Hi all first time here hope this is the right place. I drive a 1983 Benz 300CD I have had very few problems with this car but was driving it this morning and noticed this horrible burnt smell to the car happened yesterday the smell that is and i couldn't find anything wrong (checked tires and brake lines and oil and trans fluid made sure nothing was dragging or rubbing on or near tires or exhaust) with the car but this morning when i turned the head lights on they came on and then they all went off at the same time all the head lights and fog lights just went off no reason the turnsignals and brake lights still work but the headlights won't. I was wondering if anyone had anyideas as to what might have happened given the smell and now the non working head lights ideas. thanks in advance for the help.

check your belts, sounds like a bearing is going out and stop starting a pully, given the headlight issue check the alternator belt, even loosen it to see if the alternator spins free and smooth with no front back movement, then look at the ac belt and so on.....

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1982 300CD Turbo (Otis, "ups & downs") parts for sale
2003 TJ with Hemi (to go anywhere, quickly) sold
2001 Excursion Powerstroke (to go dependably)
1970 Mustang 428SCJ (to go fast)
1962 Corvette LS1 (to go in style)
2001 Schwinn Grape Krate 10spd (if all else fails)

Sounds like something is up with the headlight wiring. Pull the fuse panel cover and make sure everything there looks okay. The 123 fuse panels have been known to melt. Then inspect all the wiring associated with the headlights.

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That happened to my 240D/77, smell of burning rubber all over, then I noticed that my tail lights were out. Drove the car to the shop with all lights off, as I pulled in the garage my mechanic came over to check, well the next thing I hear from him was that the car was on fire.
The harness had gone bad and statred burning direcly onder the back seat, I was fortunate to be in the right place, he pulled the seat out, took care of the burning rubber and replaced the harness with another from a junk 300D parked in his shop.
So far so good.

Vahe
240D/77 350K

check the alt, alternator belt and pully, etc.... it sounds like it may be starting to seize right guys?

My AC Compressor started going out and within 10 seconds I had burning rubber smell and the noise was awful. It would end up seizing, and the belt would start to heat up from the friction and you would start smelling it...

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85 300CD Turbo "Das Polluter" 230K sold for $3,000

98 BMW 323is

Hi all you may remember my previous posting about a weird smell and then no head lights working. well i checked all the wiring, connectors and fuses they were all fine, so with a volt meter i checked the fuse panel to make sure the headlights were getting power there. that was fine then checked the plugs the headlights go into they were fine. so okay then that just leaves the headlights checked those they were blown. went out and bought new ones installed and they worked fine. this morning rolls around go out to my car and start it up turn on the headlights and then no headlights. i checked the battery and it is putting out 18 volts so this probably means its my voltage regulator is bad right? and thats what keeps on blowing all my headlights out. is this theory correct. thanks in advance for help.

Shouldn't your fuse have blown first? Am I confused?

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

If your voltage regulator is charging your battery at 18 volts, yes you have a problem. Make sure the alternator is properly grounded!

The overcharging likce that will blow all sorts of eletrical components, and can boil the battery dry.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

yeah i thought the fuses would blow first too but they didn't they are all fine as is all the wiring behind them. so check the grounding, and voltage regulator. anything else?

Since most cars normally run around 13.5 - 14 volts then 18 volts is a 30 some odd percent increase in voltage which would result in a corresponding 30 percent increase in amperage if the headlight's resistance stayed the same. I wouldn't be suprised at all if the stock fuse is rated 30 percent greater than normal low beam headlight current draw. Remember that fuses are rated in amps and are not more or less likely to blow due to variations in voltage. In practice the bulb's filament increased in resistance as it got hotter due to the increased voltage and tempered the current draw.

Fuses take care of amperage; volts are different. In school it was represented as in water in a pipe; you have water pressure (voltage) and the water volume (amps). Evidently raising the voltage did not increase the resistance in the fuses enough for them to overheat and melt.
Your problem is not one that seldom happens. You did an excellent job trouble shooting!!!

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

For every 5% over the rated voltage of a lamp, the life is halved. So at 30% over voltage, your headlights which are probably rated at 200 hours or so would last a few minutes over three hours. You're lucky they didn't explode too...10-15% over voltage is generally considered the safe limit for halogen lamps. Anything over that and the filament becomes hot enough to raise the internal pressure to dangerous levels.

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Dale

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g1...MG_2277sig.jpg

1990 300D 2.5 Turbo -155k
2000 E430 - 103k
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Ecodiesel 4x4 - 11k
2014 VW Passat TDI SE - 7k Bro's Diesel
2006 E320 CDI - 128k Pop's Benz

Pre-glow - A moment of silence in honor of Rudolph Diesel

Not necessaialy. As long as the AMPS do not exeed the fuse's rating, it will not blow, but the object subjected to the over voltage can blow, and the fuses be just fine.

You can blow a 1.5 volt bulb by running 3 volts through it.

The trick I was taught was to turn on everything that used power to reduce the voltage in order to protect the electrical systems. That was on a gassers, with the sensative electronics.

Best thing to do is not run it and get the system repaired.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

You need to replace the voltage regulator. This is an inexpensive part and easy to do.
The regulator is attached by a pair of screws on the back of the alternator. I have a 240D and this is about a 45 min. job including having a beer after you are finnished. Not an uncommon problem.
Jon J
81 240D
lots of miles
broken ODO 240k