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  #1  
Old 03-15-2007, 09:39 PM
savage10ne's Avatar
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Question SAnd IN Air Filter!?

Hey How is it going?
My Dad Had bought a w124 1987 300TD on an impulse.
And now he is seriously regretting it.


The interior is exellent, and the car is very quiet and starts on very cold days. But the car is very sluggish and powerless. IT also billows out smoke!!

My Dad assumed that the car would be as easy to maintain as a 1984 300SD, and bought It with out even really checking out the car.

WE had assumed that the power loss was from the leaky fuel lines. And had bought the car.

While checking out the car, we find out that the problems, are much much worst.

While taking out the Air filter, we find sand! Lots and lots of it!
The Airfilter housing looked like a sand bucket.

And the metal thing, I guess the intake manifold, is full of carbon and sooot! You could stick a screw driver in there and come out with heaps of carbon, that looks like caviar.

Welps, my Dad tried cleaning the stuff out as best he could. He also replaced the fuel filter.

And now putting everything back together, the car wont start.


Im thinking there is air in the fuel lines. Is there a hand pump in this model? And what else should my Dad clean out?


I suggest sellling the car, but is there a way to salvage it?


Thanks,

Tony

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  #2  
Old 03-15-2007, 09:44 PM
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I don't think there's a primer pump on that engine. Just have to crank it to get it primed. Any idea how the sand got in the air filter?
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  #3  
Old 03-15-2007, 09:46 PM
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The car should be fine as long as the sand didn't get past the filter. Has the car been driven through the dessert? The soot in the intake is normal, disable the EGR and it will go away. My only experience is with my 300SD, so you'll have to find out how to on that engine somewhere else. Theres a hand pump on the IP on the 617, and maybe on other engines.
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  #4  
Old 03-15-2007, 09:59 PM
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That turbo sucks up all sorts of stuff, I pour sand out of mine every filter change. Not a huge amount, but it collects.

I always change the filter on a hot engine and fill the new on with injector cleaner or clean diesel fuel. There is no hand pump, you will have to crank it in 30 sec or less runs, waiting a minute or more between, until it starts. Best to open the top nut on the injector lines a bit until the air blows out, then tighten them back.

What color was the smoke? Black? Blue? White?

Huge clouds of inky black smoke and a funny rattle from the engine until the turbo finally winds up is an EGR valve sticking open. You would notice -- the car behind will vanish in the cloud.

Tons of smuck in the intake pipe is likely water sludge -- for some reason, this engine blows it out into the intake from the vapor separator in the head. Lots of short distance driving, or a cracked head, will make it much worse.

The car should be a road rocket -- check to make sure the boost signal line from the middle of the intake manifold is intact and holds pressure (take it off and blow into it) -- quite often the switchover valve on the firewall is bad and vents off the pressure, so you don't get fuel enrichment.

Check for cold pressure in the cooling system -- if the radiator hose is hard with the engine cold, likely you have a cracked head -- might be lucky and only have a bad head gasket.

Peter
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  #5  
Old 03-15-2007, 11:23 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 300SD81 View Post
Has the car been driven through the dessert?
It was sand, not sugar!!!

I have driven through the soup a few times, but never the dessert.
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  #6  
Old 03-15-2007, 11:40 PM
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So i guess, when you clean everything up, the car should run fine?

How do you get to the head gaskets/ internals of the engine?

My Dad says, its more confusing than the W126.



Also is there a kit to modify the Air intake? So it doesn't suck from the bottom; along with any kind of debris?


Thanks,

Tony
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  #7  
Old 03-16-2007, 04:51 AM
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It is very hot and sweety in the dessert....
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  #8  
Old 03-16-2007, 08:03 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tangofox007 View Post
It was sand, not sugar!!!

I have driven through the soup a few times, but never the dessert.
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  #9  
Old 03-16-2007, 10:32 AM
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No...I don't think it has been driven through a dessert.

We are up here in Connecticut.

But the old owner was in construction....
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  #10  
Old 03-16-2007, 10:38 AM
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Thats EGR tar in the intake, its not a bad idea to yank the intake and clean it, but it shouldn't greatly affect power. Also kill the EGR if you have not already.

The overboost sensor is probably clogged. On the drivers side fire wall you will see a valve that looks like this:
http://catalog.worldpac.com/mercedesshop/sophio/wizard.jsp?partner=mercedesshop&clientid=catalog.mercedesshop&baseurl=http://catalog.peachparts.com/&cookieid=21B0XKG2A21G0MMD5J&year=1987&make=MB&model=300-TDT-002&category=B&part=Elect.+Change+Over+Valve

It has two vacuum lines coming out of it, the bottom should go to the intake and the top to the ALDA.(I think its been 6 months since I looked at one) Yank the vacuum line off the intake and clean it out. Its probably full of crap and cutting boost.
http://catalog.worldpac.com/mercedesshop/sophio/wizard.jsp?partner=mercedesshop&clientid=catalog.mercedesshop&baseurl=http://catalog.peachparts.com/&cookieid=21B0XKG2A21G0MMD5J&year=1987&make=MB&model=300-TDT-002&category=B&part=Boost+Pressure+Sensor
Also clean your boost pressure sensor. Cleaning out the intake is not a bad idea, along with installing block plates for the egr.

See if doing this doesn't restore power. The PO was probably cheap and didn't change the air filter for 10 years. As to starting it just crank it will start, if you install the fuel filter dry it takes longer.
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  #11  
Old 03-16-2007, 12:13 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by savage10ne View Post
No...I don't think it has been driven through a dessert.

We are up here in Connecticut.

But the old owner was in construction....
Ah, the difference an extra "s" makes.
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  #12  
Old 03-16-2007, 10:25 PM
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BTW it rains ice cream out here!
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  #13  
Old 03-17-2007, 05:32 AM
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You should cut your losses and sell it dirt cheap. Please PM me and I will take it off of your hands.

Relax and concentrate on the problems. They don't sound that bad.

Ignore the ice cream jokes.

As said above, change the fuel filter when the engine is hot and easier to start. Always fill it completely with diesel fuel, injector cleaner, or transmission fluid. There is no primer pump. When I changed my filter with the engine cold I had to hook my battery charger/starting booster up to get the car going. (Agreed, my battery is almost dead, but it does take a lot of cranking to prime the system.)

The EGR can be disabled by putting a BB into the vacuum line going into the EGR. There is a "Testing Kit" available on line from Brian. It completely removes the EGR and ARV. I bought one, but have not installed it yet. It looks pretty well thought out and complete.

Change the air filter.

Don't worry about the gunk in the intake just yet. (Unless it is blocking the pipe.) Someday it will make a good project. I cleaned my intake manifold and cross over pipe out when I had them out to replace all of my glow plugs.

The engine in the W126 is the same as the one in the W124. The engine compartment is just bigger.

What color is the smoke?

Search this forum on REMOVE ALDA. Lots of reading to do on that. I removed mine back in October. I love it. I do have to keep my foot off of the floor board when coming off of the line. If you don't you will leave a nice black cloud.

-Jim
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  #14  
Old 03-17-2007, 09:31 AM
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I would get it running right before removing the ALDA. Don't modify an engine until you have a good base line.

Heck my ALDA's still installed and my 603 is probably faster than most...
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  #15  
Old 03-17-2007, 02:26 PM
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What is the EGR? What does it do?

And how does disabling it make the car better?

And what are the details on disabling the EGR?

...

Also...Anyone know of an air filter kit, which allows air to be sucked from the top of the car instead of the bottom?

Thanks,

Tony

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