get biodiesel in lexington..
none here in louisville yet.

Your filter should be perfectly OK if it hasn't got dirt in it. If it even might have dirt, throw it away. They aren't that expensive. But if it's just a dent, use it.

Join the Auto Club and take a cell phone. And if something seems to be going wrong don't ignore it and hope it goes away. Stop and fix it or at least find out what the trouble is.

I'm also soon going on a long trip....I leave for Gettysburg, PA on Monday Morning, me and my friend are going straight there (about 590 miles) nonstop except for some fuel/food) then we'll be around there that night and the following day, then we're headed to Millersville, MD right outside Washington DC......where we'll be till saturday morning, which is when we depart from Millersville straight back to good o'l Grand Rapids....which will be a near 700 mile nonstop trip all day long and probably somewhat into the evening....wshew. LONG. We'll be driving in and around the capital and such too....seeing the museums and so on....probably the DC zoo....its going to be fun.... :D So long as nothing goes wrong under the hood.... :eek: I just cruised 200 miles on Wednesday at between 75-85mph and it ran perfectly, so I don't see any problems with this trip hopefully.....tranny shifts perfect and the engine was purring, and has new oil cooler lines and so on, so it should be good to go. Had the tires freshly rotated yesterday too :D

check belts
 

check belts and hoses,,, the tranny hose going to the bottom of the
radiator should be replaced if its 20 years old.. the newer ones have a spring\
on them to protect them from belt breaks...

also the moth of the radiator break off when it runs hot the newer radiators have metal inserts in the mouth... so do't let it run hot..


i use to just get in and drive but now i think about it as if its an airplane..

Some tips for Gettysburg, if you take a tour take one with a live person. The tape tours are a little weak. Fun town I was just their for there after the last gtg.

DC well traffic is going to be horrible and outside of the center DC has some pretty bad areas. Fords theater is in a slum. Very cool city and I need to go back to check out the new WW2 memorial. Spring is the best time to go also.


Also you will hit traffic make sure your cooling system is up to it.

Remember, after you've done high speeds for an extended period of time in a turbocharged Benz, you should let it idle for two minutes before you turn it off to cool down the turbo.

Definately :D I usually do at least 30 seconds no matter where or how fast I was driving....but thats probably just because I am addicted to the sound of the engine..... :D ;)

Yeah I think we'll try to take a tour with a live person, I do fear the DC traffic....we're only going to go straight from our campground (Millersville, MD KOA) to the museum-smithsonian/capitol hill area, not much elsewhere in DC....friday we'll be going right from campground to the Zoological park then back. I trust my cooling system will hold up, it has all new fluid in it as of last July, and the water pump was also replaced then, its never overheated or even come close to in the time I've owned it....when it gets warm (to the 90C line or so) the electric fan comes roaring on and then it slowly falls (this is in standstill hot traffic that it does this) so it never has a problem....my A/C doesn't work/has no belt...so no extra heat from that either :D I hope we don't spend too much time in traffic...we'd prefer to spend it in the museums! :eek:

Mapquest says that the 27.2 miles between the campground and the Independence Ave area in DC takes over an hour! :eek: We'll be out early though....to compensate...

Also go to the air and space museum it is so cool! :cool: Well they all are but that one is my favorite. Comfortable shoes are a must because after you park your car you will be walking all day.

You will like DC it is my favorite city so far.

The National Air and Space Musuem's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center at Dulles International in Chantilly, VA is worth the ride/drive. They have one of the Concordes, the original Boeing 707 prototype (Dash 367-80), tons of other interesting aircraft in a large hangar, and a spotting tower so you can view planes on approach to Dulles. One of the must sees if you'll be in the area. I think there is a shuttle bus that runs between the museum in DC and the one Chantilly.
-Joe

Are there available parking areas near the museums/that area? We are intending to get there in the morning and park....then come back probably late afternoon to head back to the campground.....as little driving as possible, since everything is within a few miles in that area walking would be no prob at all....we just need a parking lot.... We do fully intend to go to the space museum....I am totally into that stuff :D We're going to visit as much as possible....we'll be out probably 6:30-7am heading to our place to park.....do the museums have lots? or are there public ones? Thats probably the biggest issue once we're in the area, is just finding a good lot. The zoo probably won't be a problem, I assume it has plenty of parking....and we'll be there all day friday (their site claims over 7-8 hours to see the entire grounds! wow!)

I havn't been to DC in like 5 years but if I remember correctly there are underground garages and stuff. When we went we stayed at a hotel in the center and never touched the car.

Like any city expect to pay a couple of bucks for parking.

Now I want to go back! :D Maybe next year or this fall.

dc....
 

we did dc a few years back. first day took train from near campground which was north of dc near loop road. noticed that train station had a large parking garage, so after that we drove in and parked at same garage. then walked same as when we took train but had car available if needed. worked well... be sure of where you are going as some large areas near downtown are not very safe.

I would also like to know what those lines on the temperature gauge mean, as daBenz has them on a F-scale, too. Never could find out what they mean, but I think it's a tip for the driver - like the dots on the speedo.

Best tip I can think of is to not lug the engine in the big hills. You'll know as you won't be able to accelerate and you'll see the coolant temperature go up. Shift down before this happens, keep the revs up and enjoy the view. You're doing it right if you can still accelerate uphill and the temp stays normal. Diesel engine is a good brake on the big downhills, too, if you don't upshift at the top. Use the flashers like the big trucks do if you can't keep up with traffic on the ups or downs.

I got to the point where I quit driving in DC proper. The subway trains go way out of town now, and are the safest in the country in my opinion.