Again, not a factory-fresh look, but it does class up the dash a bit. I elected to go with a "Cinder" colored dashmat from Covercraft. It seems to be a pretty close match to the original color of the dash pad.

Not strictly Diseasel-Related...
 

While not really Diseasel-related, the SL got taken out of storage for the fall this past week. I intend to take it to TexFest this coming weekend, so it's been getting cleaned and worked over. Not to break it's tradition, it decided to have brake problems. Of course - any time you want to drive the damn thing it breaks down. I wasn't having it this time, for 20 years it's avoided going to any sort of rally, show, or get together but not this year. It's going if I show up with only 3 wheels!

And what garage isn't complete without a 126 and a 107?

Covercraft Dash Cover
 

Well ;

That looks better than 99 % of the dash covers I see on W123's, the defroster outlets are not covered and it sits neatly .

So busy!
 

Wow, these last couple of months have been incredibly busy, and not just with the car!

In early October, I got invited to the BMW "TexFest" in Leakey by a forum member here on PeachParts. I don't own a Bimmer (I probably will one day), so I did the next best thing.....I got the 500SL all fixed up and took it instead! I only live about 40 minutes from the gathering area, so I just drove in to hang with the crowd. Day 2 was supposed to rain, and since the SL is terrifying to drive in the rain and the top leaks, I took The Diseasel.

The point of having TexFest in Leakey is because it is right in the heart of the "Twisted Sisters" motorcycle route. https://www.ridetexas.com/the-twisted-sisters/ It's a collection of roads with lots of turns, hills, dips, corners, etc where you can have some fun. The SL was surprisingly terrible in the corners - too much weight and completely numb steering, but the SDL was shockingly poised! Nobody was more surprised than I was!

I did learn a few things about the car though.
1: The rear electric reclining seat is an option, not a standard feature.
2: The rear electric seat means I should be running HD rear springs, which are different from the ones I installed earlier this year
3: The amount of smoke coming out the tailpipe of the car is truly ridiculous
4: With 4 people in the car, it'll easily do >110mph

Now I've tainted my car with a BMW sticker! And I have a photo to prove it was at the event too (you can really see that rear suspension sag)!

Turbo Time!
 

One of the things I've been preparing for prior to going to TexFest was rebuilding the turbo. I've known for quite a while that a large portion of my oil consumption is due to turbo seals, both on the compressor and turbine side.

The big problem is that my turbo is just worn out. I knew it when I pointlessly threw a turbo kit in 2 years ago, so this time I decided to source donors and so glad I did. I wound up with TWO donor turbos, both from 1987 cars. One came from a forum member who was parting out an engine with a broken piston, the other came from the forum member who invited me to TexFest.

The issue with the '87's is that they have the ARV (Air Recirculation Valve) on the compressor housing and have the intake snout stick out a good 2" further as a result. If I used that compressor housing on my car, the intake snorkel would hit the cooling fan. Since my '86 has no such nonsense, I wound up using the compressor housing from it.

My next big issue is that BOTH of the '87 turbos had completely trashed compressor wheels. Not sure what happened to them, but both were well beyond salvage. Ironically enough, the one from my '86 was perfect.

You can see where this is going.....

Yep....Taking THREE turbos to make ONE good one.

The state of the turbine side of my turbo was really in bad shape. The carbon buildup under the heat shield, on the oil "piston ring" and the turbine shaft was pretty catastrophic. Obviously the oil consumption through this part of the turbo was far worse than I had expected it was! Sure explains the high oil consumption!

I ordered a rebuild kit from GPopShop and sprung the extra cash for the upgraded 360˚ thrust bearing and the "stepped gap" piston ring for the oil seal on the turbine side.

Most sources I've seen, including the GPopShop say the maximum side clearance between the piston ring and the groove is .002" - .003". Anything more and you'll have oil consumption problems. The side clearance on my turbine shaft was .009", and that was with a NEW piston ring! Yikes!

