The one I looked at for my brother here in Plano was pathetic also, very lame off a dead stop. But in it's defense it needs a timing chain bad as well as the pump timed. No telling if the cat is plugged up too. Once the boost came on it took of in a decent manner.

Mine was a bit snappier than that one before I tweaked up the ALDA. I'm still considering it as SDLs that look clean aren't too common around here.

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Man... what a huge difference!! My 87 SDL was a bit sluggish off the line... Not horrible but I would have to time my jumps into traffic and then stand on the accellerator. But now... 0 to 40 is like a gasser.

I cranked the ALDA CCW all the way and then backed it off about 1/2 of a full turn. I had spoke with Hit Man and he was going to back his down about bit due to a little extra smoke, and mine seemed good at the 1/2 turn and didn't smoke.

Thanks again HM

__________________
Rick
Safety Harbor, FL
1987 300SDL 280K

Glad you like the difference, and now you have six working glow plugs also!

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

I turned my ALDA until the turbo lag went away, but then I missed the boost. I like feeling the car pick up and almost float as it gains speed from the boost. It's one of the joys of having a turbo. I had to turn it back a turn to get the feeling back.

The problem with the one on the 603 motor is that the ALDA is hidden by the intake manifold. I'd rather have a bit too much than not enough.

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Hit man
Thanks for the great photos and commentary. Useful info.
So you say you turned the ALDA back more towards where the original (stock) setting was? So how many turns do you think you ended up from stock? Was the intake manifold really restricted with oily gunk then? I wonder how burning Biodiesel would improve this gunking up condition? What did you determine to be the best way to rid the X over pipe etc of gunk?
Thanks. Oilburner, in Vancouver

I'd say 3-4 CCW turns to max it out. I would then go one full CW, mine is still maxed and it's just a bit too much. You can see smoke when you first hit the pedal from a dead stop.

My sales booklet states 10.4 sec 0-55mph (speed limit in 1987 ) so I'm just a hair quicker than that. This is off a stop watch, not GPS or drag strip lights. Also I have my cat gutted and removed the AFM.

The IM wasn't restricted but it sure was full of crap. My pictures were not as good as I thought they would be. Easy solution would be to take it to a machine shop to have hot tanked to get it all out.

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Hit man
So do you feel you are definitely getting better perf off the line? I spoke to a benz specialist that suggested if your going to turn up the fuel (ALDA) you will need extra air that the turbo provides, but which won't be at off the line speeds. What do you figure? Better perf or not?
What is AFM?
thanks. PD

I am sure Hit Man will answer, but I just turned mine up and it was a huge performance jump. NO LAG... NONE. Touch the accellerator and you are moving.
(Diesel or Veggy oil)

__________________
Rick
Safety Harbor, FL
1987 300SDL 280K

Oh yes, no doubt in my mind it's faster. 0-60 and Seat of the Pants. As I recall the ALDA is only for off boost fueling.

AFM = Air Flow Meter. It's only there for emissions controlling, EGR and AIR as I recall. Since I have neither (for testing reasons) I removed that AFM also. A simple intake snorkel hose from the 617 motor worked in its place without air leaks and costs nearly nothing.

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

My ALDA was tweaked soon after the new IP was installed. Sometimes you can get in there WITHOUT By my father.

I couldn't be happier. Don't mean to hijack.


Here is my latest GPS run:

GPS TICKOVER VS SPEED

0 ---------- 00.0 mph

1 ---------- 12.1 mph

2 ---------- 21.3 mph

3 ---------- 30.5 mph
--------------------------------------1st to 2nd chirp
4 ---------- 36.7 mph

5 ---------- 42.2 mph

6 ---------- 48.6 mph
--------------------------------------2nd to 3rd
7 ---------- 51.4 mph

8 ---------- 54.9 mph

9 ---------- 58.7 mph

10 --------- 61.7 mph
-------------------------------

Awaiting to hear others in detail(macthomas, hitman). Perhaps a spreadsheet workbook to compile data?
However, you need to consider, the GPS records times at 9/10'ths of an actual second, so for accuracy you multiply those times by 90% or .9.

__________________
1987 300SDL (324000)

1986 Porsche 951 (944 Turbo) (166000)

1978 Porsche 924 (99000)

1996 Nissan Pathfinder R50 (201000)

I need to get a GPS prior to providing indepth data such as that. I went from high 10s to low 10s from my simple modifications anyone can do.

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

$100 will get you a decent unit capable of many applications. Comes in real handy if you're an avid hiker. I use a GPS72 with WAAS.

0-61.7 was an actual 9.1 seconds. GPS tickover = 0.9 seconds. And it gets quite toasty, I bet.

0-60 mph factory is supposed to be 12.5 seconds. for the 300SDL. If you are getting 10 second times, those are on par with your average '87 300D, and the engine would theoretically be putting out 170 - 180 hp(if the weight of the car is curb). Which is possible, but unusual if you personally have not modified your pump.

__________________
1987 300SDL (324000)

1986 Porsche 951 (944 Turbo) (166000)

1978 Porsche 924 (99000)

1996 Nissan Pathfinder R50 (201000)

I haven't messed with the internals of the pump, I plan to but not now. I am not sure how to do so nor do I have the EGT gauge yet. I don't attribute my missing AFM to the power nor gutting out that cat. Maybe the ALDA tweak helps THAT much on the 603s.

My MB booklet from '87 shows 10.4sec 0-55mph, I do not see how it'd be another 2.1sec for the next 5mph. Seems like it'd be low 11sec range if I had to guess.

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

I have a video of Turbodiesel's (now Plantman's) 300sdl running to 60 mph, if you'd like.

Here is an example of the average SDL in good tune:



You will see the acceleration to 55 mph matches up well. As does the 12.5 seconds, if you have a counter.

Wonder what the quarter mile is for these things? I'd love to see an excerpt from a magazine from C+D or R+T around the time these cars debuted. So far, I only have detailed articles for a 560, 560AMG, 500SEC, and 380SEC. All thanks to Peter(Flashback) at http://www.500sec.com.

I eat up anything with numbers. Both here, and working on my BS in CS.

__________________
1987 300SDL (324000)

1986 Porsche 951 (944 Turbo) (166000)

1978 Porsche 924 (99000)

1996 Nissan Pathfinder R50 (201000)