Does anyone else feel like they are a road hazard in their diesel Mercedes? I've been honked at 3-4 times already and I have the pedal to the floor everywhere I go as a desperate attempt to get up to speed. I feel bad flooring it so much but crikey this thing needs a little more go. It's an 83 300DT with 156k miles, meticulously maintained.

The funny thing is... the owner I got the car from said proudly it's the fastest one he's ever driven. He's had over 20 W123/W126 vehicles so I assume he knows what he's talking about.

How do these cars react to modifications? I've done a little research and found that the IP can be adjusted along with increasing the turbo boost... but how safe is this? I've been tuning turbo gas vehicles for a long time now but am a total newbie to the diesel world

Change all the fluids, filters. Adjust the valves, check for chain stretch while your doing the valves.
Clean out the banjo fitting on the back side of the intake manifold. Make sure this line is clear to the IP.
Tweek the ALDA if its still too slow for you.

Do a search here. Lots of good info.

I have 200# on you, and I easilly see 85mph on highways. of course most don't belive me on the speed of my 126 car. if you are having problmes getting up to speed or maintaining speed, there is a problem with your airfilter, turbo, or alda fuel boost valve.
fuel filter can also cause the problems you describe.
go to dieselgiant.com and look at the mercedes repair sections good place to start.
John

The turbodiesels seem to have plety of power to get into traffic. I had issues with the N/A diesels, but I live in Denver.

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'83 240D with 617.952 and 2.88
'01 VW Beetle TDI
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD
'89 Toyota 4x4, needs 2L-T
'78 280Z with L28ET - 12.86@110
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eh, the mechanic says there is nothing wrong with it. It does 0-60 in just under 12 seconds according to the ghetto stopwatch method. Once it's up to speed it's really nice... it's just off the line power that is a bit lacking. I could fall asleep in the time it takes to get from 0-30 mph.

I guess I'm just spoiled in the fact that my other car gets to 60 almost 3x faster

I'll need to change my driving style, wait for larger openings in traffic, etc. I did a search for ALDA and came up with a ton of stuff... does anyone have a direct link on how to tweak it for slightly more power?

Thanks guys

I would time my 0-60 and compare it against posted averages. Would perhaps give you some insite or at least let you know when you have normal speed back again. Edit: I got beat by a the last post it seems. Still might be wise to check your 0-30 or an alda tweek does help a little I have heard.

My '82 300D was a dog for years. I just thought that's the way a diesel was supposed to be. Cleaning out the switchover valve line resulted in a significant improvement. A quarter turn on the ALDA really helped initial acceleration. Adjusting the valves helped a little. Also, my injection timing was quite retarded. Adjusting the timing helped a little, but the primary affect is that the engine now starts almost immediately. Adjusting the governor idle pin got rid of the "shakes."

The bottom line is that my "dog" now runs like a sewing machine and performs like a sports car. Well, almost like a sports car. I don't feel like I have to say a prayer before merging into traffic any more.

Try crankin the ALDA up and make sure throttle linkage is correct.

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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]

dont ever worry about flooring it.

they are made to be driven that way. absolutely no danger to the car.

also be sure to count and see if you are using all four gears. sometimes they will take off in second and then it is blankey and pillow time as you have time to take a nap while it is spooling up.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Thanks for the information It's just a bit unnerving to have the pedal on the floor all the time. I'd be headed to jail if I did that in either of my other vehicles

You could also do other things like propane fumigation, install electric cooling fan(s), run a 'premium' diesel fuel, and run synthetic oil.

I think a cumulative effect works best.

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Cheers,
Robert

The last time I was in Tucson the speed limit was 35 on most streets!!! If the car cannot get out in traffic at that speed I would have to say that you do have a problem. I am currently driving a 300D Euro and have no problem from the traffic light or merging onto the highway. But as others have suggested replace the all of the filters.

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2000 VW Jetta TDI with 213,000 miles and climbing
84 300D non turbo getting ready for wvo conversion

think that is slow, try driving a 240D heh, well anyways, if anyone gets on my but or anything, i just floor is and watch a big cloud of smoke come out, then they always change lanes.... never fails

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1983 Euro 240D 277K
2016 Mazda 6
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Formers:
2012- Mazda 3
2007 Outlander- complete pile
1995 E300 Diesel 208K
2007 VW Passat 2.0T 63K SOLD
2003 Jaguar X-type 3.0 Sport Sold 04/11 w/88K
2009 Lexus RX350 9061 miles. Sold 04/09
2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS:Totaled Sept.,09 @ 24,000
2003 Infiniti I35 58K Sold
1984 300 turbo diesel 222K

Tweaking the ALDA should cure any 0-30 problems you might have short of sloppy throttle linkage.

check your linkage to make sure it's contacting the full stop screw. Have an assistant hold the throttle all the way to the floor (With the engine off) and see that it touches the bolt. See the picture for the bolt I'm talking about.

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If you are having trouble driving a 12 second 0-60 car in AZ "traffic" it isn't the car thats the problem...

My SD is slower and I have never had a problem driving it in heavy traffic. Like steep I-95 on ramps where you merge or die at the top.

I find about 2k rpm is enough out of the SD for daily use. Same with the SDL since the ALDA has been adjusted.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
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