Fortunately the donor turbine shaft I had was completely within spec and had no scoring to the bearing journals. After some time with solvent and a brass brush, I got things cleaned up and rebuilt the center cartridge.

Shiny, Shiny Turbo!

Before installing the turbo, I decided to replace the passenger side motor mount. It was squished but not completely flattened. I figured since I had the turbo out, now was the time to replace it since the turbo pretty well has to come out to change it.

To attempt to extend the life of the motor mount, I decided to install a sheet of Mica "paper" as a heat shield under the metal heat shield. Mica paper is used as an electrical and thermal insulator, so we'll see in a few years if my experiment works or not. My thought is that it can help shield the rubber from the heat of the turbine housing and the exhaust manifold. Does it actually make any difference? Ask again in a couple years and we'll have an answer!

While I had access, I also removed the old turbo oil feed line for replacement. The original got bent when I replaced the head gasket in 2016. While it wasn't kinked, I wanted to replace it anyway to be on the safe side. One of my donor turbos came with the oil feed line, so I was set!

When driving the car, I noticed a sort of intermittent "farting" noise from time to time, only when accelerating or driving in very specific conditions.

Turns out that "farting" noise was my fan hitting the hose to the coolant expansion tank. The SDL has a really stupid setup for that hose and it runs very close to the fan anyway. I'm running the 11 blade fan from the OM606 which sits back slightly further and the new motor mount raised the engine to just the perfect position that it was trying to eat my radiator hose!

As a temporary solution I used some tape, a piece of hose, and a zip tie to hold the hose out of the way. I have a new hose ready to go in, but hasn't been installed yet.

I next turned my attention to my breather system. Earlier this year I installed the breather puck from a VW TDI engine to replace the ruined breather puck that's stupidly part of the valve cover on the OM603 engines.

I very temporarily set it up with some old air line and some electrical tape. Very ghetto. But it worked very nicely! The point of the breather puck is to close off the breather system when the turbo creating high vacuum in the intake snorkel to prevent it sucking oil out of the crankcase. There's a spring loaded valve disc that will close the valve when exposed to vacuum, but will reopen when the vacuum ceases, or when pressure builds in the crankcase. The VW part was like it was made for the OM603. The VW grommet fits the 603 breather hole PERFECTLY, the breather puck sits right up against the crossover pipe like it was made for it.

I decided to make it a permanent fixture on my engine. I took a brass hose barb and turned it down on the lathe so it would fit TIGHTLY in the hose fitting on the valve, then glued it in place with black permatex. Add a hose, a hose barb, and a couple of radiator clamps and you have a breather system that's better than OEM because it can be serviced!

Then things sort of went off the rails...

After rebuilding the turbo, the oil smoke disappeared, but the smoke at idle did not, nor did the smoke when the car was in motion. I met up with one of the guys I met at TexFest in San Antonio a couple weeks ago and we drove each other's cars. You rarely ever get to drive behind your OWN CAR! I didn't like it.....the smoke and stench coming out of it at ALL TIMES was ridiculous! Any time he accelerated, I was left coughing in a cloud of cancer. That' GREAT for driving in front of Prius and Volt drivers, but not every driver is a smug slow-driving eco-hippie d-bag that deserves a cloud of cancer from the Deutschland Dinosaur...

So I decided to tune the injection pump again. And that turned into a TEN DAY ordeal of trial and error before I finally got it dialed in.

Long story made very short, the timing was off somehow (even though the timing pointers all lined up), and the injection settings were all wrong. I documented what I did in my tuning thread in the performance section: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-performance-tuning/386114-help-tuning-603-ip.html

I finally did get it all dialed in though, and now I have ZERO smoke at idle and virtually no smoke even under hard acceleration. I never thought MY car would run like that! I was convinced that all my smoke was coming from engine wear! Just seems it was a bad turbo, wrong injection timing, bad IP setup, and too much hair on my head.

