1995 e300 for new member - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

chronometers · #1 10-19-2011, 08:57 AM

Hi all -- After reading posts on this site while living in Amsterdam, Holland, I decided that upon returning to the US, I'd like to drive an E300. I'd like to thank everyone who has previously posted about this model and year as this helped me in making my selection.

After some exploration, I found one on Craigslist in Savannah, GA. The car is a previously one family owned vehicle. The original owner was a physician and his son, an Indy, inherited several years ago. He had done the maintenance after the warranty expired.

My wife and I drove it back from Savannah in September. It has 149k miles on it. We've driven it approximately 3k miles in 45 days. My wife actually likes driving the vehicle

It is averaging around 30 mpg.

It has had the evaporator done, shocks, brakes, glow plugs and injectors. Most work is not documented but can be observed visually. The son thought it got a new tranny at 500 miles but I could not see that specifically in the records.

The MB records show it was delivered in July, 1994, had some "special regulation" at 872 miles (tranny?), went back for recall on the wiring harness in 1995, vacuum cell -- modulating pressure in 1995 and coolant pump repair (leaks) in 1998.

Currently, the cruise control does not work and it starts a little rough in the morning. Seems to be missing for 10 secs. or so when started below 50 degrees. There are a few puffs of smoke when starting in cold. Lacks power and until engine comes up to operating temperature. This seems to only occur when temp is below 50.

Once at operating temp., it seems to function normally.

I drove it back from Savannah to Mansfield, OH and have driven round trip to Baltimore, MD from Ohio. It is a great road car. One can cruise at 75, 80 and 85 easily.

I had a 1976 300D in the 1990s and this has a familiar yet more refined feel.

The car was taken for an oil change at a local MB dealership in Mansfield, OH where we're living (until we figure out where in the US we want to live permanently). The previous owner had used Castrol 20W50 which I do not think was diesel rated but is typical Indy oil. The MB dealer provided an inspection of the vehicle and recommend new brake fluid and a serpentine belt. I had them change the brake fluid but bought my own belt and will install it myself.

The coolant looks OK (is rated to -34F) as does the transmission fluid. Given I do not know last time either was done, however, should I change these with priority going to the transmission?

I have also purchased a power cord for the block heater and plan to install that before colder weather comes.

Are there other issues I should be addressing to help assure this will be a reliable vehicle?

Any thoughts on the missing, puffs of white smoke when it starts along with the hesitation, lack of power until temp comes up?

Regards -- Chris

engatwork · #2 10-19-2011, 09:23 AM

Welcome aboard Chris. Nice car.

Air&Road · #3 10-19-2011, 10:33 AM

I wouldn't worry TOO much about the cold start issues. If you drive it regularly and it gets a thorough warm up each time it is started and driven, this might get a little better.

If your fuel mileage is okay and it runs good once warm, just maintain it properly and be happy.

BTW, welcome to the forum and back to the US.

Larry

vstech · #4 10-19-2011, 11:44 AM

the missing and cold start point to glow plugs, unfortunately, the OM606 engine in your car has some VERY difficult to remove glow plugs. EXTREME care should be taken before allowing ANYBODY to attempt to change them. there are several DIY's on this site for good procedures to follow on removing them. IF THEY BREAK, a VERY expensive procedure to remove the broken pieces is needed...

freesoul · #5 10-19-2011, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chronometers

Any thoughts on the missing, puffs of white smoke when it starts along with the hesitation, lack of power until temp comes up?

