Bunch of things to fix in 1987 190d non-turbo

[abrankhalid]

Hello ! I finally got my hands on the car that I have wanted for a long , long time. I got it for pretty cheap and its in a decent shape. There is no rust on the car but the clearcoat has peeled off from the hood and roof in some places. I dont mind that. Its more the mechenical side that I look for in cars that I buy.
Anyways, the car has 185k miles on it and it was perfectly maintained till at least 150k miles and after that, it was well maintained but not perfectly I guess. There are a few things I want to work at to make the car in to a daily driver. I appreciate any help in diagnosing the problem. Its my first MB but I am used to diesels and dont mind wrenching. However, since I don't have my own garage, I have trouble getting under the car .

here is a list of things that I have found need attention right away .

1. The transmission has a host of issues . It has trouble upshifting to 3rd and fourth . I often get it to engage 3rd but 4th is very rare. When i do get it to shift to 3rd or 4th by blipping the throttle a couple of times , it will randomly downshift on its own without change in speed . The 3rd usually engages at around 3,500 rpm and for 4th , i usually have to take it up to 4,500 or 5,000 rpm. There is also flares in transmission some time shifting to 3rd or 4th but not every time. I am not too keen on driving the car that much as the sudden downshifts at 65mph make the rpms jump through the roof for a few seconds.
I have tried checking the vacuum pump , but following the MB service manual is hard. I need to take the vacuum hose that goes to the brake booster off and connect a vacuum guage to measure how much vacuum is being generated. I just cant get the hose to come off the valve and i fear using force and breaking it.
I did connect the pump to the other hose coming off the vacuum pump ( i am assuming thats what it is . Its right in front of the IP ) and got a decent reading . I don't have any values to compare against as i could not find the information in the service manual or in my search here. Also connected to the three hoses that main hose feeds to through a three way splitter. The first two held vacuum but the third just kept losing vacuum. Again, I dont know what they feed in to and if they are supossed to hold vacuum or not.
Any suggestion on how I should go about finding what the problem is ? I am sure there is some vacuum leak as there are a couple of things that indicate to that. The car is a bit slow to shut off when i turn the ignition off. I still havent figured out which one is the shutoff valve . Its still cold here in MI



2. The instrument cluster at startup is doing some weird stuff. I have a video on youtube that I will link to. Observe the rpm needle go to a random position just before startup . Also get a rough idle and a lot of shaking at startup but after a minute or so, it smooths out. It starts on the first try without any problems and there is no excessive smoke coming out of the back at all at startup.
I have read some material on diagnosing it and am going to check the grouding point and fuses . Hopefully, its something simple as I do not want to take the whole dash apart just yet. There is screeching sound from the blower fan and the dash has some cracks in it but I am not looking to open the panels without it being warm outside .

Youtube link for startup : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSO2-neKK00


3. There is a weird pulsating noise that comes on after a couple of minutes of starting the car. I think its coming from the alternator pulley but I might be wrong. I recorded it on video focusing on what i think is the source of the sound. Maybe some one has experienced the problem before. The sound is present utill i get to about 2000 rpm when driving and then it disappears. The car sat for a year because of transmission trouble so there might be something thats not properly lubricated. Any ideas on how to go about isolating the problem ?

engine noise link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGVWRkLKPqY

4. The centeral locking works but only from the trunk. The lock cylinders in the front doors just spin around without unlocking or locking the doors. The strange thing is that the interior lights turn on as if the door has been unlocked but only for a second and then they go out. Going by the ill fitting door trims and what the previous owner said about trying to fix the windows, i am sure there is something wrong with the lock connections inside the door. Again, its too cold to work out in the open right now so i will come back to it later.



I have seen a ton of stuff for the w124 and 2.5 turbo 190d but there isn't a lot of things for the non turbo 190d . I plan on taking pictures and making some DIY threads when I fix something. Any ideas and help will be much appreciated.

[vstech]

Welcome to the forum, sounds like you're going to spend a LOT of time on here...!

[abrankhalid]

Originally Posted by vstech

Welcome to the forum, sounds like you're going to spend a LOT of time on here...!

Yes, I already have spent quite a while here. I have owned two Mazda Rx8, an automatic and a manual and I spent a lot of time wrenching on them. The Rx8 community is pretty great too however, the fuel consumption of that car is atrocious. Too much fun and so hard to keep your foot off the pedal until it gets to the 9000 rpm.

I love diesels though. I learnt to drive on an ex-UN 240GD from 1988. Amazing cars, built like a tank but boy were they noisy.

[Walkenvol]

Originally Posted by abrankhalid

I have seen a ton of stuff for the w124 and 2.5 turbo 190d but there isn't a lot of things for the non turbo 190d .

Not trying to be disagreeable, but I have an '85 190D which has a 2.2 n/a (no turbo) motor and I've found help for pretty much every problem I've encountered so don't give up on that search feature.

What year model is your 190D? Your car is also known as a W201. The W124 (300D 1986-1993) has many common features such as door locks and climate control.

