On the 2nd the kids and I are heading up to StoneMountain to check out the tubing at SnowMountain. I just need to get the heater working correctly or carry some blankets. Being from Florida the kids will not ride around in a car below 70 degrees.

Took the '98 E300 to San Diego from Austin and back. Total miles, including running around So. Cal, approx. 3K. Used no oil. Best tank - 35 mpg. Worst - 29 mpg. Speed matters. Had a great time and a great ride. Merry Christmas and Happy (and prosperous) New Year.

I just got back from my "quick" 9 hour run up to Virginia to pick up my new injection parts. Everything went well except I REALLY need to get the heat working in that car! I drove all the way back with a blanket wrapped around my legs!

Otherwise, the car got 31 MPG to tie my best ever and I filled up in VA for 2.29/gal.

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-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

Just got home today. There are some idiot drivers out there. For about 2/3 of the drive home, the roads were solid snowpacked or glare ice. Going over Rabbit Ears Pass, a fool in an Avalanche or Suburban had been tailgating me for about 10 miles. Just as the road drops down the east side and begins to get windy and even more treacherous than it has been, he decides to pass. He's about 10 ft behind me and as he accelerates to pass, he loses all traction. Looking in the rear view mirror I see him sideways about 10 feet behind me just off the driver's side. I think no big, deal, he'll just back off, straighten up and drop back in behind me. Then I notice that all his wheels are still spinning on the ice/snow. The idiot has no idea what he's doing and he's still in the accelerator. He loses even more control and spins 180 degrees. Instead of pointing to the left, he's now pointing right and I can see the tires on the other side throwing up snow in all directions as he still has not released the accelerator and now he is even closer to me. I didn't want to make a sudden acceleration because even though I was in 4wd and had studded snows, the traction was so little that I could easily end up like the fool behind me. Then a neuron must have fired in his brain and he decided to let off the accelerator. He immediately straightened out and regained control.
Probably a southern driver, never on snow before, flew into Denver and rented an SUV to drive up to the ski resorts.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

You'll all be happy to learn the HUGE overengineered Constant Velocity joints in older Mercedes' are *very* sturdy , I once drove a W-123 with bad boots for several thousand miles after the joints began thumping , in time they began making seriously bed cracking noises but they never did break and the axle rebuild place took them in as cores....

Not that I recommend this of course but knowing it'll make it home eases the worries a bit .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Leaving for Frostbite Falls in the morning. Back in 8 or 9 days.

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Palangi

2004 C240 Wagon 203.261 Baby Benz
2008 ML320 CDI Highway Cruiser
2006 Toyota Prius, Saving the Planet @ 48 mpg
2000 F-150, Destroying the Planet @ 20 mpg



TRUMP .......... WHITEHOUSE
HILLARY .........JAILHOUSE
BERNIE .......... NUTHOUSE
0BAMA .......... OUTHOUSE

Picked up my latest in NC. I left the guy's house and the car stalled out less than a mile away. I thought the fuel filters were the problem so I primed the pump and made it a few more yards. Tank read half full so I thought nothing of it (you know where this is leading)! The seller was kind enough to help me figure out what was going on. So after I purchased 2 new fuel filters, we blew in the hose and listened into the tank and sure enough.....NO DIESEL FUEL!!!! Ha ha ha! Troubleshoot # 1 = Do you have fuel in the tank! Drove back to Georgia over the mountains in my new-to-me 1983 MB 399SD, flawlessly! I'm back in the diesel game and it feels good!

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1985 300 D T - Rauchsilber (Smoke Sliver Metallic) with MB Tex Quartz 155 = Cream interior - 320K and counting!

1999 E300 TD - Silver - Just got her 3-13-15 !

the 2nd '83 300SD - Brown Metallic - traded away

1985 Limo Diesel aka "Stretchy" - Sliver - Blue Int - Sold but still in Athens

1983 300SD - Brown Metallic - Sold April 2008

1982 300 D T - Royal Blue with Tan interior - Sold

i went to ottawa (460km each way) just before christmas with the family. while we were there the belt tensioner failed. turned out the bolt that holds the pulley to the lever sheared. the car was still driveable with the belt just hanging there and the pulley stayed put captured by the loop in the belt. but we were at a motel and needed to the car, obviously. i had no tools, and the tensioner takes a few odd ones. it was a friday so at least there were shops open. i went to one close to the motel and saw an E420 in the lot which was obviously owned by someone connected to the shop (vanity plate matched shop name). they were chock-a-block but offered use of tools, very nice of them to do so. bear in mind this is ottawa and it was very cold, but i got the job done working outside their shop in the snow. i ended up replacing the lever and pulley as well as the belt, even though the parts were not very old - less than 2 years.

the guys at the shop were really nice, the shop is called motor medics. it took a little over 1.5 hours to re/re the tensioner and belt without removing anything else. there was blood involved (not a lot), it's very tight to work without removing the radiator. my parka got pretty dirty. but we got back on the road for the cost of the parts and it could have been a lot worse.

cold weather is hard on vehicles...

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punkinfair

Just back from Salt Lake. Got lucky with the weather, never needed the chains. Overall average for the '96 E300D: 29 mpg for 1600+ mostly highway miles (about 70 mph) on winter diesel and altitudes from sea level to over 7000 feet. Most places were selling D2 for about $2.20 to $2.40. Traffic was lighter than in previous years and some people were driving a little slower. The '96 odometer turned over 258,000 miles on this trip and as usual, used no oil (Mobil-1 5W-40). Car ran great all the way, no problems at all.

Salt Lake wasn't cold enough to use the block heater even though the car was sitting out in the driveway. Temps bottomed out at about +20F; I glowed for about 20 seconds and the car started immediately. The block heater would have gotten heat into the passenger compartment more quickly but I was too lazy to run an extension cord out of my brother-in-law's garage.

In cold weather the mirror heaters come on automatically. It's neat to touch the mirror surface and discover that it feels warm.

We saw "justice" on I-15 in Salt lake City. About a minute after one of those little cars with loud mufflers passed us, weaving through the traffic like Steve McQueen at Le Mans, we came upon the same car, now t-boned by an SUV. Didn't look like anyone got hurt but maybe the idiot learned a lesson.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Now , go change your signature

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

I will likely be doing the mother of all road trips this spring. A 10k trip to new york, across Canada and to Alaska. But I may break it into two parts. I just got back from LA in the SD which was 400 miles and Ill be making the same trip the 9th for the benz meet

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1981 300SD 512k OM603