I really had the 240D wound out on the way back from the MB dealership in Marion IL. I was about 15 miles south of Marion on I-57 headed south down that 2 mile long grade, and hit 87 mph as a yahoo in a Caddy STS blew past me like I was sitting still. But then my radar detector went off, but I had already back out of it and was back to 70 mph. I passed the Caddy and honked as he stopped with the cop car on the shoulder of the road.

That hill is a real killer going up, I hit it at the bottom doing 73 mph & reached the top at 62 mph, while on the way to the dealership. Not bad for NA 67 hp 22 year old car.

__________________
'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

I did a 0-85 run in my SDL the other day, I need to get a stopwatch because she pulled very well. If you run to 4,800 each shift she really gets pulling, I would have liked to see how she pulled in 4th but I ran out of room right after the shift.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I've been told the engine in the 240 is also a common engine for refrigerator units (the guy who told me this bought his parts at a marine store selling to fishboats) and that these engines run almost flatout constantly for days at a time.

I also remember being a teenager and telling my dad one day "The car seems to rattle less after you drive it." He just said, "So you kinda notice that, huh?"

Back before we had police in Seattle we made a cannonball run up I-5 one day and I was really impressed how polite the other drivers were. Guys a half mile ahead of me were moving over and giving me the lane, no questions asked. Don't think you could do that today.

There's no chance of that on any part of I-5 any more. Idiots will now cut in front of you in the so called "fast" lane if its open.

__________________
DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

We had 3 on the farm out of refrigeration units that we put on relifts for pumping water out of ditches and into the rice field. They were pretty good till they got wore out.

Interesting thread..... Oil consumption for me in the 240D is what causes me to drive at/under 80mph. Yes, the car will do 90.

Under normal driving it burns 1 qt. each 1,600 miles or so - but on long trips at/above 85mph oil use is closer to 1,000 miles per quart. Blow-by is what I suspect causes increase in oil burning.

Otherwise, I top all my gears in everyday use. And downshift constantly when slowing down to keep rpm's at optimum power band.

That was an interesting caution somebody gave about over-revving 1st gear. For me 1st is just to get the car rolling, then taking 2nd to 35mph; 3rd to 57mph, etc..... and then downshifting at the same points when slowing down.

The engine is never lugged or bottomed out. And the way I drive, it's probably never run below 2000 rpm's. What's the best after-market tach? That's something I'd like to add.

---

Last edited by 300SDog; 12-19-2004 at 09:34 PM.

Well if you run the car at 90 mph then you must have the 185-14 tires on the car for about 3 mph error fast in speedo, 195's gives dead on in 240D, as in my case 205's run 3 mph slow at 75 mph. The 240D's max speed is about 89mph at 4700 to 4800 rpm for 4 spd. So all things being considered you're running it at the very ragged edge.

Check out Tiny Tach for a tach for you MB, only $65. You need the 6mm transducer, by the way.

Your shift points are pretty much where my automatic shifts, well within 2 mph. Mine shifts to 4th at 59 mph by speedo, or about 58 mph.

__________________
'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

Thanks for the tach info, Navy. That's an improvement I'd like to make.

The car now has 195's on the back with 175's on the front.

4th gear sweet spot on the engine is at about 78-82mph. Anything at/under 72 in 4th and it starts to lug up hills. 60mph in 4th is practically hopeless and I drop into 3rd at 57.

No two identical 240 diesels operate exactly alike, you understand. I believe these engines are creatures of habbit and if driven in narrow peak power band for 50k miles or more, they will become accustomed to high performance operation. I was lucky to find one with only 108k on the clock that had not been completely boken-in or abused by having the engine lugged constantly at low rpm's.

Mine is screaming and begging for an overdrive 5th gear in upper 85+ mph range..... I nearly crapped in my pants when that w123 5-spd tranny sold for $500 on ebay last month.

Other sweet spots on this particular 240 engine are 55mph in 3rd and 32-35mph in 2nd. The car is slow in acceleration compared with gasoline cars - but I dont care with superb top end performance it delivers.

One common problem for me is normal gasoline cars passing me on straightaways after red ligts on outskirts of town..... Then they dont get out of my way when the road turns into windey country highway and the 240D achieves optimum warp speed at/above 75mph.

I can understand driving them hard on the highway, that's what they were meant to do. But how bout in the city? WIth frequent stop signs and stop lights? Wouldn't it be hard on the car when you're heavy on the accelerator, then having to stop, then just resume your hard driving? I'd think so, but I do it anyway

__________________
1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

Ara, that sounds tough on the brakes too..... Diesels dont slow down on their own accord when you take foot off the acceletor but they continue to combust. That's probably why alot of diesels warp rotors and wear out brake pads.

Does dropping a notch in the automatic shifter clip 4th and keep the car running in 3rd and 2nd longer? I also wonder if peddling the accelerator can enable the automatic to shift gears like a standard. Or if using the automatic shifter in conjunction with the accelerator helps the driver choose the gear.

Well my 240D slows down big time when I let off the pedal, because it has no overdrive tranny and excellent compression. Our '02 VW on the other hand has basiclly no slow down effect when throttle is released other then a little wind resistance.

The 240D can be easly made to shift like a manual trans with feathering the pedal, up or down. I would not recommend pulling it back manually to get from 4th to 3rd without a tach, I just slap the pedal to floor and if it down shifts ok, if not I let it slow a little more then slap the pedal again. When it down shifts I back off the pedal slowly and let the tranny work. With practice this can be done for all gears.

When you get that tach installed I think you are going to find that you are going past the 5000 rpm mark a little often to my liking. Remember MB considers 4750 <50> rpm the max for safe operation of these engines. Also you might want to check your speed with a GPS unit as I have done.

__________________
'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

I drive my SDL like a regular car around town, I don't want to use up my brakes or fuel any faster than I have to. I find letting it shift at around 2k is plenty fast enough. If I floored it all of the time I would deffinitly get a ticket.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I recently purchased a 1985 300D Turbo for my daughter, one thing I have noticed and can not figure out is the shifting.

IF I get on it, it runs up to about 3000 RPM's and will not shift. If I go slowly it sihfts from 1st to 2nd some what rougly but the rest are smooth unless I get on it.

It takes it a while to get up to 60 mph and if I start going up hill it looses speed and is hard to keep it going. If I get on it and the kicks into a different gear it revs uo to 3000 RPM and slows down.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Sherman

wrong thread but ill see if i can help ya bud i also have a 300D-t same year and im 17 bought it for myself

have you adjusts the ALDA (search ALDA id you want to read up) cleaned the banjo bolts (www.dieselgiant.com has a tutorial) and search here . to have the shift points earlier or later adjust the bowden cable i belive its tighten for earlier and loosen for later.. or it could be the other way around.. play with it.


when i drive i always take off in S and then once i get to 40 i shift into D.. and when im slowing down i shift down into S .. which helps slow the car down