And as it always seems to be with this car, now that I fixed all those issues, the balljoints are trashed. I guess as long as I was driving it, it was keeping the rust knocked off and things were fine, but now that it sat for >2 weeks, it ain't happy! Sounds like a horse trailer banging and squeaking down the street! Yikes!

So, as always, it's being the TrollCar™

Next on the agenda: Balljoints, tie rods, center link, steering stabilizer, upper control arms, and swaybar bushings. Think that'll all happen after Thanksgiving.

Update
 

Thanx for the detailed update ! .

Lots of good stuff in there .

I wish my Brother cared to take any sort of care of his 1987 300SDL, it's a sweetie but he never washes it and the engine is *so* greasy when he took it in to my tranny guy for a trans overhaul, they washed the engine for free just because .

I wonder if I could make that rockerbox breather puck fit my OM617......

Keep us posted on how all this goes .

Nice update - good to see the turbo stuff. I've never taken a turbo to bits before. I've seen people having to balance (well get them balanced) once they have been taken to bits. Was this not a concern?

You shouldn't need it for the 617. Since it has the oil separator in the air cleaner with an oil return to the engine, it essentially has an oil "catch can" built in. The 603 doesn't. It has a baffled valve cover insert with a control valve built into the cover that is non serviceable. Since it fails, the valve cover is then open to the turbo inlet 100% of the time and uncontrolled, the result is the turbo sucking oil out of the valve cover.


I can confirm that the valve works. My intake snorkel used to be full of oil and the breather hose was always dripping when pulled out. Since I put the valve in, the breather hose is bone dry.

They're not hard to service, it's more a matter of persuading the old bolts off than anything. An oxyacetylene torch is a requirement!


Balancing isn't required on the Garrett turbos (which is what mine is). Each piece is individually balanced. They can be put on a machine and balanced further, but this is not a performance application so I just don't care.


The KKK turbos are a different story. The moving section is balanced as a unit, so the compressor wheel, turbine shaft, and locknut all have to be marked before disassembly and reassembled to the same positions. If any part of them is ever replaced, the cartridge has to be rebalanced.


I'd suspect that balancing on a machine is the "proper" thing to do for a very long-term solution, but that also involves finding a shop to do it and dealing with them rolling their eyes because its not some huge Holset for a Dodgey Cuminsideme for some sawed-off redneck who wants to roll coal.

Crankcase Breathing
 

Thanx .

This one is the first I've had that didn't always have a mess of oil in the air cleaner can .

I meant to ask : what happened to the impeller ? .

I too was nervous about overhauling a T3 turbo but it was pretty simple in the end and yielded impressive gains in fuel economy, power and elimination of that bothersome blue smoke .

I wish I knew what happened to those compressor wheels. Both of the donors were trashed. Maybe they were ingesting rocks or small boulders? I strongly suspect someone was running with no air cleaner, missing the breather hose, or running those stupid K&N's that don't filter anything. :rolleyes:


I was never nervous about rebuilding the turbo. If it didn't work out, I'd send it off to a rebuild shop and have them do it. My main goal was to get rid of that annoying blue smoke! Turbo rebuild + IP tuning = ZERO smoke. I never thought I'd achieve that with this car.

I had the same basic thought process but as a Journeyman Mechanic I have learned not to trust anyone else's work because fully 90% of the jobs I do involve correcting other's mistakes .

Clean, filtered air is critical ~ with no exceptions those who like the K&N typ air filters only like hearing the intake honk when they mash the gas pedal ~ they simply don't care that they're deliberately destroying their engines and often _lie_ about that part .

Good to know - thanks

Garret T3 Turbo Overhaul Kits
 

Two questions :

Is there a link to the page of these kits with the 360* shaft and spiral seal ? I tried looking them up and was bewildered by the many choices .

Is there a pictorial on checking this .003" gap mentioned ? .

I have a spare T3 turbo and would like to overhaul it, don't want to put a kit and upgraded impeller shaft in a worn beyond use housing .

TIA,

PM sent.

