Complain; complain; complain!!!!! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

whunter · #1 12-31-2003, 09:12 PM

Hello Everyone
Venting some frustration....
I stopped for soda at the mall food court.
A young (sixteen) year old girl was crying and kicking dad’s MB E300D.
Question: (Good Sam), I asked what was wrong.
Answer: The %^!@(* car won’t start.
Question: (Good Sam), would you try one more time while I listen? (ASE mechanic patches on my jacket helped)
Answer: Anything to get this POS running.
She jumped in and cranked instantly, the cold engine tried to fire on two cylinders, at ten seconds I hollered for her to stop, as she seemed intent upon cranking it to death.
Question: (Good Sam), may I try to start the car once?
Answer: She climbed out cussing and kicking the car even harder.

(Good Sam), climbed in, keyed up the glow plugs, cranked when the light went out, lots of shaking and smoke, but it started this time.
(Good Sam), Climbed out of the car and explained how to start a MB diesel, while the engine cleaned up and stabilized idle.

The young girl explained that her cars starter toasted that morning, and her mother does not drive, so mom gave her dad’s car to drive for the night, (dad being out of town).

The young girl had never been in the car before even as a passenger.
I checked the fuel level and it was full, thank goodness, and then warned her NOT to put gasoline in the E300D.

She thinks MB diesels are all POS now, go figure.
She was very happy it was running, thanked me and drove away.
I hope she comes through New Years celebrations ok.
I suspect that her father may be angry when he sees the four or five dents in the lower driver door skin.

coachgeo · #2 12-31-2003, 10:43 PM

16 cutie ( assuming ) out on N. Years night, Dad's out of town, Mom dont drive.

hmmmmm Forumula for a bad scene. Glad she is driving an MB. (or is that one as solid as the older ones?)

Gawd I hope dad filled it and not her.

coachgeo · #3 12-31-2003, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dieseldiehard
...Coachego - I see you adopted those tag lines off another thread - - Ha!
I wonder if they are taken for personalized plates?
Happy New Year all,
Dieseldiehard

hmmmmm..... will be getting new plates for the 300D and Unimog soon... hmmmmmmmm LOL

william rogers · #4 01-01-2004, 01:27 AM

Bout time Daddy took the T Bird away..........

William Rogers........

DieselAddict · #5 01-01-2004, 02:39 AM

Some people are just idiots. OK, I could forgive a teenage girl for not knowing about glow plugs, but not a car delivery truck driver. I watched him trying to start my 87 300D while unloading the car without heating up the glow plugs. His excuse was that the glow light didn't come on. I told the idiot that he still needed to let the plugs do their job. I can't imagine how much abuse my cars suffered before they arrived in my loving hands.

Rotor · #6 01-01-2004, 04:44 AM

Curious... was it a W124 or a 201? If it was a 124 E300D, I'd have started kicking her for kicking such a rare, beautiful car.

I had the same problem when I let my friend drive my 300D the day I got it. It'd been sitting for a couple of hours, but sure enough he went straight into cranking and 2 seconds later it fired right up. Tried to explain glowplugs and he said "uh huh ooh look a hood badge". At that point I made the decision not to let him cold-start the car. Ever.

Mike

Angel · #7 01-01-2004, 11:24 AM

Where were these girls when I was 16 ? (I'm 28 and married now...)

I didnt have any ASE patches on my jacket, but it wouldnt have stopped me from offering help =)

Actually its kinda funny, I'm looking for the 123 or 124 diesel of my dreams and realizing that my wife (of 3 months =) has never lived with a diesel before. Is there some kinda training class or catchy mnemonic to use.. ?

"unless you wanna go walkin', always wait for the plugs and put diesel in a diesel engin' "

-John

danalinscott · #8 01-08-2004, 04:39 PM

You don' have to be 16 to be ...umm..stupid about cars. But it helps.

Last summer I was mowing the lawn and a car coasts to a stop in the middle of the street in front of the house. Plenty of room to pull over..but it stops in the middle. I hear the starter crank..and crank..and crank. (Why do people think that if you just keep turning the key it will make the car start?)

Lady gets out and is fuming and swearing loud. Hesitant to approach her ..(new relaxed gun carry laws in MN)..but I was a bit concerned for the very young kids previously playing next door(now staring at the scene in the road) learning "new words" I know they never hear at home.

This lady was PISSED at her &^*(%^ car....and advertising it loudly. I recall it was a nice new car...but not a MBZ.

So before she had burst a vein I asked if I could give her a hand. That at least stopped the jumping and swearing.

She handed me the keys and said "if you can start this *(&*(^ car..you can HAVE it".

I thought of her generous offer..as I slipped the key into the ignition. Right away I suspected I knew the problem...the gas gauge needle was all the way to the left and sitting on the peg. When I asked her if she had the title with her...she began to calm down a bit more and asked why. I told her I did not actually want the car...but was willing to bet her $100 I could start the car in less than 10 minutes.

I did it in seven....since I had the gas can sitting on the front walk.

When she asked how much I wanted for helping...I said my stepdaughter would probably like the car...and I could use $100..but that I would settle for $5 for the gas I had poured in and an apology to the neighbor kids.

