So we just bought a 1982 240D for my Mom off another forum member, very clean tidy car. Mom is used to a tuned VW tdi with double the torque of the 240D...enough said! The 240 shifts really early, infact at full throttle with the kick down denting the floor still shifts ~2500 if not earlier, and refuses to downshift unless manually shifted down to S or L. There is no cable down to the trans, I am used the 300D/300SD set ups, is this thing all vacuum? So the vacuum switches on the valve cover are the first place to start?
I am going to do a thorough fuel system tune up (filters, clean screen, new hoses) and adjust valves etc, all the usual suspects and pull injectors/compression etc. If anything is worn or out of spec will report, not sure how to upgrade a non turbo engine all that well yet on a Mercedes. Will also get a vacuum guage and pump on the hoses and start checking things out. I have read a bit on precombustion chambers, what is the deal there?
Is there much to gain inside the injection pump beyond proper calibration? I have good core pumps that can be sent out to a specialist with the full bench testing and tuning friendly for more power, but is there much to be gained going this route (costs $1000 range for a 617.95 pump).
I want to keep it simple, not a turbo project just want to be able to run on the highway and try to keep momentum up east coast hills, fuel economy is of utmost importance coming from a tdi that managed mid 40s mpg (6L/100km) day in day out.
Any thoughts or ideas appreciated, just want the car to run as well as possible so it is not run over in the slow lane going to Florida! Will be a keeper for a long time, the chasis is in fabulous condition very remarkable!

Step one, remove automatic transmission and replace with 4 speed manual. Night and day performance change. Further mods can go from there, but you will never regret getting a stick in that car

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yeah, have a few kits around for the manual trans but not until something severe goes wrong with the transmission, nothing wrong with it outside of early shifts. Same for turbo charging, have everything needed but it so simple right now I am leaving it alone. Just looking to make it factory fresh and maybe a mod or two to give the best possible economy. I have a LARGE selection of parts, a few 616 and 617.95 engines, automatics, full manaul swaps, turbos, pumps, injectors, if there is a factory trick to do I have the parts to do it. Maybe down the road an engine build is in the works a serious one with better tolerances and specs then the factory with lots of R&D, the body of this car is so sound it will out last the powertrain easily, 214k miles on it at the moment if it always worked and never had a replacement, but so far everything idicates the correct mileage (wear and tear wise). But for now maintenace and easy stuff!

There are several things that can be done to the 616 to give it more pep, but first get the trans shifting properly.

Given that it is your mother that will be driving it, you will be limited to what mods you can do, as to get the most out of it the driver needs to be instrument rated lol...

Instrument rated I like that

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

yup

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-Justin

I believe in extreme automotive perfection whenever possible.......there is no such thing as "It doesn't matter" !!!

1985 300 CDT - 287k miles

1980 240 D - 340k miles

With extras !!

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I will sort through the maintenace stuff and the transmission, I want it set up that full throttle all day kind of cruising is ok, I will add a cooler for the trans instead of rad. I just want it to run like it should. As it is there is no smoking on heavy throttle but early shifts. I have lots of guages to add if needed, EGT, oil temp etc but only if needed, she is a very hyper driver and notices stuff not one to just drive on when all the guages are saying otherwise!

Adjust your valves, have the injectors balanced/rebuit, fix the EGR if there is one, and advance the timing a few degrees(just make sure it doesn't start knocking).

Real power can be made with a turbo.

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

Getting injectors done, egr is there but not hooked up, intake manifold is dirty looking inside but not clogged up, advance the pump timing by ear? Or use drip method to baseline first?
Turbo maybe later on with an engine build up, but not now. Looking at diff ratios also, have 3.07 and 2.88 but they might be too much.

Sounds like your EGR is setup properly then

In order:
Check chain stretch, correct as necessary with an offset key or install a new chain
Adjust valves to spec
Install reworked injectors
Drip time engine to 26-28*, depending on how your individual engine takes it. Stock is 24*, 26* is considered safe, and a couple people have gotten lucky with 28*-the only way you will know is if it starts knocking/nailing/making a bad noise.

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

Kick down on transmission is now working (pedal was not making contact), early shifts still happen will look into vacuum signal. All fuel leaks fixed, one oil leak to deal with injection pump @ engine block gasket (yeah fun), then afterwards look at timing since pump will be disturbed. Once that is settled, valve cover off and look at chain, valves, injectors, prechambers (if I can source a local tool or fab something) and reseal it all, ream glow plugs. This is once it is on the road and other surprises dealt with like speedo sometimes not working (new cable that was provided did not fix it, a thump on the dash does!). It drives so crisp and clean and nice sounding it is amazing, so much nicer running then a 5 cylinder.

if u look at the right side of engine the exhaust side, Left if u stand infront.
There should be a linkage hooked up with the throttle, once u find it u should lengthen the linkage so it will push more into the trans sensor , which makes the shift point higher.
As these 240d does not use vac to adjust the shift point but rely on a linkage.
Kind of recess inside the exhaust manifold.
************Check only when engine is cold! unless u have asbestos fingers.

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Hi Clacker!
Regarding gearing. I'm currently running 3.07 in my 240D with a stick. Its a tad high for a standing start but not bad, and it drops about 600 rpm off my cruise rpm IIRC which is really nice. When I ran it with the automatic, the 3.07 gears were no problem, and still lowerd the cruise rpm nicely.

However, I would not recommend going to higher gears unless you are planning to modify the 616 for more power.

Cheers,
Chris