Garret T3 Kit
 

Here's the link to the "complete T3 kit" : » Garrett T3, T4, T3/T4 Rebuild Kits

You have to choose the kit # 3 and the 360 shaft, looks like the co$t is $119 right now .

THANK YOU ! .

Been Busy
 

With my last update, I noted that suspension work was in my future. Little did I know how that project would spiral out of control!

Originally I was planning on rebuilding the rear suspension to correct for the sag noticed at the TexFest event I went to in October. Then as I noted, while sitting for the turbo rebuild, the front end started howling in pain due to trashed ball joints.

I sourced all the parts and went in with a plan of attack. Did I mention that older Mercedes seem to know when payday comes? It's like they plan for it...

First on the agenda was to service the rear suspension. While surfing the bootleg EPC I have, I noticed a footnote with regards to springs. Apparently the electric rear seat is an option and requires a heavier spring and thicker pads. Joy! So the springs and pads I ordered before were for the normal car without the extra weight. Explains the sag...

New HD springs, new 3-nub pads, new anti-roll bar links, and new subframe bushings went in. The subframe bushings were original to the car and completely collapsed. Since my car is rust-free, replacing them was remarkably easy. After reading story after story about how awful the job is, I was expecting the worst and it simply wasn't bad at all.

Check out the anti-roll bar link.....think maybe it's been rubbing the wheel a bit?

Then the first unexpected repair occurred.

While under the car to do the rear suspension work, I noticed that the right halfshaft boot had torn open. It was intact before TexFest, and only driven a short distance afterwards, so I knew it happened at some point in the 2 weeks before then.

Luckily the SDL uses the Annular axles, so they come off easy. I have a friend with an Astoria boot gun who was willing to reboot both axles for me, so off they went for rebooting with Astoria FB-3000 boots. I suspect this is not the first time they've been rebooted. There is old grease slung on the bottom of the car and the clamps that were on the boots said "Made in USA".

Fortunately the CV joints were still in good shape and moved smoothly, so they got repacked with grease and new boots installed. I've put a couple thousand miles on since with 0 issues, so I'm happy with the repair! Just more money the car unexpectedly siphoned out of my wallet :mad:

Time to focus on the front suspension.

The lower ball joints were completely roached and had been since I got the car. I drove it anyway as sort of an "endurance test" to see just how long they'd last. The answer was just shy of 15,000 miles. Yay for a dry climate!

To get the ball joints replaced, the steering knuckles had to come off. The ball joints can be replaced easily if you have the factory tool, but less easily if you don't. Fortunately I know someone with the tool, so guess what I did.... Yep, sent them off to have the old joints pressed out and new ones pressed in. Lemforder of course.

While the steering knuckles were out for repair, I serviced the front hubs and repacked the wheel bearings. Surprisingly, the bearings were still in excellent shape

Enter unexpected expense #2.

While I had the brake rotors off, I figured I'd get them machined. Wrong. Minimum spec for the machine shop to turn them is 25mm. Mine were at 21.3mm and 23.5mm. Damn. Had to buy new rotors, but at least now they're not grooved and worn.

When the steering knuckles came back, I reinstalled them along with new upper control arms, new anti-roll bar bushings (thankfully the ends looked brand new with no rust, thanks again dry climate!), new tie rods, new drag link, new steering stabilizer shock, new wheel bearing seals, new radio suppression clips, new brake hoses on all 4 wheels, and a good brake flush.

I finally got the car back on the road a few days before Christmas and used it for a couple of road trips. I noticed that the car was not very happy starting in cold weather and my idle haze had returned. Otherwise, the car was running well enough and my fuel economy had risen considerably, I've been averaging around 23-24mpg in town and around 30mpg on the highway.

To address the cold starting issue, I looked at the glow plug relay first. I know none of the glow plugs are bad, and I've had issues with the relay in the past. Testing showed I was only getting around 5V at the glow plugs instead of the 10+ you'd expect.

Seems the contacts were in a pretty rough way, so they got sanded down, polished, and adjusted so that they work properly. Now I get ~11V at the glow plugs.

