For some reason my MPG is falling off rapidly. I seem to be going through fuel really fast. I don't fill the whole tank up so I don't have numbers but watching the odometer and the gauge I seem to be going through it quickly.

I'm waiting for my next check so I can order the tank strainer for my car. I think I may get DV seals too.

My OM603.971 does the same as your engine, when first started it idles beautifully, after it warms up to about 82C the vibration is very noticable. While I'm sure the mounts probably need to be replaced I don't think those are the source of the problem.

I bought it in the winter and never noticed it because the engine never warmed up above 80C, now that it's summer it's noticeable.

Steve A

My mounts are Febi/Bilstein and have 1k on them. It's not the mounts. Or it wasn't.

Steve, your engine should NEVER stay below 80°C when fully warmed up... if so, either the t-stat is bad, or the temp sender is bad. Normal operating temps in winter should be 80-85°C but never below 80...!

:nuke:

I swapped back to the old mounts today, no need to kill $150 mounts while I am figuring out the motor.

Some pics:
Car is a salvage, the guy who rebuilt it I think was a hackasaurus, but whatever, I am fixing it

Before
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...D/DSCN5517.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...D/DSCN5518.jpg

After
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...D/DSCN5525.jpghttp://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...D/DSCN5526.jpg

The air box mounts that are on the rubber isolators were gone and I replaced those, so the airbox is bolted down correctly for the first time in 8 years

The MAF bracket off the car is on the right, they bent it or something, so I replaced the MAF. The bracket on the parts car one wasn't bent and the MAF itself looked cleaner
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...D/DSCN5524.jpg

2,800 miles since the oil change, I added exactly 8.5 quarts when I did the change. This is how much is left
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...D/DSCN5521.jpg

Devil is in the details,
Before:
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...D/DSCN5480.jpg
After:
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...D/DSCN5484.jpg

Think my tank is gunked? This prefilter has been on for a week
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...D/DSCN5529.jpg

You have too much oil in the car if it is touching the upper red plastic, as it appears it is in the picture.

I drained the car empty changed the filter and put 8.5 quarts in it as stated in the owners manual. It is showing slightly on the red.

But you didn't drain the oil cooler. The 8.5 quarts includes what is trapped in the oil cooler and the lines going to it. You want the oil level to be in between the red marks, not on either one.

How do you drain the cooler? I am coming up on a change, if it hasn't blown up in the past 2800-3k can it survive a bit longer? I like to go about 4k on my oil.

I don't know of anyone who drains the oil cooler. Replacing 7.5 out of 8.5 quarts is as good as it gets.

I'll keep that in mind when I change it. Thanks for the heads up.

There is a TSB about the OM603.96x oil fill spec. It was reduced from 8.5 quarts to 8.0 quarts. The factory docs also mention that it is not necessary (nor recommended) to drain the cooler. Click here for the factory procedure, see PDF pages 26-28. Note the spec listed is 7.5 liters, which is 7.93 quarts.

Just pull the oil filter (BEFORE draining the oil!!), then drain the pan, re-assemble, and pour in 8 quarts. This is convenient since most diesel oils (Delvac, Delo, etc) come in 1-gallon jugs. Also of note is the MB dipstick marks are not "full" and "add". They are "MAX" and "MIN". The ideal level is in the middle.

:scooter:

When I change the oil I do it when I have other stuff to do in the garage so I let it drain for close to an hour, like until it won't even drizzle anymore. I figure diesels get so much gunk in the oil it needs to drain for a long time.

When I change the oil this next time I'll only do 7.5-8 quarts and check the dipstick.

The point of the pic was that the car isn't burning oil. Which leads me to believe my problems aren't with hard parts, i.e. bad compression. But I did buy a compression tester so hopefully I'll get to that soon.

8quarts will touch the red, perfect. That's your max-fill mark and it will run there happily unless your car leaks/burns oil. Mine typically take around 4000miles to get to the middle, which is around 1qt.

The type of oil you use will also affect how fast it "burns", if you go past 3kmi (usually, the consumption is negligible below 3kmi unless you've got serious problems). I do a 10k extended drain with oil analysis, and with good synthetics, it will use less than 1 quart over the 10kmi interval. However with crappier synthetics (or dino) it may take a quart after 4-5k, and then want another quart every ~2k or so afterwards. This is due to the oil shearing down, which cause consumption to increase. YMMV, etc, etc...

:stuart: