A Broken piece of plastic in the air cleaner assembly.
 

:(

I don't believe this. Went downstairs even when I have a flu to change my car's fuel filter just because I haven't done anything to it in a long time...

did that, all good now the fuel in the filter is nice and clean :)

The old filter had all sorts of greenish/dark grey particles .

(pre-filter that is)

Started the car, and it took two rotations (or at least twice of whatever it is usually) to fire. It idled fine though. Last time it did this was because of an overdue oil change so it's gonna get that ASAP.

However i heard a familiar rattle that had annoyed me lately especially when the engine is cold and the idle speed is low.

It was from the air filter housing. Took it apart and I guess I figured it out.

There's an assembly that goes like this.

ValveCover -> Breather Hose -> Air Cleaner -> A funky looking black cylinder -> an L-shaped plastic tube -> out of the air cleaner housing.

The little L-Shaped plastic tube has a notch on it and that notch is supposed to go into a recess in a piece before it. Now.... my L-shaped tube is just dangling around free. Therefore it hits around and rattles. Because the stupid little plastic notch was never there since I bought the car.

Now...

I have never heard of anyone mentioning this problem or I just missed it.

Should I:

1. Buy a new one (if possible) and just yank out the old one with force
2. Just clamp them down really hard
3. Use Epoxy?
4. Drill a hole across the pipes and secure them with a long machine screw with two nuts (one lock nut)
5. Live with it... :(

Thanks guys..

Sorry for being too picky but I hate these little things going wrong.

God knows what got damaged thanks to that little piece of plastic.

I'm not 100% sure of what you are talking about but I think you might mean the oil separator. That is the black canister in the air filter. My best guess would be to replace the broken part, It can't be that expensive, and never use force. There must be a way to disassemble the air cleaner assembly to get the broken part out.

holson i think i know what you are talking about but can u grab ur digital camera and post a shot - it will help.
1st thing i think of is remove the offending piece ...

re debris in pre-filter - have you been using any additives lately like powerservice or the like. i have been seeing some of the same type of debris you are talking about as well in the prefilter and i am thinking it might be due to using a bit of powerservice for the last few fill ups.
i never saw it before when i used no additives.

Yeah I always use some sort of additive and lately put in Diesel Doctor.
That is probably the reason why.

I'll take a picture tomorrow this really bad flu isn't helping me concentrate or anything....

right now all i did was duct-tape the two pieces together really tight and zip-tied both ends of the tape. I guess until I can find a replacement piece and know how to take it off.

I called the dealer and they don't sell the part by itself. I guess I'm just gonna look around and see if I can salvage it off somebody else or I'm just gonna 'fix' the broken part

I took the "L" shaped piece off of my aircleaner because it doesn't fit tight. Since it doesn't fit tight, like yours, it will eventually rattle itself loose and fall into the intake. Once when I had the "U" shaped intake pipe off I put the "L" shaped piece in there to see if it could work its way through there, and indeed it could. I would hate to think what a piece of plastic would to to my turbo impellers as they are spinning at 20,000 rpm!

Needless to say, that "L" pipe is permanently removed from my car.

GregS
'84 300D, 173k
'90 300CE, 162k

Wouldn't that cause oil to be sprayed all inside the air cleaner assembly then?
or the oil just gets sucked in anyway because of the turbo?

also did you just yank that piece out? or is there a special way of taking it off?

I really think that the L-tube is a stupid design.

It sprays all over anyway, but its still going to end up in the same place - down the intake.

By the way, your car is freakin' incredible. It looks sweet with the euro lights and the w126 wheels. How much did they set you back? I've been quoted $100/each at junkyards, and I know you can get aftermarkt knock-offs for $125, so I think I might go that route someday.

GregS
'84 300D, 173k
'90 300CE, 162k