It helped a bit, but didn't eliminate the rough starting and 10-15 seconds of chugging, coughing, and smoke when started first thing in the morning.

Timing the glow plug light matched up with the charts I'm able to find online, so I know the timer is working, so I elected to do the glow plug light mod in this thread: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/314706-easy-glow-plug-relay-mod-better-dash-indicator.html

Longer glow times helped slightly, but still didn't get rid of the chugging and rough starts. This is a problem I've always had with the car and this winter is definitely the worst its been, very annoying!

My next plan of attack was to piddle with injectors. I bought a used set of injectors off a forum member to replace my mismatched mess of OE, Bosch rebuild, VW, and Bosch India injectors which I've never been able to get dialed in 100%. I took my time and cleaned the new-to-me injector holders, polished and lapped the halves, and installed my Monark 265 nozzles, then shimmed and balanced to 2000PSI +/-15. This was by far the longest I've spent messing with injectors and dialed them in PERFECTLY.

Did it help the car? Did it heck. If anything the starting was WORSE and the idle haze much more significant! This screamed to me that something was up either with fuel delivery or with timing.

First I went down the fuel delivery rathole. I'd been running one of Greazzer's OM617 style overflow valves which had helped in the past with starting issues. I swapped it out for a new OE OM603 style with the drilled orifice instead of the spring-loaded ball. Made no difference.

Next I checked for air in the fuel system by installing Funola's clear PVC hose on the return fuel line. Absolutely no air in the system. Not even when sitting for days.

That left only timing. I loosened up the IP bolts and decided to play with retarding vs. advancing the timing. Retarding the timing made it much worse, more smoke, much more acrid, and louder injector nailing. Advancing the timing seemed to help, so I kept advancing until I hit a sudden sweet spot. Suddenly the engine quieted down, the nailing stopped, and the idle smoke all but disappeared. If I kept going, the idle got rattly and started black smoke, so I found the sweet spot again and tightened down all the IP bolts.

Lo and behold, the timing was the issue. Probably it and the injectors not being perfectly matched was most of my problem the whole time I've owned this car. Now, it starts immediately on the 1st compression hit, needs no glow to restart, idles so smooth it's crazy, and the loud clattering nailing at idle is completely gone! Smoke is nearly nonexistent and power is up noticeably, especially in higher RPMs.

Who'd have thought... Anyway, now with the suspension rebuilt, the injectors matched and balanced, the turbo rebuilt, and the IP timed and tuned, the car drives like a completely different beast. So smooth and quiet on the highway. No more knocking and clattering from the suspension or the engine. The rear end was comically high for the first several days after being rebuilt, but now has settled in to where it looks perfect. Even with a full tank of fuel and passengers in the rear, it isn't sagging. I'm a happy camper!:cool:

Congratulations. Thanks for sharing a success story.

It's a labor of love. I adore this car and think I'd hate myself for the rest of my life if I ever got rid of it. Going through and slowly repairing/restoring it is therapeutic.

IP Timing
 

So ;

? You just tweaked the IP until it ran smoother as it was idling ? .

Any idea what the actual timing is now ? .

? What did you use to burnish the GP relay contacts ? .

That's exactly what I did. I don't trust the timing pointer, it showed I was at exactly 15˚ATDC which is what the sticker on my radiator support says to time to, but the timing was still retarded a bit. So who knows what the actual timing is, but it's right now. Insta-starts, super smooth running, quiet idle with no more clattering, massively reduced smoke, and much better power in the higher RPM ranges. Results don't lie!

I polished the pits out with 2000 grit sandpaper, followed by heavy cardstock, then cleaned with denatured alcohol. The contact points are solid and not plated, so they can take a bit of dressing.

Detail Work
 

Thanx ! .

I usually hand polish copper relay contacts, I know some times they're so heavily pitted they need to be burnished .