She looked like I had slapped her...handed me a $20 and took off without another word. So I apologised to the kids for her..."sometimes adults get too excited to think clearly and say bad things" and finished mowing the lawn.

I used to be a lot quicker to offer my help. In fact I usually carry tools with me in the car (since I drive "experimental vehicles" a lot)....and would routinely pull over to help stranded motorists.

We live in a rural area so I was not too worried about having a gun pulled on me..until I had a gun pulled on me.

But that is another story.

Rotor · #9 01-08-2004, 04:51 PM

Nicely done Danalinscott. I pull over too... so far the most fun I've had was an elderly asian lady with a BEAUTIFUL Volvo 760 Turbo wagon. Nicest one I've ever seen. She's sitting in the middle of the road with her lights off right around a bend on a 70mph road... I almost hit her, pulled around and began helping another motorist who had pulled over to cuss her out. After assuaging her fears that we were there to hurt her (she locked her doors as soon as we approached) we decided to push her dead and bleeding-out car to safety ONLY if she steered (and braked). No sonner after we got her moving did a police officer show up to conduct the circus.

We get her going downhill on a sidestreet to the right, where we begin to get up to a fairly decent clip with me trying desperately to calmly get her to apply the brake. She claims she is, so I guess she is. Eventually I lose grip and she goes flyin down the hill... thankfully she turns right into the shopping center we wanted her to, which is up a hill... she coasts up half way and naturally begins to coast right back down into now moving traffic. The cop goes ape***** and starts to frantically try to stop traffic on the road she's flying back into and the lady goes frozen as stone... car flies back down the drive, she turns left (miracle), barrels back up the hill towards me and the other helper (omen), before it hits a curb (sign from above). I quickly make a move that I'd have been proud to use on a contemporary female and dive for the brake head-first. While under there, I notice she's still repeatedly pumping the accelerator... saying "NO NO THIS IS THE ONE THAT STOPS THE CAR!"

We decided to let the other helper steer (and brake) while I towed the car up the hill. Sonny dearest arrives in a nice Volvo 850 and they call Triple A... cop lets us both know if we ever stop to help someone again, that we're nuts.

So I'm nuts.

Mike

#10 01-08-2004, 05:04 PM

whunter, Dana, and Mike. Thanks for making my day. Those stories are a hoot.

Don't you just love those diesels? Don't have one at the moment, but between MB and VW, have had six of them. Current chariot is a gasser MB. Nobody, and I mean nobody drives my Mercedes. I hide the key if I take the truck for the day. My wife has learned to not even ask anymore.

engatwork · #11 01-08-2004, 05:38 PM

I recently stopped to help a woman in her late model Mercedes. Seems the car just "shut down" at the read light right in the middle of the road. I got in her car and tried it and it would not start. The bad thing, thank goodness for W123's, is that I could not even put the car in neutral to push her out of the road. Wow! I figured that the alarm or high tech key had gone to heck.

The best instance of helping someone was a lady and her kid on their way (full size Surburban) from Hilton Head, SC to Chicago. I changed a tire for her and she gave me a $100 bill

. I'll change them all day long for that

.

Kestas · #12 01-08-2004, 08:44 PM

Some people are just too stupid to own (or drive) a car.

Toblin · #13 01-08-2004, 10:39 PM

I have to say it! Females just do not make for good smudge-pot-pilots. Too much gendered enabled (or disabled) appreciation of "mechanical doohickey stuff", as my wife would say.

And why is that you ask? The reason IS "Y"! (Get it)?

There are exceptions of course, but those exceptions prove the rule.

whunter · #14 01-08-2004, 11:42 PM

Hello Everyone
(Good Sam), stopped after passing a MB diesel box truck chugging along I75 south at 5 miles per hour while spewing the last dregs of coolant.
The truck staggered to a stop roughly 100 feet behind me.
I watched the driver reach for the key as the engine destroyed itself, the whole truck jumped, shook like a wet dog and something flew out the right front wheel well.
Shock and fear where obvious as I walked up to the truck.
There was a massive oil slick under the engine; stench cloud boiling from under the cab was unburnt diesel fuel, engine oil and coolant.
The driver climbed out shaking and ghost white.
I inquired about his health; he was OK, just badly shaken.
The engine has a hole roughly 5 inches, in the passenger side, with part of a piston rod sticking out, showed the driver, he promptly began cussing.
I drove him to the next exit, where his company yard was.
When asked why he continued to drive the truck; when he knew the cooling system was blown, he replied "well, I know that diesels do not get as hot as gas engines and with 18 degree temperature outside, I thought it would be OK".
I explained the error of his thinking and gave him the URL for this forum.
The driver is the company owner, 18 MB diesel bobtail trucks.
I hope he visits this forum before another MB truck is needlessly damaged.
He is about to get a sever case of sticker shock:
He thinks to get a factory new engine for a 5 year old MB diesel truck for $2500.00 USD, it took firm self control to not laugh out loud.
Have a great day.

Angel · #15 01-09-2004, 07:44 AM

totally off topic, but since engine prices were mentioned...

I called my local MB dealer yesterday and for the giggles of it, asked how much a new motor would be for a 1985 300SD (OM617.952?)

$8700- new factory motor.

Funny when I heard it, but it does make sense. I wonder how many they sell...

Now back to the regularly scheduled topic of discussion =)

-John