Started the engine this morning and it started immediately and without any missing or hiccups. There is no smoke and there's plenty of power. I also noticed that there are no air bubbles in the clear fuel lines. That's good! There's still some nailing from one injector. I'm gonna drive it locally for a few weeks and see if I have enough confidence in it to drive it to Jacksonville, FL for a trip.

Stop in Chucktown on your way down, I'll buy you a cup of coffee...

__________________
Respectfully,
/s/
M. Dillon
'87 124.193 (300TD) "White Whale", ~392k miles, 3.5l IP fitted
'95 124.131 (E300) "Sapphire", 380k miles
'73 Balboa 20 "Sanctification"
Charleston SC

I may just take you up on that!

I decided to take the E300 down to Georgia to see my parents and take care of a business matter that I'd been pushing back for a while. When I opened the hood this morning to check the oil I saw that the upper radiator hose was completely collapsed. I mean really sucked shut. I removed the radiator cap and the hose came back to life as I suspected it would. I don't know why it would do that but I checked the expansion take and it was full of coolant. The oil was at its correct level and so I turned the key to begin the start process. The glow plug light went out and I switched on the starter. Without any hesitation or fuss she came to life with a small puff of hardly visible smoke and no misses or hiccups. I drove 361 miles, round trip, and had no major issues.

Now, back to the hose...I am getting intermittent pressurization of the cooling system. Sometimes it will have normal pressure and then sometimes there's no pressure. Checked numerous times while on the trip. The engine was not shut down from the time I left my garage in NC till I parked it at Bells Drive-In in Toccoa, GA. I'd stop every so often to do a visual under the hood since this was its first real test since I competed all the work. Sometimes there was pressure on the hose, other times there was not. The engine seems to run a tad cooler than I suspect it should. On the interstate the temp shows just under 80*. A few times it would get to 82* but it liked the 78*-79* range better. The heat worked great! When I used my laser temp gun at the temp sender on the head it read that the temp was only 64*. I really don't trust that gun. Anyway, I'm going to install a new thermostat (OEM) and gasket to see if that helps the temps. I will also get another new expansion tank cap since I took the new one I bought previously and used it on my '93. We'll see how it goes.

A new expansion cap will cure your hose problem.

78-79C is a tad on the cool side for this multi valve engine, well it is for my side of the globe. Good idea to replace the thermostat if you don't know when it was last changed. I've seen two break open on this engine, although it usually shows with a much cooler running temp around 60C on a freeway run.

Before each summer I pressure test my system. If you are able to borrow a tester it will show up any loose hose connections or maybe even a leak.

If you have the original biodegradable wiring harness, it can show false readings on your temp gauge especially if you have recently washed your engine.

*when you order the thermostat, many manufacturers don't supply a seal-it's a seperate order item, for the expansion cap I always go genuine due to bad luck with OEM*

__________________
1995 E300 Diesel

x2, new cap. Also, doesn't the OE hose have an anti-collapse coil in it?

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

The hose collapse is, to me, a good sign. Your coolant is not getting pressurized with exhaust gas, so no cracks in the head and nice tight seal on the head gasket. Further, no leaks in the system.

Replacing the cap may help with the overnight upper hose collapse, but to me your cooling system sounds to be in excellent shape, other than the cap, which should have held some pressure during the drive.

I'd start with just the cap, and then see how engine temperatures sort out. Ordering a spare t-stat and keeping that in the car wouldn't be a bad idea, just in case...

__________________
Respectfully,
/s/
M. Dillon
'87 124.193 (300TD) "White Whale", ~392k miles, 3.5l IP fitted
'95 124.131 (E300) "Sapphire", 380k miles
'73 Balboa 20 "Sanctification"
Charleston SC

I've found a fuel leak at the IP. It's dripping off the plate underneath the pump. While looking at the side of the pump you can see a drip every so often, maybe one every 5 minutes dropping from the last screw in the plate. Anyway, it is my assumption that if that plate were leaking then it would be oil and not fuel. Chances are that its the lift pump gasket. What do the experts think?