Mark

The "throttle plate" you are referring to was added when the EGR valve was added to the 82-83 240D. I had the same hopelessly floppy linkage on my '82 and I retrofitted pre-82 intake (sans butterfly valve) and exhaust manifolds and got rid of the EGR. I don't know if it improved the car as I never drove it with all the EGR clutter before, but it sure doesn't seem to have hurt anything ( I get up to 36 MPG). I don't know if you can get away with this if you have smog testing.

Rick

I was pretty sure my repair didn't really affect the engine performance much, but I hate to have stuff as worn & sloppy as my linkage was, so I feel better sleeving the damaged bushing.
No emissions testing here in Northern Virginia, for diesels prior to the OBD II equipped '96 and newer models. Would I gain anything if my EGR system were to accidentally become disabled?

Happy Motoring, Mark

Just a cleaner intake.

It never hurts a diesel to provide it with as much filtered air as possible. If you can lose that butterfly (or disable it in the open position) I would think that would be a good thing. And , if you keep the EGR, disable it. Search for ways on this forum.

Well, my 'new' diesel came dangerously close to impending doom this morning. Went to take the 240D out for some errands and had just backed to the curb when I noticed a big shiny black lake in the driveway. By the time I pulled back in, 'Miss Diesel' had dumped a gallon and a half of Rotella 15w40 engine oil! I found one of the oil filter-cover studs stripped out of the case. Turns out the PO had replaced the other stud with a bolt from underneath. So two hours later, after replacing the stud with a similar repair-bolt, driving my Nissan to Wal-Mart for some fresh Rotella and two sacks of kitty-litter, refilling my engine and covering the oil spill, I was finally on my way.

So glad this didn't happen at night, or last Sunday afternoon on the beltway, on my way to/from the antique radio meet in Davidsonville MD.!

Happy Motoring, Mark

My OM616 turbo with manual non ALDA IP nails when taking off, then it becomes quiet, I live with it, many think I am about to drop a rod, its perfectly normal for this engine, most OM616 turbos survive abuse and last up to 400,000+ miles with ease and little maintenance here.

Mark, they can also rattle to pieces. Rubber hoses touching each other will wear through. If an air filter container comes loose it will sound like you've thrown a rod. Rough luck on oil can problems, yeah you're lucky it happened in the driveway. Have seen filter seals that dont quite fit and then leak - wix is notorious for this. The usual installation procedure is to put the rubber ring on the cap lid not the cannister, but you probly know this already.

Yeah, it wasn't the gasket. I guess 25 years of wrenching on the filter studs took it's toll on the aluminum. The PO repaired the one by inserting a bolt up through the filter-case stud hole and today was my turn to do the other.
I do have an oil-pressure question. I've noticed after warmup, that I'm usually getting between .8 bar and 1.2 bar on the guage at idle, though occasionally it does read somewhat higher if it's been shut off for a few minutes. My owner's manual says at operating temperature it may drop, at idle speed to .5 bar safely, though some on this forum insist that minimum oil-pressure should be much higher. I hear no bearing noises, though with the diesel clatter, it's hard to tell. The oil guage does go to max pretty quickly - usually by about 1200 - 1500 rpm.
(This all was happening before today's oil leak.)
I'm wondering if I should check the oil-pump pickup screen?

Happy Motoring, Mark

Mark,

Have you checked the two very small o-rings on the central shaft that protrudes down from the oil filter cap? It has been said here in the past that if they are not nice and supple, it will hurt idle oil pressure. Mine were like graphite when I did the first oil change, and they fell off in pieces!!

Another issue is later model oil pressure guages can spring a leak. Seen this on a couple of cars. Generally an '83+ problem.

My '82 240D was built in late '81. 3 months ago, I had the cluster out and apart when I repaired the odometer and there was no sign of a guage oil leak then, and I'm not seeing any now (at least nothing is dribbling from the dash).

After the holidays, I'll check my filter 'O' rings. I'm also wondering if the tube could have been damaged when the cap stud worked loose. If the tube is OK and there's no improvement after new rings, maybe I'll inspect the oil pump screen. I was thinking of switching to Rotella Synthetic. I saw some, that I think was 5w40, at Wal-Mart yesterday. What do you think?

You will notice an incredible performance improvement with synthetic, no downside that i can think of. The first oil change will pull alot of sludge after 2,000 miles. That in itself might fix the oil pressure problem. Have never pulled the pan on an m616. And the oil pump should be fine. The only MB prone to oil pump probs of which I'm aware was the old 190c. Meanwhile replacing the entire 240D filter can and bracket involves a few allen bolts notso easy to reach. Am glad you like the diesel. Get used to one and it will be hard to get away from.

I don't think It's going to need the whole filter can. The bolts inserted through the former stud sockets have solved the tie-down issue. However, I'm a bit concerned that when the filter cap worked loose on one side, it may have bent or cracked the center pipe. As the oil pressure is still above the minimum, I'll limit my diesel-driving till after the holidays, when I'll have a chance to re-check all this.

Happy Motoring, Mark

We had some nice weather today, so I pulled the filter cover to inspect the center tube and 'O' rings. No damage to the tube but the rings were hard as rocks and one was cracked. Unfortuately, there wasn't any improvement in oil pressue with new 'O' rings. So my next step probably will be to drop the lower oil-pan and check the oil pump screen, unless I can find or rig an adapter to fit a test guage to the oil pressure line connection. Has anyone removed the upper oil-pan on one of these with the engine in the car?

Happy Motoring, Mark

Dropping the lower engine block casing just to look at the oil pump screen - are you out of your mind? Try synthetic oil and replacing the filter cannister first. And there looks to be spring loaded oil pressure valve in the filter cann according to parts book (mod 123) catalogue B plate 18/3.