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Soot patch on driveway...Please help
Hello,
First, I have great respect for everyone who makes this discussion forum what it is - thank you all. My car is a 1985 300d and I have been getting a soot patch on the driveway recently as well. The car starts immediately even when it's 20 degrees f outside, and the glow plugs are new and injectors were recenlty replaced with Bosch rebuilds. (now that I think of it, this did begin sometime after the injectors were replaced). The car burns no oil between 3k changes and doesn't smoke and fuel mileage hasn't changed. Also, this started before I began messing with the ALDA. The soot comes out of the exhaust about 1-2 minutes after starting the car, it idles fine, hmmmmmm..... Could be leaky valve seals Ifso, wouldn't it smoke initially? This is leaving patches on the concrete and they aint' easy to clean! Thanks for any help in advance. Happy benz'n. Adam Last edited by adamb; 01-08-2003 at 09:39 PM. |
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Adamb,
Paint the driveway black. LOL P E H |
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I could be wrong, but I think the soot patch is normal. My 300D leaves one everywhere it goes. Kinda like a little Benz calling card
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2001 VW Jetta TDI, 5 speed, daily driver 1991 Ford F-350, work in progress 1984 Ford F-250 4x4, 6.9l turbo diesel, 5 speed manual Previous oilburners: 1980 IH Scout, 1984 E-350, 1985 M-B 300D, 1979 M-B 300SD, 1983 M-B 300D Spark-free since 1999 |
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Did the weather get colder after you installed the new injectors? Possibly a cold cylinder head + cool moist exhaust + imcomplete combustion from cold cylinder head = wet sooty exhaust that shows up on your driveway. Could try letting the glow plugs work 10-20 seconds after the light goes out and then tire...
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Brian Toscano |
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Mine always leaves a patch
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The re-designed glow plug relay keeps them working after the car starts, up to a minute I think. This makes the car run better when it is really cold. I don't think the '85 has that design. The new kit with glow plugs and relay was around $100 and easy to install when I used one on my daughter's 240D. I had to interpret the directions, but no one writes these days. At that time (two years ago) you couldn't buy the extra glow plug for the 5 cylinders; it was only available in the kit. I called Boosh tech and they were extremely helpful, but they couldn't figure out why the plugs were not available individually. I hope they are now.
But I would think that this improved system would affect this situation. That said, I just park my own three diesels at random on the driveway and in a couple more months there will be no need to paint it. Good luck, Dan Stadt
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Dan Stadt '85 300D turbo '79 300SD '73 220D |
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Sounds like everyone is resigned to live with the soot stains. I don't have one where I park my 240D. My car requires no throttle to start, and I try not to rev it up stone cold. I wonder if that might make a difference in blowing out the soot. If you could wait until you begin to roll before developing higher RPM, perhaps the soot would be spread out over a bigger area and not be noticable (or better yet out in the street).
My $.02 worth.
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1976 240D 1987 560SL 2007 E320 Bluetec 1998 C280 (now son’s car) 1982 240D Manual - Sold |
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All my diesels do this, always have. I consider it normal. RT
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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops! 84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K 03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K 93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K |
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This discussion reminds me of a conversation I had back in the early 70's with a truck driver. He was a regular delivery driver to our small store and I noticed that he had the exhuast on his smoky old diesel truck set up under the truck vs. the usual set up to blow exhaust out and behind the cab. He said it wa changed after his company started getting ticketed by the State Troopers that had begun using some kind of guns to measure the soot output of the fumes. With it blowing under the truck/trailor they couldn't get a line to pass out thier tickets.
So the MB exhausts are mounted low, and angled straight down. Voila, the early morning soot with warmup will run into our driveways and leave a black area. Maybe we should just drive them away a bit sooner? Or better yet alter the exhaust pipe? We are just driving these old diesels. They all get a little sooty. |
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Quote:
Yes, I'm kidding
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2001 VW Jetta TDI, 5 speed, daily driver 1991 Ford F-350, work in progress 1984 Ford F-250 4x4, 6.9l turbo diesel, 5 speed manual Previous oilburners: 1980 IH Scout, 1984 E-350, 1985 M-B 300D, 1979 M-B 300SD, 1983 M-B 300D Spark-free since 1999 |
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I can not explain how happy I am to read all of your responses - THANK YOU ALL!! I was prepared to dig deap into my pocket to fix this thing if I got different responses. Thanks again, this site is the best one on the net.
Adam |
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Heck there is a real easy fix for that... Do not park in the drive way..
Ken |
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My 240D leaves a soot mark only if l lead-foot it for initial take off (if you can call it that). If I give the engine just enough revs to set the car in motion, I don't get a mark. I would rather creep out when the car is cold than be trying to clean up those marks constantly.
Hope this helps.
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Ted 1979 240D 165,000 miles |
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It's not leaving a soot mark.
IT'S MARKING IT'S TERRITORY. *G* Dave
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1970 220D, owned 1980-1990 1980 240D, owned 1990-1992 1982 300TD, owned 1992-1993 1986 300SDL, owned 1993-2004 1999 E300, owned 1999-2003 1982 300TD, 213,880mi, owned since Nov 18, 1991- Aug 4, 2010 SOLD 1988 560SL, 100,000mi, owned since 1995 1965 Mustang Fastback Mileage Unknown(My sons) 1983 240D, 176,000mi (My daughers) owned since 2004 2007 Honda Accord EX-L I4 auto, the new daily driver 1985 300D 264,000mi Son's new daily driver.(sold) 2008 Hyundai Tiberon. Daughters new car |
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240 versus 300 soot marks
I just noticed this phenomonen this last week as the new 300 leaves soot marks and the 240 never has...
The 300 starts better in the cold too. Wonder if that is just the Big Dog marking it's territory to ensure the little dog stays in line?
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'99 S420 - Mommies '72 280SE 4.5 - looking to breathe life into it '84 300SD Grey - Sold '85 300SD Silver - Sold '78 Ski Nautique |
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