You may find answers to anything involving the body in the "Tech discussion" forum as there are many more gas powered 190's than diesel and the bodies are the same.

I can't open your utube links as they show as private.

1. Transmissions are a known weak link but the problems are often not terminal. Service the tranny with a new filter and fluid along with a K1 spring which is cheap and easy. If this doesn't help it may be the B2 piston. Search for both of these to learn more.

2. Start up sounds like glow plug problems with one or more being bad. Again, search for the test procedure.

[abrankhalid]

Walkenvol , I understand where you are coming from and I treat the search function on car forums as my best friends. I find that pictures, diagrams and little tips by people who took the time to put them up and write their experience really help and its so easy to search for information.

My problem with reading a lot of the things is that this is the first MB diesel that I am working on . I try to follow threads and keep up with all the parts that are named. I just can't seem to find them when i go looking for them on the car. I had same issue with my Rx8 and it took me a while to locate all the parts on it too.

appologies for the broken links but if you try them now, they should work. I put them down as private when i meant them to be unlisted. So now they are viewable through those links only.

The tranny had new fluid and filters about 20,000 miles ago. I already looked up K1 and spring and will be doing that as soon as i can stay out for more than 15 minutes without freezing ! In the meanwhile, I am just trying to make sure that the other links in the system are working perfectly. B2 piston is a likelihood so I will be reading up more on it.

The glow plugs are also about 20,000 miles old so i don't know if they require replacement. I did find one culprit through searching . There is fuel leak at the injectors. Since its been there for a while,there is a lot of gunk stuck around on the fuel lines. i am going to clean them up as well as area around the injectors to figure out where the leak is coming from. I am guessing its coming from the housing of the injectors as i can see some diesel bubbling over there with the engine running. The leak in the fuel system causes 'missing' and rough idle , just like the symptoms i described.

I will post more on progress i make.

Thanks for your input, its much appreciated.

[satyr]

Another 201 diesel saved!

Well- yours sounds nearly exactly like mine- but I don't have a pulsating noise. I checked the video and it's hard to make out what it might be. Maybe someone else can give you some clues. Until then, you might want to pick up one of those cheap mechanics stethoscopes at your nearby chinese tool retailer and poke around. It sounds like a vibration varying in intensity- so maybe bearings in the alternator? Waterpump? I hope it's not coming from the bottom end. Good luck and let us know what you find out.

[abrankhalid]

Satyr , I already got the mechanic's stehoscope. Needed it to find out a rattle in the otherwise super smooth rotary engine in my RX8. I will poke around with it. I also think its the alternator pulley needing some greasing or maybe , from what I understand, the ball bearings might be shot. I doesn't sound like the noise is coming from the bottom end. What do you think would be so bad if it was from the bottom of the engine ?

I did a quick test for faulty earth connections and as i expected , there is a faulty ground some where and there is at least one wire somewhere that is shorting out. I connected a voltmeter at the negative terminal of the battery and engine and I got a 13 V reading. I am going to research where the engine is grounded and check the connections there. Also need to check the main grounds behind the glovebox to see if that is alright. I did find a connector or something of that sort that seems to have rusted out. I don't know what it is but I am going to post a picture on the W201 forum and see if any one can help me out with it.

[Jay Gibbs]

Originally Posted by abrankhalid

Satyr , I already got the mechanic's stehoscope. Needed it to find out a rattle in the otherwise super smooth rotary engine in my RX8. I will poke around with it. I also think its the alternator pulley needing some greasing or maybe , from what I understand, the ball bearings might be shot. I doesn't sound like the noise is coming from the bottom end. What do you think would be so bad if it was from the bottom of the engine?

Sounds like a failing bearing on a pulley or alternator...

[abrankhalid]

Originally Posted by Jay Gibbs

Sounds like a failing bearing on a pulley or alternator...

Going to figure out how to isolate the alternator pulley without taking the whole alternator out. Don't have access to a garage and its very very cold out still. Thanks for the input !

[abrankhalid]

The alternator pulley noise went away on its own once the weather warmed up and little more running ( the car had been sitting for a year before i bought it ) I know its just hiding the problem but since its supposed to be summer soon , I will tackle it then.

[Walkenvol]

the most common bearing noise on the front of the motor is the idler pully/arm. Very common failure point. My PO changed the belt routing using a belt different from stock to avoid the idler pulley completely so I'd guess mine is bad. No belt noise for 20K miles so no complaints here.

The other common issue is the vacuum pump. Do a forum search and learn about the "old" style vs "new" style pumps. Many advise immediate replacement if you still have the factory "old" style.

If you have a mess around your injectors, I'd first replace the return fuel hose. Those have a limited life span and are cheap. Clean things up and see if the mess returns. Also, the metal fuel supply lines to the injectors are weak and prone to fail especially if the rubber on the support brackets is missing. Leaks right where the line bolts onto the injector. Will sort of look like the nut just needs to tighten a bit to stop the leak but no matter how much you tighten the leak won't stop. Fix is to purchase factory replacement lines with a complete set around $100 or so.

Good luck!