Regards -- Chris

Yes, probably your glowplugs or the glowplug wiring harness. that was the problem with mine not long after I bought it with similar mileage. The harness was made with biodegradable material, it is not terribly expensive and not that hard to replace. May as well put new glowplugs in while you have the manifold off, just be careful with the plugs getting them out- use lubricant and have patience.

we love ours as well, getting 28.5 MPG around town

Chris W. · #6 10-19-2011, 12:49 PM

White smoke is usually unburnt fuel, sounds like, as others have said, you have a bad glow plug. When starting with one plug out, it will start on 5 and miss for a while, then start firing/knocking irregularly for some seconds as that cylinder starts to fire, and finally it should smooth out when the unburnt fuel gets consumed and the cylinder fires normally. This won't hurt anything if you wait a week or two, as long as you do get it fully warmed up each time after starting, but you do want to get all the glow plugs working soon. Suggest a good indy shop with diesel MB experience, preferably on the 606 included.

Changing all fluids is always good for a newly acquired used car. I suggest synthetic trans fluid, Amsoil has worked well in my trans for about 200K+ that I've owned it. For lube oil, it's easy to start a holy war discussion but I'd summarize that for dino oil, Rotella 15-40 seems fairly universally accepted and available and reasonably priced, for synthetic there are many choices out there, Rotella synth being one. Shorter change intervals for dino oil vs. synth.

Here's a great tutorial on installing the block heater cord, this will help it start easier as well. I put mine on a timer so it kicks on about 3 hours before I leave in the morning. Of course I'm a bit biased about the tutorial.

Let's Wire Up the Block Heater!

Serp belt change is one of those things that takes a while the first time, if you had to do it again right away you could do it in 1/3 the time, but in real life the next time you do it is so far down the road, so to speak, you have to relearn it... Suffice to say there is one tricky part, pulling a loop in between two pulleys, I bend up an old hangar to help get it through the narrow gap between the pulleys. On these cars it is super easy to "de-tension" the belt, takes about 30 seconds tops.

One last thing, us naturally aspro 606 owners like the EGR defeat. Even on my high mile machine it made a big difference. Read here:

Easy Reversible EGR delete, 95,96,97 Non-Turbos

Good luck, lots of expertise at Peachparts!

Rgds,
Chris W.
'95 E300D, 351K

chronometers · #7 10-19-2011, 04:17 PM

Hi -- Thanks for the feedback.

Here is an additional image of subject car taken at military museum in IN:

Chris W., thanks for suggested fluids. I did change engine oil over to Rotella 15-40 (I'll wait to use synthetic if at all until I ahve good handle on consumption.....looks like not much so far). Will change out tranny fluid as per MB recs. (fluid and filter change). OK to mix Amsoil with what will remain in tranny and differential?

The vehicle is missing the same 10 amp fuse as Jimmy's was in this picture:

I'm going to local dealer to pick one up today. Does anyone know what this circuit powers? The tag on the cable is from the factory and dated 1993

The engine is also missing the plastic engine cover (the black one with MB emblem on it). It seems to have been left off when the injectors and glow plugs were changed by the last owner. There seems to be some light oil or diesel fuel pooling around the last injector on top of the engine in the back. Possibly leaking fuel line? Return lines are black rubber. Clear lines that run to primary and secondary filter are also dark brown/black inside. Should these be changed out?

Is the best way to diagnose whether a glow plug is bad is to test the current at the glow plug relay for each glow plug?

Small items to do, I plan to change out the steering fluid and filter(using MB specified) and change passenger compartment filters.

Zulfiqar · #8 10-19-2011, 05:48 PM

buy some proper diesel rated cloth braided hose for the return lines - they are a one time fit only and will shrink themselves to the injector barbs. The last bit must be left alone or stick a bb into a piece of line to make a stopper. Change the clear fuel lines if they are now brown and brittle. The GPs are tested from the relays connector - you check each plugs resistance to ground, any open circuit is a bad plug.