I used the damper timing marks to set my IP timing to 27*, it starts instantly , idles well and no smoke but I expected more power, I may not have proper wastegate poppet valve sealing as the boost seems to come on very slowly, almost none until 2,300 RPM's then it builds quickly, maxes out @ 12# most of the time on the freeway at 70 + MPH light throttle it's 5 ~ 7 # , if I can get caught up I want to lap the poppet valve .

These relay contacts are not copper. They're some sort of Nickel, Silver, or Indium alloy to withstand the high current and arcing that happens with DC circuits. Like breaker points, they're a solid slug of metal, not a plated contact like most ice cube relays. They can stand a decent scrub when they get rough like mine and helps them to last longer. Eventually they'll get to the point that the relay has to be replaced, I'm just getting more time out of it before its time is up.

Regarding the boost problem....10-12PSI is stock for the 617's, 12-14 for the 603's. If you're running the ALDA, it would be worth your time to pull it and replace the 2 O-rings in it (test if the ALDA holds vacuum with a mity-vac. It should hold strong vacuum indefinitely). If it's never been done before, they're toast (probably like hard plastic) and it has a dramatic impact on how soon and how smoothly the boost comes on. Before replacing the ones in my car, boost wouldn't really build until >2100 RPM, then came on all at once. Really fun to drive in the rain! NOT! After replacing the O-rings, boost starts building meaningful amounts ~1700-1800 RPM and comes on smoothly. When driving normally, you don't even feel it come on. You'll notice from a floored standing start, but it's not the rough kick in the rear that it was before.

Thank you Sir ;

I've been meaning to vacuum test the ALAD as it was leaky before so i got another and immediately noticed less smoke and more power .

One of the Mity-Vac's I have won't hold vacuum unless the trigger is squeezed about 1/2 way in......

I dunno what's the deal but I guess it'll have to be taken apart to see if I can fix it , it's not old and had little use before beginning to fail like that .

Any leaks upstream of the ALDA will cause the same behavior as the seals in the ALDA itself leaking. The ALDA works by having a set of copper bellows (the aneroid capsules) that compress under boost pressure and lift the fuel limiting peg on the top of the IP as boost builds. ANY leaks (and I mean ANY) will cause the fuel trim curve to be wrong and run lean. The volume through the ALDA sense line will have to flow enough to overcome the leak and make enough apparent boost pressure at the ALDA to enrich fuelling. People on this forum always swear up and down that the IP's wear "lean" and that simply isn't the case. Screwing with the ALDA settings is a band-aid, not a solution. When the ALDA wears out and leaks, your IP will start underfuelling. Check that switchover valve on the firewall if you have one too, they can leak or get stuck!

Turbo Boost Tweaking
 

Thank you ~ I'd not taken the old leaky ALDA valve apart but now I will .

I'm aware of the importance of leaks and also clogged plastic ALADA sensor pipes as well as the overboost protection valve you mentioned, getting stuck or clogged ~ most I've tested were partially or fully clogged, easy to clean out using the Sam's Club industrial degreaser Rich so kindly suggested .

The spray nozzle has both 'spray' and 'stream' positions making it a simple thing to squirt some degreaser directly into the valve or whatever small opening you're wanting to clean .

Let sit a bit then blow clean, rinse well, an amazing amount of crud will come out and return the valve to as new service again .

Similar to the old BOSCH air by pass valves used in 1960's~ 1980's F.I. systems to provide fast idle when cold .

I do need to take all this apart and test / clean as necessary, the banjo bolt in the intake manifold too .

Sounds like you're on the right track. You can still build full boost PSI but run lean if the ALDA isn't working like it should. If the air is there, you need the fuel to match it, that's where the power comes from. When working properly, it's smooth and refined when the turbo starts making power, just like you'd expect a Mercedes to be.

Boosting Fun
 

Just so ~ it comes on pretty smoothly now and no smoke but the fuel economy as dropped to a consistent 22 + MPG, down from 26/27 and one tank in Nevada a while back @ 29 MPG .

