It is -25 F and my oil filter leaked at start attempt. - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

dabenz · #16 02-16-2003, 09:53 PM

sohj: the others are on to me, but they missed one. The overnight in the warm garage was to thaw out the fuel lines and the air cleaner. More on those later. Let's get you running.

First, say "four thousand dollars. Four thousand dollars." That's what the coolant is saying to you. I'm assuming a seacoast NC car in a Vermont winter, meaning little antifreeze. Good for you if you can push the car into the unheated garage. If not the fact that my grandfather ran a trucking business in NW Wisconsin for 25 years before building a garage is a bit of consolation. Been there myself. At any rate, drain the radiator and the block as soon as you can. The block drain is a few inches forward and a few inches above the starter (one of your manuals should show it). I put aluminum foil over the starter to protect it from the splashing coolant. Then carefully pull the radiator hoses from the radiator. Then drain the oil and pull the oil filter. Remember to drain the oil cooler, next to the radiator. Leave the plugs out and hoses disconnected. When everything quits dripping, and after you've warmed up, put a magnetic heater on the block or put some charcoal in a shallow pan (like a shallow 9x12 baking pan) and light it off. When the charcoal is ready for the burgers put the pan on a piece of plywood and slide under the oil pan where it's not dripping. Keep the hood closed and make a wind screen if you need to. You want to warm the engine and not burn out your existing heater or start a fire. Have a second or third batch of charcoal ready if needed. When you're confident the engine is warm, put everything back together (remember to replace the oil filter o-rings) and refill the anti-freeze, but not the engine oil. Go slow with the anti-freeze and jiggle the snot out of the car as you fill.

Now the fuel: you went from the coast to a cold climate and probably gelled the fuel. You're lucky if you didn't keep the tank full. Put 3oz of UNLEADED gas in the tank and then fill it up with #1 fuel. Now carefully remove the primary (in-line) filter. Fit tubing to the line that goes back to the tank - aquarium type works in a jam - and blow back to the tank after removing the filler cap. Try a bicycle pump if your mouth won't do it. If it won't blow then the fuel actually froze and you're in a fix: either a warm garage, lots of buddies with Bics, or empty the tank you've just filled and remove all fuel lines and take inside. I'll assume the line blew. Install a new filter and move on to the other line(s) that go under the car. One or two should go to the secondary (big) filter. Remove and do the same drill. Then change the filter and reinstall the line(s). Fill that filter with a 50/50 mix of #1 fuel and Power Service (white bottle) if you can. Air cleaner and injector pump are next.

Remember the charcoal trick? Do the same thing, except put the pan under the injector pump. Build an aluminum foil chimney so the pump gets good and warm. While that's heating, plug in your normal heater, then pull the air cleaner and replace the element after scraping the ice out of the filter holder. A wood stick works well. Then pump pump the hand pump to reprime the fuel lines. Take a break when the pressure builds up, then try again. May take a half hour, and you're done when the pressure stays up. Refill the engine oil and start the car after pulling the charcoal and chimney out.

Above all, don't get discouraged. I'll bet you're up and running in less than a day. Your only mistake was not doing the preventive maintenance. You'll learn that diesels are simple, reliable, and inexpensive in the long run as long as you play by their simple rules. For the rest: once upon a time most people had cars before they had electricity. Bringing the battery and oil inside and using charcoal were the standard operating procedures in cold weather, and are still good for emergencies.

jbaj007 · #17 02-16-2003, 10:34 PM

I know what the problem is! There was no 300SDL in 1984. Either 300D or 300SD for that year. Oil gauge is electric from a sender, not mechanical for that year engine.

sohj · #18 02-17-2003, 08:08 AM

When I bought it, the SDL was written on some of the last owner's documentation, but all the manuals that matched the info off the plate on the car said SD. The name on the rear end is incomplete (part broke) and I just assumed it might have had an L at the end. In any case, though, I thought an L designation with these sedans just meant a longer wheelbase, not any mechanical differences.

And, that doesn't explain all the other problems, jbaj007.