The fuse you point to for the car phone installed at the dealer - you will find remains of it under the drivers seat - dont bother with the fuse, and if you do wish to add something else to the car - you can use this fuse. speaking of which, get to NAPA and order a 30A fuse strip for the blower and an 80A for the glowplug relay - theyre about 50 cents a piece, keep in the car so whenever the thing blows you have one to change immediately rather than paying 7-10 dollars at the dealer for a 50 cent part. Blower one is in the casket shaped casing ahead of the big fuse box, GP one is on the relay. Also look into buying a set of the bullet ceramic fuses for your car if yours are original grayish looking - not much money on ebay, the old corroded ones cause crazy electric problems sometimes.

chronometers · #9 10-19-2011, 06:25 PM

Would a bad glow plug account for sluggishness/hesitation until engine comes up to operating temperature or is this another issue?

engatwork · #10 10-19-2011, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Would a bad glow plug account for sluggishness/hesitation until engine comes up to operating temperature or is this another issue?

lol - I think that is just the way they are

.

One of the best cars MB ever built in my opinion.

chronometers · #11 10-19-2011, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by engatwork

lol - I think that is just the way they are

.

One of the best cars MB ever built in my opinion.

Hi Jim -- I absolutely agree. This was the last year for the W124 chassis and it had a new 24 valve 606 engine. It is why I searched for this model.

In addition to missing when started at temps below 50F, the vehicle is slow and has a lack of power until it comes up to operating temperature. Is this normal or could it be related to the suspect bad glow plug?

sixto · #12 10-19-2011, 08:06 PM

I don't know about normal but I'm on my 4th 603 that takes a mile or so to wake up. I don't idle the engine to warm up. Start -> shift -> go.

Sixto
87 300D

engatwork · #13 10-19-2011, 08:11 PM

Start, shift and go gets them up to temp the fastest too. Both of mine are kinda dogish until they get up to temp. Hope you got a commute longer than about 3 miles.

Chris W. · #14 10-19-2011, 08:36 PM

If/when you change the trans fluid, this trans, like many MB's has the "feature" that you can drain the torque converter as well as the trans pan. So no, I would not mix fluids. Once you jack the car up, you can put a socket on the crank bolt and rotate the engine while looking for the torque converter drain plug to appear in the "window" under the trans bellhousing. Only rotate the engine in the right direction, the one it runs in...

When you pull the trans pan, you will want to pull/change the filter too, be aware that as soon as you tilt that filter a bunch more fluid will come out! Be prepared. I used Amsoil "multi vehicle" ATF as per their web site.

About the sluggishness, as part of your base line work, change the fuel prefilter and the main filter. Suggest changing one at a time, make sure you get the O ring for the prefilter as well as the prefilter itself. Change prefilter, start car and drive around the block, then change main filter. If possible, fill new main filter with diesel as much as you can before putting it back on, to minimize the cranking time. Crank for 30 seconds, give the starter a rest for a few minutes. It should start after a few rounds.

On my car I can always tell when to change the main filter when it will not pull to 4800 - 5000 rpm with it floored in 1st and 2nd gear. And yes, even with my miles, I still give it the Italian tuneup about once a week.

About the fuel lines, dark color is not necessarily bad. It is the O rings at the end fittings of those plastic lines which get crispy and start to leak. But if you don't have any records of them having been changed you can buy a set of new from Phil, they aren't that expensive. Main symptoms of old O rings are bubbles in the lines, sluggish starting, and leaks, of course. The odd single bubble here and there are nothing serious, however, and a bubble which shows when the car is off is often seen, it goes away after starting.

It's much easier to change the plastic lines after removing the intake manifold, but I think some folks have managed without doing that, from above and below.

PS, that engine compartment looks FAR too clean!

Rgds,
Chris W.
'95 E300D, 352K

chronometers · #15 10-19-2011, 09:20 PM

I'll try changing out the filters and testing glow plugs tomorrow. The picture of the engine bay is the one JimmyL and Tyler had. I was using Jimmy's picture to illustrate the location of the fuse.

I'll post a picture of my engine along with leaking area tomorrow.

When I do the fuel filter change, would you recommend as an alternative to diesel filling the secondary filter with Lubro Molly Diesel purge to clean out my system or is that snake oil?