Road Trip - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Black300cd · #1 03-03-2006, 09:25 PM

I'm leaving tomorrow morning for a 2000 mile round trip in my 83 300CD. I've had it for about a year but haven't been farther than 150 miles away from home with it. I'm just a bit nervous, but if this trip goes well, I should gain confidence in this car. I did do this trip once in a 240D and it did great and was a real fuel saver, but the noise from the little motor rev'ing wasn't good. The 300CD is not too noisy and is very comfortable and has plenty of power and no problem crusing as fast as is safe.

I drove it 240 miles yesterday to wring-out any last minute bugs and all went well, no problems. The car has 301,000 miles on it, the engine was replaced with a new factory engine by mercedes and has about 200,000 miles on the new engine. Starts right away even in the cold and everything works great except the air cond. compressor. I don't know why I'm nervous about this trip, it will be nearly 850 miles each way with only quick fuel and food stops. I have been driving a very reliable 4runner on this same trip that I take several times each year. I've just decided that the Mercedes is made for highway trips like this and it is time to prove this car out or get rid of it. I'm tired of it being a garage queen. I don't drive it much in the winter if the roads are messy.

1. Do you thinks it's okay to cruise it at about 75-80mph all day?

2. My one concern is that the tranny is original. It shifts fine except slightly soft shift from 3rd to 4th. It has always been serviced and maintained as has the whole car.

It has had the same mechanic since new.

ADLA, tranny vac. mod. and bowden cable adjustment were all tweeked for optimum balance between power off the line/shift point/and to even out the turbo surge/lag. Nothing else can be done to this car except replacing the air cond. compressor.

Okay I just had to vent, thanks. Any encouragement or telling of your experience with road trips would be appreciated.

t walgamuth · #2 03-03-2006, 11:04 PM

dont think i would worry about the engine.

a tranny that is not operating perfectly is another matter. i will let those more expert on automatic trannys weigh in on this.

tom w

arcticathlon · #3 03-03-2006, 11:25 PM

well i will do a 2000 mile trip with my 300D next week and i have no worries. over christmas break i drove it cross country to california. that trip was 4400 miles total and i was pulling a trailer and i ran on WVO the whole time!!! if you have checked your car out lately and know your maint. then you are fine. enjoy your trip.

willy2004 · #4 03-04-2006, 01:22 AM

I drove my former '84 300SD on a few 2000-4000 mile round trips and reached the conclusion that is all I needed to carry was an extra alternator and tools. If the bearing goes on the ALT, that will stop you. You might wanna put on new belts if any are run down.

I always kept an eye on water pump as I ran the original for 215K and running.

I was out on some roads in the Wyoming area where there are no services within a few hundred miles or so. There are plenty of parts of the country like that, of course, and you may run into some very high and very low diesel prices. I remember during 97 or 98 when I saw 99 cent diesel gallons on I-5 up by Stockton, CA. The highest I have seen is 3.69 last summer in Victorville area between Vegas and LA.

pawoSD · #5 03-04-2006, 01:30 AM

I am going to the MB meetup tomorrow, round trip of almost 300 miles....I figured out tonight why I have been getting 19-20mpg.....my #5 injector return line is squirting/drooling fuel

I will have to try to do a makeshift fix to get to Troy tomorrow, then try and leach a piece of the stuff off a fellow meetup person or whunter.

Next week I plan on going to the stealer and buying a meter or so, but its closed for the weekend....

I drove my car 2900 miles on two occassions last summer, one of those times was in the blazing heat too (upper 90's) and it did great. I also have a soft 3-4 shift, but I always let off the fuel now when I want to shift so the 4th drops right in, then I go again, saves a lot of wear on the poor tranny. My other gears shift perfect. Its running Full Synthetic (Mobil 1) ATF, well worth it, makes a big difference. I checked my ATF level today for the first time since last october (when I actually did the change/put in the synthetic) and it was only down 3/4 of a quart! I used to lose around a qt a month! (despite no visible leakage anywhere) It still doesn't drip a single drop....so I dunno where that 3/4 a quart/per half year goes....

I am looking forward to my trip tomorrow and the meetup, it should be fun!

willy2004 · #6 03-04-2006, 02:31 AM

I drove my car 2900 miles on two occassions last summer, one of those times was in the blazing heat too (upper 90's) and it did great.

Reminds me of driving up North of Vegas at 1PM in the afternoon during summer.

The temp read upwards of 40 C.

40 x 1.8 + 32 = 104 F

I had to keep it at about 55-60 MPH to avoid going over 100C.

That was on former '84 SD, I imagine that the E300 would do better.

pawoSD · #7 03-04-2006, 02:39 AM

Mine rode at 105C for much of the time going about 75mph for almost 10 hours straight....it was up there, especially chugging up hills in PA, I also had 1,100 lbs of luggage, firewood, and people etc on board, it was quite an event.