No wonder #5 was running rough. I am just glad that the T-rag was made of cotton not polyester. Otherwise it would have melted and man that would have been a real mess!

Mark

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91 300GD SWB with transplanted 87 OM603 turbo motor

Well you may not have intentially thrown in the towel on this job. But throwing the towel in you did.

It was a good thing that you remembered that towel . Some things are just painful.

Is your occupation by any chance a surgeon? If so we are more likely to understand this.

Nice story. Laughter is the best medicine when working on a Mercedes diesel, if you can last long enough with cash to see a successful outcome. At least you got the pain over quickly by letting the MB place do it, fix your car. I try to spread the pain out over time and try to prevent getting gashed, all at once in one lump sum like when going to the dealer. Also, I wonder if MB is going to release your car in good shape, even now? It wouldn't surprise me if something else is wrong with your car to your dissatisfaction, since the MB place passed the car off to you as fixed after thousands of dollars of MB shop time and the rag was still in the intake. Did the techs tell you that was the way diesels are supposed to run, before you suggested they check for the rag in the intake? I know the MB place told us that using a quart of oil every 500 miles was normal in the 90's edition of w140 diesel engines. Some MB places will tell you anything, other than that they don't know how to solve a problem. Hope your car is fixed, now.

BenzDiesel

All's well that ends well – glad you’re back on the road. And don’t feel bad; sometimes, there is just nothing you can do about these unforeseen expenses. Trust me; I’ve saved a few thousand wrenching on cars at home, only to spend upwads of $20k in unplanned medical expenses for something absolutely unexpected.

Hats off to Roy, along with all the other knowledgeable folks for chiming in! This has been a very interesting/educational thread.

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"Time's never wasted when you're wasted all the time"

The dealership was great. They had me go down to the shop floor and discuss/troubleshoot with the shop forman and the tech doing the work. I have known these guys for awhile as I used to work there so they were all to familiar with my expertise.

Having them install the new pump was well worth the money to me.

Not to mention having the free 2013 GLK loaner car for 2 weeks. Really a fun car to drive. It had this ECO option where when you come to a complete stop (with the brake on) the engine shuts off and as soon as you lift off the brake it starts again. I was thinking that that must be one powerful starter to respond to so many stops and starts.

Anyway My G is up and running and I will continue tweaking it till its just right.

Mark

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91 300GD SWB with transplanted 87 OM603 turbo motor

Well I got her home:
1. I tweaked the linkages,
2. Ran the new wiring and pressure lines to get the ALDA working.
3. Installed the redesigned/reconfigured factory air cleaner

And now she is purring like a kitten.
Power is excellent for a 4600 lb. vehicle.
With the new larger 72mm water pump, and Behr thermostat temperature stays right around 80.

I am beginning to return to my Happy place.

Thanks again for all the help.

Mark

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91 300GD SWB with transplanted 87 OM603 turbo motor

And think of all the joy your story gave to the mechanics on the shop floor.

When the manifold was pulled my service advisor said all 18 Techs were hovered around my G. And at one point they held the T-shirt up in the air like a big flag taking photos of the service advisors expression on her face when she saw it.

They said that in all the years the only thing that topped this was when they found a Boa constrictor behind the dash in an E-Class. Owner said the heater controls were not working properly. It was her pet snake.

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91 300GD SWB with transplanted 87 OM603 turbo motor