Try a 1" open end wrench on the nut...........it's only .015" too large........if the nut is 25mm.

I hate to see you buy a 25mm wrench for that one task..........but, you can probably return it. Once you break it loose, the channel locks will suffice in the future.

I would almost go as far as use them in the Sears parking lot and then return them.

I know I have a 1" somewhere I just didn't think to try it because i did not want to strip the nut; while I wrote that I kind of realized that a 1" will probably strip it less than channel locks. I really want this ALDA off!

__________________
'87 300TD Estate (Panzer Wagon, Sold)
'95 E320 Estate (Sabertooth, Sold)
'94 E500 (Stark 1, For Sale)
'04 VW GTI (Rhino, Sold)
'12 VW GTI Autobahn (Shadow)

So I went to a friends house after work, he had (3) 1 & 1/8th wrenches, no good. I went to my fathers house where he has 7/8in wrench, no good. I asked his neighbor he had a 15/16ths in. wrench, no good.

My other friend George is a plummer; he wondered over and asked what we were doing, so I showed him the channel locks and the 24mm wrench and needless to say the ALDA came CRYING out!

I was never so happy to see a piece of metal leave the car... then I drove the car... holy cr&p!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That thing is never, ever, ever, ever, going back on... ever... Especially considering how long it too me to take it off...

So back to reality; the over boost controller, useless? (Dave I know your answer) hehe I know you are an advocate of adjusting and leaving the thing on. Brian I know you have... the opposite opinion. I am just wondering what I should worry about because I have also read that Mercedes removed the overboost valve/controller on older diesel models because it didnt do much.

- Being precausious, and hungy... I'll be back later to add.

__________________
'87 300TD Estate (Panzer Wagon, Sold)
'95 E320 Estate (Sabertooth, Sold)
'94 E500 (Stark 1, For Sale)
'04 VW GTI (Rhino, Sold)
'12 VW GTI Autobahn (Shadow)

..........."crying out" you say........??

..........what, exactly did this plumber do??


Yep, without the ALDA, the overboost controller is useless. That's the risk you take if you leave it off the vehicle. Dave and I disagree on this...........primarily due to the loss of the overboost controller.

If you're the type to worry if the wastegate fails, then you'd better return the ALDA to its proper place after you adjust it. In reality, R & R is not very difficult, provided some chimpanzee doesn't overtighten the nut. I think Dave can do it in two minutes or less.

Haha well the nut was crying because well the steam coming off his arms heated up the metal so hot it made the nut cry!

I thought (and I have been wrong thinking before) that I read about an alternative replacement for the wastegate for these cars; don't know the success rate of them though. What is the price of a new wastegate, I went to a few different places and haven't seen an actual replacement wastegate. I am new with the turbo stuff I come from a N/A background if you will.

How many people have blown their engine removing the ALDA and having a failed wastegate (speak up people lets hear your experiance)!

I have to admit I can not wait to drive the car, it sounds like its 20yrs old instead of 80yrs old.

__________________
'87 300TD Estate (Panzer Wagon, Sold)
'95 E320 Estate (Sabertooth, Sold)
'94 E500 (Stark 1, For Sale)
'04 VW GTI (Rhino, Sold)
'12 VW GTI Autobahn (Shadow)

You don't really replace the wastegate on the '87, but if you want more boost from the stock turbo, you can replace the actuator arm with an adjustable-length arm.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I guess I was figuring that the wastegate doesn't really get replaced; you talk about more boost and I am wondering if I could put another fail safe in place of the overboost controller that would be missing if I leave the ALDA off...

If I hallow out the ALDA and put it back in place w/ vacuum lines, will the overboost work?

Before I push more boost from the stock turbo I think I am going to check out the cooling situation first; the last 75 degree day we had I took her on the highway, 2 people in the car, A/C on full @ 65-70MPH and the car's temp. sat halfway between 80 and the line above (100 I would assume). When we got off the highway, A/C on, stop and go traffic situation the car's temp sat just below that 100 line.

Horribly digressing from the original thread here let me give you guys an idea on what I have noticed driving the car to work this morning since that is the most routine test (5 days a week).

With the ALDA removed now Day 1 really I haven't had to push the foot pedal down more than 1/4 because the power at that point is already more than w/ the ALDA on.

- I am thinking this results is because the vacuum lines going to the ALDA were nasty, or full of crud, or the ALDA was just not appropriately set, or all of the above.

On the two hills where I normally shift down to 3rd to keep the car even with speed I needed no shifting, no extra foot power maybe 1/2 on the foot pedal.

The car shifts MUCH smoother now; the shift points are still at 2k RPM and that seems funny now because when I do pess the foot pedal down 1/2 way it litterally flies through those gears.

Most importantly though it feels like the car went from being an 80 year old washed up boxer, an heavy oversized four cylander if you will, to a 20 year old athlete who is ready for it's big day. I mean composure wise the car FEELS like a 6 cylander, it has confidence, and I have confidence driving it which is an added bonus.

Now this is not by any means a fast car, it was not mean't to be and I did not buy it to be one. I bought it because I knew about the reliability of these engines, I wanted a car that would pass emissions (for once), I wanted comfort like my old 89 New Yorker but something that could handle as well (New Yorker felt like a Couch on wheels, soft but scary) and most of all I wanted the extra room a wagon provides.

I will put the ALDA back on for security with some fine tuning, especially considering I already cracked two decades of torque out of it, if putting the ALDA back on mean's that I have a security feature designed to stop the car from blowing itself up; but if there are other alternatives to the overboost controller (like a boost controller?) then I would like to research those options too. There may not be and I understand that, but nobody has come forward saying they have blown their engine from removing the ALDA and their turbo overboosted/blew.

I am going to shut up now, I just got into work and they removed my computer to reload it last night at 3PM and it's 7;50AM and I still do not have it back. Thank god I brought my good old Ubuntu laptop in with me so I could get in touch with the world.

To be honest, it sounds like a normal healthy '87 300Dt now.

Putting the ALDA back on could reduce your power, depending on the condition of the ALDA and the vacuum lines to it. The switchover valve will block pressure to the ALDA i it is clogged, common problem. If the ALDA is leaking or otherwise broken, it also might not adjust far enough. If you were able to get 1-1/2 turns CCW out of it though, it's probably working correctly. I'd consider going to the stop, ...

It also helps to correct for altitude, drive in the mountains?

With the 1-1/2 turn CCW adjustment, you might now see a puff of black smoke on launches, mine does. Doesn't really bother me, only does it for about a car-length, and not bad, and only if I depress the pedal quickly w/o boost up. Lets me know that the ALDA is probably giving me all of the power available from the pump.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Yeah by mountains I mean I go up a 12% grade hill and back down it for less than a quarter of a mile everyday; nothing huge.

I am going to wait until I can find a local place with nylon hardline vacuum line before I put it back in if I do but my question remains:

If I hallow out the ALDA and put it back in place will the overboost controller still work?

Speaking of which, if the vacuum lines were clogged, wouldn't the line going to the overboost valve/controller be clogged too?

- That would mean it is possible I have always been driving the car without the overboost protection.

__________________
'87 300TD Estate (Panzer Wagon, Sold)
'95 E320 Estate (Sabertooth, Sold)
'94 E500 (Stark 1, For Sale)
'04 VW GTI (Rhino, Sold)
'12 VW GTI Autobahn (Shadow)

The only thing that the overboost control does is to cut off the boost signal to the ALDA, so that the ALDA doesn't allow boost enrichment and reduces fuel, which will reduce cylinder heat and pressure, and exhaust flow, and then boost.
With the ALDA not functioning, there will be no overboost control in the case of a wastegate failure, that includes a "hollowed out" ALDA.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Ahh thank you for explaining that to me now I understand fully what the purpose is. Thank you =)

Hi Guys-
I'm new to the forum and new to my 87 300TD. I've been following this thread because I know when my grandfather bought this car new, it had more power. Now it won't even move out of its own way. The car has 165,000 miles. I'm going to be replacing the injector nozles shortly, probably with Bozio nozzles. In the meantime, I can't find the ALDA. I looked on Diesel Giant and saw the ALDA for the w123 but it's not the same as the W124 or am I missing something. Thanks in advance, I'm really loving this car! By the way, tonight I fixed the front seats and now they move in all directions. Awesome!

The ALDA is on top of the injection pump, tall mushroom thing behind the fuel injector lines.

Search this forum for "switchover valve" and "overboost protection" valve (same thing, two names), another likely culprit for your loss of power.

Is this a TD/wagon? Sounds nice so far.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Glad to find a fellow 300TDT owner in NJ! It took me a minute to find it but GSXR has wonderful pictures of everything you ever wanted to know and more on his 'website'...

I think this folder will answer your ALDA questions.

__________________
'87 300TD Estate (Panzer Wagon, Sold)
'95 E320 Estate (Sabertooth, Sold)
'94 E500 (Stark 1, For Sale)
'04 VW GTI (Rhino, Sold)
'12 VW GTI Autobahn (Shadow)

Thanks for all the help. I'm venturing out to work on the Wagon now. After driving to Upstate NY and back yesterday, I'm hoping for soem improvement. This is a really great list by the way!