Mileage in my 300SDL????
 

My 1987 300SDL has 90,700 miles on it. Bought it a year and half ago with 45,808 miles. I am getting 25.3 mpg average. Use Redline 1/2 bottle per tank. Can I do better? My 86 has always averaged about 27 mpg. Ideas anyone?

25 mpg sounds a little low.

Normally my highway mileage is between 30-31mpg. I saw 32 on one trip which was a good four hours of low speed cruise (45-50 mph back roads). After a tank of heavy foot in-city driving I still see 27mpg.
I did determind on my last long drive (4,700 miles) that the speedometer also functions as a fuel flow indicator. With the cruise set at, well let's just say high speed cruise, my highway mileage was around 27mpg.
I run redline, K&N air filter (no before and after numbers on this car with the K&N), and 37 front 42 rear tire psi.

87 SDL 282,000 miles

Mine is lower than all of you. Let me start out by saying my pedal is usually either "on" or "off" and my highway speeds are in the 80-90+ mph range. I am returning a very consistent 23.5MPG ever since I bought the car almost 50,000 miles ago. She's got 270K on her now.

My goodness, how did you find such a low mileage beauty.. 45K miles?

How much are you looking to get for your 86?

Turbodiesel,

90+mph; you're proving the speedo is also a fuel flow gauge!

Musings.......K & N air filter, 86 300SDL, etc.
 

How much will the K & N air filter help mileage? Any ideas?

Price on my 86? I don't know, it is in great shape and does very well. 24 yr old daughter took it to Texas last month, might take it to Virginia this week. I doubt I would sell it for less than $6,000, but have been told that on ebay it's only going to bring half that because of the high mileage?

Well, that's okay, I won't sell it for half that. It is my car, you know! It has Euro lights, also.

I use a 10¢ per mile rule. If you pay $6,000 for a car, you should be able to drive it 60k miles without major expenses for repairs. I have no double that this car will run a lot longer.

Plus, my 22 yr old daughter is wanting her own car and is looking to pay $5k for a ten year old Honda. Go figure.

Keep thinking!

www.innerlightinc.com/drt - for those who are Sick and Tired of feeling Sick and Tired!

How did I find it with only 45k miles?
 

Well, sir, I got lucky, to be honest.

I looked on www.autotrader.com and was actually looking for a friend who wanted a gas MB. I thought, what the heck, why not see if I find a low mileage 300SDL. Up popped mine, with only 45k miles. Actually, I thought it was a mistake, because that had happened to me a few years ago.

I called the number and it was accurate. It was an elderly couple in Virgina, who bought it new. I paid $700 to ship it home and spent $140 fixing about a dozen dings on the right side and have done little else.

I had a nice Alpine stereo in my 86 that I transferred because the radio in it was not working properly.

Don't hate me, but I paid $14,000 for it! Incredible!

Burgundy interior, which is first one for me.

So, that's the story, folks.

K&N
 

As for the K&N air filter that I'm running on my 87 SDL, I intalled the filter just after I purchased the car. So I don't have any before and after data on this car.
My 94 Chevy Suburban (k1500 1/2 ton 4 wheel) always got about 13.3 on every road trip, and about 12.5 mpg in town. After installing the K&N with no other changes or repairs, the mileage jumped to just over 17mpg on the highway. The throttle response in getting the tank rolling was also much better.
Being that the $43 filter paid for it self in one 42 gallon tank of fuel in the suburban, I installed one in the 88 Saab 900 turbo spg. The Saab went from 30mpg highway to 33mpg.
With good luck from the K&N filters in the two other cars I installed one in the 300SDL right after I purchased it.

I hear all kinds of people talk about all sorts of supplements, some may works and some, you are making someone else rich on their lies.

Myself, being a ex-OTR truck driver, I know what works and what doesn't.
Going to a truck parts place, and you find a lot of truckers buying one ceratin brand and then you find out Mercedes endorses it, you begin to realize that 90% of the truckers can't all be wrong!
Trucks bring us our bills and our mail and the fuel we all burn in our cars.

I use Diesel Kleen (silver container) made by Power Service. I was running Diesel Supplement (white container).
Now as all of you 240D owners, we all know how much a small improvements make on a 67 horsepower rated engine can make!
An Ounce seems like a lot!
With Diesel Kleen, I swear it added 5-10 horse power! I can leave it in 3rd gear and go around a street corner and actually step on the throttle and feel a gain in speed! Before DK, it would die flat on its' face, had to Always drop to 2nd gear.

But, I will warn you all trying this. If you mix to the max cetane of 6 points and you use Amoco Premium - don't be surprised if you sound like a Power Service employee to your friends!

One other problem is, you had better find a good place that stocks up on it, cause once you feel the difference, you won't ever want to run out of it!

I noticed a difference after about 150 to 200 miles, every mile thereafter, it seems to run better and better. As for the fuel mileage, it has increased slightly from about 2.5 to 4 mpg's. And it has been consistant too.

How much Diesel Kleen do you add?
 

How much Diesel Kleen do you add to your tank?

I assume truck stops have it?

My 87 is now up to 26.3 mpg...Redline must help a little bit?

Where is the best place to buy a K & N air filter?

To DrT

I add about 8 ounces per fill up. On the initial time, I added about 16 ounces and then the next time was about 12 ounces and then 8-10 ounces per fill up.

I just found out today more about this stuff and what it does. On the bottle it said it lubricates the injectors. I didn't know they needed lubricating, but found out today from a diesel mechanic that they do need lubrication and he told me all the reasons which I now can't remember them all.

He said what this stuff does, it cleans all the injectors, and it keeps them clean and working like new. It also cleans the combustion chamber. And all the valves, gets rid of carbons that build up inside there.

It is also a Cetane Booster and bunch of other stuff. Mixing like I do, I get the extra 6 points so my Cetane should be about 56 or 57. I also run premium diesel fuel - religeously (spelling don't look right)

I told that diesel mechanic I didn't notice a real improvement right away, that it took about 350 miles or so. He said that was because it was cleaning everything inside. And that it should have been a gradual thing, which it was.

My W115 240D used to produce some large black clouds of smoke! I am talking those clouds like some semi's put out! You know where it blocks the sun and you have shade for a bit? :-)

No more clouds of smoke and the car actually runs better now.

The bottle is a silver color, the label is Black and Red and some white. Black cap.

Apparently a lot of farmers in this area like it a lot too, cause A-1 Truck Parts now carries a min. stock of 10 cases of the stuff!
I was in there one day buying my couple quarts and a guy bought 2 cases!
He said it was the best thing he's ever found for his motors. So obviously some people have tried a lot of things before finding Diesel Kleen.
I will swear by it! And you will too once you see the difference! I am thoroughly impressed.

I don't know what the difference is between Diesel Supplement and Diesel Kleen, but what ever it is, I am a firm believer! And they are both made by the same company.