After I last posted here I went home and checked, the ALDA is holding pressure so next to check the overboost valve, pipe and banjo bolt in the intake manifold .

Definitely worth sorting out, the fuel economy tells the tale. My SDL went up 4mpg by tweaking the IP, fixing the turbo, and advancing the timing. I used to run ~20/26, I've been routinely hitting 24/30 post-tweak. Not only did fuel consumption go down, but power went up noticeably.

Understood .

The ALDA was broken and the used one I sourced had been fiddled with so I did some experimenting and discovered ore diesel smoke comes from lean than rich mixture .

Having spent over 2 weeks fiddling with settings internal to the IP and tweaking my ALDA, I think you'll find that statement is quite wrong. Black smoke comes from a surplus of fuel and from no other source. If you have white or grey smoke, you have timing or injection problems.

Thanx ;

I've spent far longer then two weeks fiddling with it, the smoke got worse as the engine lost power when I leaned it out.....

Maybe I should re check the timing .

Possible you're making it richer and not leaner? Turning the ALDA screw CCW enrichens fuel. More fuel than you need will actually make acceleration more sluggish as well as raising EGTs. A lean burn won't cause smoke, but will reduce power greatly. Leaning the fuel curve is essentially the same as you trodding lighter on the throttle. It is nothing like adjusting a carburetor or K-Jet distributor.

Boy howdy are you right about the learning curve ! .

OTOH, when I turned the ALDA screw clockwise, the power dropped off and the smoke increased ~ I don't understand why / how but that's what happened .

I'm about 360* in from fully CCW now and it seems to run O.K., some times after a long red light I see a cloud of fuel smoke as I pull away from a stop, others not .

Filters look clean .

Maybe a crappy injector ? .

In time I'll pull them and pop test .

What color is the smoke? Because of how the diesel operates, if it was going to smoke at idle, it would do it all the time, not after a delay of sitting at a light. Rich (injection quantity) smoke is black. Injection/Timing smoke is grey or white. Oil smoke is blue/grey. Based on the red light statement, I'd be more inclined to suspect oil smoke than fuel smoke. The ALDA has no effect on injection quantity until the turbo starts to build boost, it has no effect on injection quantity at idle and very little effect at low throttle positions.

Great car! The 300SDL really is the perfect mercedes diesel to restore. It has all the classic charm in design and the engineering ruggedness, yet its modern enough to daily drive and just old enough were you can do everything yourself. Its a timeless car. I've restored two of them, so let me know if you have any questions.

I respect what you've done with the interior. Though I would have gone the "purist route" and installed good condition used stuff, you have added a ruggedness and a utilitarian feel which is very nice not to mention stress free.

Oh, and you should delete your EGR asap. Very simple, and very good to do. They still might have kits for that floating around...

The utilitarian "Wal-Mart Special" interior "upgrade" is only temporary. While I'm working on the car and getting it all dolled up, I carry the dogs back there. Eventually front and rear seat will get new covers, new pads, and new springs so that they're comfortable and look nice again. Then the dogs will have to find a new ride!

EGR was deleted before the car even made it's first drive. An old extra piece of aircraft aluminum and an extra EGR gasket did the trick, and with the vacuum lines still connected but plugged internally, still looks totally stock.

R&R on this car is painfully slow, I pretty well only work on it when I have the time/effort/money/determination to do something to it. Since it's all up and running, I tend to drive it more than work on it lately.

Exhaust Smoke
 

Thank you .

The exhaust some -looks- black to me, it only puffs a cloud when I accelerate off idle or am moving slowly in traffic andget the chance to speed up .

I had the engine re sleeved and so on less than 20,000miles ago and one cylinder has slightly lower compression than the rest, I hope it isn't oil smoke
:mad: .

Because it doesn't emit smoke every time I accelerate off idle I'm won dering what it is .

It's my daily driver and I'm now retired , no longer have access to a full shop with leak down testers and the air supply to operate them .

Fuel economy has tanked of late, down to 22 MPG's, I can't stand that .