I bought my first Mercedes today, in NJ. It looks great, but got it for really good price since there were a couple problems.

Here's the facts:

• 1995 E300D, Black/Black
• 198,000 miles
• New evaporator
• Original wiring Harness
• Very little rust for a northern car
• New fuel lines
• Car had only been run once in the last year, sitting outside, with half a tank of fuel

The problems:

• Slightly sticky throttle, but got better after driving it for a while
• Somewhat rough idling
• Leaking exhaust near or from mid muffler
• Bouncing harmonic waves traveling down the exhaust line, visible loose
• White smoke, not always bad, but enough that I had very little company behind me on the 40 mile trip back to Queens, and I saw one woman waving her hand in front of her nose

The only thing I can think of is that perhaps the exhaust leak is causing a problem due to the reduced back pressure, but that's a stretch. Any ideas?

The owner was very honest, and I believe him when he said the noise and smoke weren't there before. What's the chances of cylinder damage or bad rings?

Thanks,

Jay

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Either the smoke is coolant or it's oil.

What's the smell..........sweet or putrid?

Definitely not sweet.

Search "white smoke" and read the first few treads.

Even though diesel fuel does not age with time, top off the tank with fresh fuel. Change the fuel filters. Check for a miss-firing injector.

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Greg
2012 S350 BlueTEC 4Matic
2007 ML 320 CDI
2007 Leisure Travel Serenity
2006 Sprinter 432k
2005 E320 CDI
1998 SLK230 (teal)
1998 SLK230 (silver)
1996 E300D 99k, 30k on WVO
Previous:
1983 240D, on WVO
1982 300D, on WVO
1983 300CD, on WVO
1986 300SDL 237k, 25k on WVO (Deerslayer)
1991 350SDL 249k, 56k on WVO - Retired to a car spa in Phoenix
1983 380 SEC w/603 diesel, 8k on WVO
1996 E300D 351k, 177k on WVO

Then, it's burning oil.

The possibilities:

1) An oil ring is stuck
2) The turbo is shot and is passing oil to the intake
3) All the oil rings are shot..........the engine is worn out.
4) Valve guides are shot.
5) Valve seals are shot.

None of these are simple to diagnose for a person without experience with the engine (and sometimes, they get it wrong, as well).

Although oil is more likely, you'll also need to verify that it's not fuel.

Check it again..........fuel or oil.............you can't make a mistake.

I thought blue smoke was oil. Are you sure it's not gray smoke? That could be normal with an engine that's been sitting.

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1983 240D 3.0T 4-speed manual, now sold

1989 Subaru GL Wagon 5-speed Touring Edition

If it is blowing enough white smoke that other people in your forty mile homeward journey seemed to mind. Remove the first injector and crank the engine over.

If oil sprays out of the injector hole you can be pretty sure the head gasket is gone. Your second issue if that is deemed not it. Might be the bearing seals in the turbo. Thats if you have one on your year.

Someone else may suggest the simplest way to determine if that is the issue. It may be easier to test for the turbo seals first. That once again is if your car even has one.

I have pretty much made up my mind that raw oil dumped into the exhaust system probably makes a white fog. With an extremely distastful smell. Hence the woman waving her hand in front of her nose. You did get that correct? She was just not giving you the finger?

Very simular to planes that used to sky write.. I think this is how they manufactured those exquisite white letters. And the smoke did appear very whitish. Oil partially or totally burnt in a combustion cylinder is much more blue. Just my thoughts.

From leaking turbo seals the oil is burnt across all cylinders and I would expect a pronounced blue tinge and maybe less odour. Black is fuel and you have no black.

Raw fuel dumped into the exhaust system would also produce white smoke I think. Just harder to get enough quantity remaining to dump into the exhaust manifold to enable that. So it is probably not a flawed injector in my opinion.

Wow, that car looks familiar.
Congrats on the purchase. I absolutely love mine, I just don't get to drive it much at all.......

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

I thought the exact same thing for some reason though I'm not an owner of a 95 300d... Wonder if it's been posted on the classifieds here?

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

I was mulling over your suggestions, and came to the conclusion that it exhaust didn't smell sweet or putrid. On my Subaru, I have an oil leak dripping on the exhaust, and that does smell putrid. The E300D's smoke kind of smells like exhaust, but much stronger, much much stronger. I'm not saying it isn't oil, but it just doesn't smell that bad to me.

I just jacked it up, and after a little while of running, I noticed the forward exhaust manifold and pipe was much cooler than the rear manifold/pipe. Bad injector(s)? It may explain the strange harmonics I'm hearing in the idling. Plus, I know these things don't accelerate well, but this thing hardly wants to go up a bridge.

As a note, I'm familiar with diesels, and work on very large ones on ships. I just don't have a baseline to go off for this Mercedes. I looked for some sort of Merc car club in NYC, but can't find one. Any enthusiasts in NYC?

One last question. Some ships occasionally throw crushed/ground walnut shells into the intake of large diesels, mainly to clean the turbo, and perhaps knock deposits off the valves. Does anyone here do that on these small engines?

Thanks for the help guys, I did use the forums' search first, but my situation din't quite seem to match what I was reading.

I have the same engine, and have had white smoke out of the tailpipe. In my case i was taking the manifold that comes across the motor apart and knocked some of the fume deposits loose which made the white smoke when they combusted.

That sounds like bad injectors. Take 'em out and have a look.

If you're up for a trip out to rockland county this weekend, I could take a look.

As for walnut shells, I have not heard of anyone doing that, but it doesn't sound like a good idea. You should know this, but, ship engines are FAR larger than these engines and operate at much slower speeds.

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1983 240D 3.0T 4-speed manual, now sold

1989 Subaru GL Wagon 5-speed Touring Edition

all this talk about Turbos. . .

the '95 does not have one. so we solved that. the smoke is not coming from the turbo!

I would go to the injectors. Get your hands on a can of "diesel purge" made by LubroMoily.

Run the can DIRECTLY thru the motor. take the supply and return lines off the filter place them into the can of diesel purge.

It will take about 20min to run thru the can. stop it before you run out.

If that helps but does not completly solve the problem, you might need new nozzles. At 198k, the originals are worn out.

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87' 300DT (Grey w/ red leather)
87' 300TDT (silver w/ palamino tex) SOLD

2012 VW JSW TDI (on tdiclub.com all the time "btcost")

If the car sat through a cold winter with half a tank of fuel, you may have some water accumulation in the tank. If it is really bad, you would be able to get some out with a siphon tube. At the very least, I'd get the tank filled up with fresh diesel and some diesel treatment like Power Service that is designed to mitigate water.

I would first try everything possible that does not involve taking something apart. For example, diesel purge the injectors before actually taking them out. You won't enjoy taking out the injectors on that engine.

Are you road legal with the car? Have you had as much as a 30 minute highway speed trip with it to thoroughly heat it up?

Ken300D

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles