How nosiy be your diesel? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#1 12-10-2002, 04:51 PM

Maybe its how I am used to gasoline cars...but crusing on highway at 65 with my 240D I always hear a humming from the engine and vibration on the seats, as well as vibration the fold down armrest. Is this vibration and noise normal? When I take it to get the valves adjusted, I am gonna ahve the mechanic take a look at the driveline to make sure nothing is wrong. What you guys thing?

dmorrison · #2 12-10-2002, 05:13 PM

Check your drive shaft damper. At the center section of the drive shaft. It could be that the rubber has broken. I had this in my 300TD.
Dave

speedy300Dturbo · #3 12-10-2002, 06:53 PM

Really quiet. Sometimes people don't even believe that it's a diesel.

#4 12-10-2002, 08:16 PM

Any other 240D owners wanna chime in? How noisy are you diesels on the highway? Is this vibration common? If I bring to mechanic for valve adjustment, what should I ask him to look over? Just the driveline?

Peyton300TD · #5 12-10-2002, 11:16 PM

there is a WORLD of difference between the loudness of my sister's 1984 240D and my 1985 300TD at idle and especially at acceleration and high speeds.

the TD is much quieter.

eric

maybe that's cuz her 240 is a euro?

dave240 · #6 12-11-2002, 12:04 AM

Kyle,

My 82 240d is: noisy, slow to accelerate, has some noticable vibrations and howls at 65mph and over. But, my quess is that my car falls into the "normal" range of how this car was designed and what it is supposed to do and be as a "diesel of days of old".
The flip side: I also get well above 30 mpg's on the highway.(34-35 common at 65 mph) (average 28 city), not bad for a full sized, well built, moderately safe and devastatingly handsome old horse.

I saw your thread from a day or two ago, about "thump thump" I think your problems are related.
If you are getting excessive vibration, it could be several things, (bent drive shaft) but like dmorrison's earlier comment, check the obvious things like that "drive shaft damper" I call it the Center Carrier Bearing.

good luck.

I

#7 12-11-2002, 03:20 AM

the 603 is pretty quiet at idle when running good. You can't tell its a diesel when you are on the highway, it is pretty much silent. Only thing that lets you know it's a diesel is when you put you foot down..

BobK · #8 12-11-2002, 08:02 AM

My '83 300D has some engine mechanical noise. No to intrusive, but certainly not as quiet as my gas SEL. driveline is another issue. Suspect I have a bad tranny mount. maybe all engie mounts are getting tired. And I have a new driveshaft center bearing and mount just waiting to go in. Just need the time and a slightly warmer day.

240-diesel · #9 12-11-2002, 08:50 AM

Kyle, I have the same car as you , I would say it is on the noisy side. By this I mean A low motor roar sound . Not vibration , but recently I had replaced the center bearing and carrier and also the exhaust manifold which was bothering me for a while until I found what it was. I like the idle sound of diesel engines , so I would say just check for any heavy type of vibration from underneath the car . The drive components are really noticeable. Lastly I think this motor/vibration feeling is normal. So let that Diesel purr down the highway. Hans.

fredjj · #10 12-11-2002, 11:00 AM

The 240D has a bunch of engine roar at highway speeds 70-75mph. Usially so much so that I can't or don't want to turn up the Becker loud enough to overcome and add to the cacaphony. The 300SD idles louder than the 240D but I think that's because of the higher pressure injectors and an addtiional injector. At highway speeds it's quieter than the 240D but not as quiet as my Honda.

Aaron · #11 12-11-2002, 04:33 PM

My old '80 300SD (Eduardo) was rather noisy inside the cabin at cruising speed. My current '83 300SD is pretty darn quiet, thanx in part to the double firewall. All 240Ds I've ever had were noisy as hell. Kristen's 300SD, which is an '84 is noticeably louder than my '83, but still runs great, now that I finally got around to putting the new glow plugs in.

190D22 · #12 12-11-2002, 04:51 PM

Mine's pretty loud. It is very easy to tell your speed based on the frequency of the engine. But it doesn't bother me. I love the sound of my engine.

#13 12-11-2002, 04:52 PM

Is doing this ok? I am hurting the 240D by running it at speeds in excess of 65 MPH? Or can it do this without wear upon the engine? BTW...I really hope I don't have a bent driveshaft...that would suck.

fredjj · #14 12-11-2002, 04:59 PM

Kyle, my 240D thrives when I run it at 70-75. Keeps the carbon from forming. I just have to wait a while until it makes it there. I've always heard that these cars were meant to be driven hard and have to be driven hard to keep them clean. The caveat being that your car has been maintained properly.

190D22 · #15 12-11-2002, 05:08 PM

When I go 70 the car always wants to go faster than 80. It's crazy. I have to catch myself before I go too fast. It may be loud up there, but it still is smooth.