My interpretation of "clip the end of the loop connector" means "put a slice in the eyelet so it opens and can be pressed on".....

That would definitely work............

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As did I! Hahaha. :D Wshew! :D

Then again, if you can still change them even without being able to see them, thats the whole next level of MB-wrenching skills! :D ;)

Getting the little nuts on for the wires is truly the hardest part. I managed to do all 5 on the 300D and only dropped the #5 nut. and it fell on the pavement underneath, thankfully! :eek:

I am 21 though, so old age is begining its toll on me too at this point... :D

Bragging rights!

I was using a 1/4 inch drive tonight on this very operation.. until I dropped the ratched down the nice round hole in the fender is built for catching tools. The passinger side spring had a 10mm deep socket in it when I bought the car.. and the mechanical fingers are 50 miles away..

The glow plugs should not be too hard once i get the 1/4 drive back..:rolleyes:

Here are some tips and tricks for y'all with fat hands. Those who piped up that this was a piece of cake can just sit back and snicker.

- 12mm gear wrench (preferably with an angle adjustment -- email if you want a picture). For fat hands, this is mandatory!

- Remove the injector lines. I just loosened them on the block but next time I'll remove 'em as an entire set.

- An extendable magnet wand (or something like it). I was able to retrieve dropped nuts with it. But more importantly, I was able to use it to position the 8mm nut going back on with much more ease than getting my two fat hands into some of the places. I still think the #5 cylinder is a *****.

- Beer!

The 300SD is now starting up beautifully in the cold. In addition, the warm glow of the glow plug light warms my heart.

As a point of information, all of this fun was brought on by suddenly very hard starting in the cold. I attributed it to the cold weather (which was a factor) as well as having 2 glow plugs out. However, the hard, almost impossible cold starting just turned to hard starting after I put on the plug that is positioned between the #1 and #2 cylinders. The vacuum hose (I think) had fallen off somehow and made starting a PITA. Once I repositioned back on, it solved quite a bit of my problem. I am still glad I changed the glow plugs but I say this as an information point in case anyone else is having the same problem.

Thanks for everyone's input and heckling throughout this process.

.....Dan

that is why I said to cut the loops, or eyelet as you put it.
ya just cut the end of the eyelet, with sidecutters, wide enough to pop on the end of the GP, and pow, done.

Yeah, I didn't get the "clip the end........." on the first go. A little slow, I suppose.........:o

This is my favorite part!