But, it does give some of the readers here somthing to chuckle at!

The last owner had several MB's and had totalled a couple during the last stages of his illness. His daughter, who sold me the car, is an old friend and honest, but not what you'd call detail oriented. She might have gotten some of the papers/receipts mixed up...and I didn't know enough about these off the top of my head to recognize it right away.

sohj · #19 02-19-2003, 06:04 PM

Well, I got Hilda into the garage, the doorway got covered with old doors from the barn and blankets and snow, a spaceheater was turned on ( which mostly just provided me a spot to warm my hands as there were still so many drafts, it was only 1 degree warmer inside than out ) and I set about cleaning parts of the engine off to spot where things would be / were dripping from. (dabenz, I wimped out on the charcoal.

)

I had also gotten in the summer truck (a fairly rusty 1968 Ford with a clean and trusty engine) on Monday and travelled to WRJ to buy parts. Fortunately, the road was dry so I could put the truck away into the barn without having to try to clean salt off of it. (Temp was 40 deg. F warmer, too, than it had been on Sat morn: from -25 to +15!)

Tuesday was devoted to staring at the car from the pit and from above.

1) Battery was replaced.

2) Oil was changed (and oil filter). I was right the first time, it had been the oil filter that was leaking from the can, I just totally misunderstood the parts ID catalog. No water that sputtered in the pan, unless I didn't hold the lighter close enough.

3) Ken300D: I bought the coolant tester and it said the coolant was fine (good up to -45 F, in fact!) I didn't believe it so I called up the farm down the road for a buddy who, in real life is a magician...you gotta be in order to stay afloat in that business... for help and moral support. We looked for leaks. There were no additional leaks and the coolant was not dripping any longer. A theory floated was that (by Larry, 'cause the same thing had happened on some of his machinery) in that extreme cold, lots of things shrank and allowed a little bit of weeping even though nothing was frozen, but then it stopped as soon as the air warmed up. Eventually, we decided that the coolant was good enough to stay for now, considering the temp was up and due to be up for a while. I promise to drain the radiator and change the coolant very soon, though. (I'm hoping by next wednesday.)

4) Had bought fuel filters but discovered in the process of buying them (and stopping at Northern Motor Sports in Wilder to pester a very accomodating guy for advice, considering they are mechanics and I was trying not to bring the car in) that my fuel filters weren't leaking. Cleaned off the fuel line and in the in-line filter noticed it was pretty dirty. Let myself be beaten by the cold and decided to just take the filters and tools in the car in case I needed to change them enroute. I gambled and, so far, have come out ahead as I made it back to NYC and will change the filters before the car goes anywhere else...and the temp. is only getting warmer here!

5) Decided I really have to get the Haynes book as I am having trouble understanding the MB factory manuals. Maybe after studying them more under the car

I'll catch on to everything.

Interesting postscript to all this: When chatting with the guy at Northern Motor Sports, I apologised for not bringing the car in but said I had bought the car to, in part, learn how to tinker with it and, though I was not looking forward to tinkering with it in the cold, I was determined to try. He laughed and coughed at the same time and said that I had bought the hardest car in the world as a 'tinkerer': a diesel turbo MB! I think he had fun telling that one to everyone else after I left.

Thanks a lot, everyone.

ricali · #20 02-19-2003, 08:20 PM

sohj
Do not put menthol in the filter it can burn of the injector tips if you get too much at once. If you replace the filter you will need to hand pump the primer to get the air out ( a lot). Stick with diesel all our diesel up here is already cut with kero.
Bad news on the weather we are in for another storm on saturday and sunday.
Also do not use starting fluid it can cause some serious side effects.
Wave on your way by Mass exit 24 (yankee candle)

dabenz · #21 02-20-2003, 07:23 AM

sohj, good job on getting home! Remember to keep an eye on (and a lighter to) that dipstick for a while, and change those fuel filters. And balderdash to that mechanic! Maintaining a diesel, even with a turbo, is a lot easier than all the junk associated with a spark ignition engine. You'll see.