Parts Catalog Accessories Catalog How To Articles Tech Forums
Call Pelican Parts at 888-280-7799
Shopping Cart Cart | Project List | Order Status | Help



Go Back   PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum > Mercedes-Benz Tech Information and Support > Tech Help

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 07-31-2001, 02:57 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Battle Ground, WA
Posts: 576
Update on gas mileage - 1982 300D/4.3L Conversion...

Hello all,
Some of you may remember reading about my 1982 300D that I installed a 4.3 liter Astrovan V6 in - I have driven it for about 8 months now, and have taken several longer trips with the car, so I can now report that with 4 people in the car it will produce around 28.5 mpg, cruising at 80 - 85 mph with the A/C on. It gets around 21.1 mpg in average around town, go to work driving. I think this is fairly comparable to a diesel engine in the same body, so I'm very satisfied with it, since it has much more power than the diesel did, and the engine rpms are a lot lower so the engine is very quiet. (around 1650 rpm at 60 mph, 2960 at 100 mph.)
If you are interested in reading about the conversion you can view my report at: http://pages.prodigy.net/rwooldridge/mercedes.htm
One bit of information not included yet is that you can get the right pan for the conversion from an engine in a 4wd S10 or Blazer. Turns out that they use a pan that's pretty much identical in appearance to the mod I performed on my pan.

Richard Wooldridge
'82 300D/4.3 L V6
'74 280C
'77 XJ6L
'77 280Z
'88 Astrovan
'85 GMC S15

Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 07-31-2001, 12:29 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 82
Thanks for the update. Yours was a fascinating project. As much as I like diesel technology every time I crunch the numbers on fuel costs there is not that much of a difference between diesels and electronically fuel injected gas cars. Around here diesel is consistently 15 to 20 cents higher, which almost offsets the difference in efficiency. Repowering could be a viable alternative for clean, older MB diesels with bad engines.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 07-31-2001, 08:18 PM
Southern's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Carol Stream, Il, USA
Posts: 605
The gas milage you are getting is great. The best my 92 Chevy Astro gets is 20 Mpg.
__________________
Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 08-01-2001, 07:08 AM
LarryBible
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
The station wagon presents much less frontal area than a van as well as a much better aerodynamic coefficient. I wouldn't be surprised if the wagon weighs less than the Astro van as well. The tall gearing of the wagon probably works out pretty well also.

This is a man that obiously knows how to go about doing an engine swap.

As for the diesel comparison, once you have the MB diesel affliction, as I do, it's difficult to lose. To me the diesel stinks so good and it rattles so good. The incredible longevity of the MB diesels if properly cared for is great.

I compliment you again, Mr. Wooldridge, on a job well done.

Have a great day,
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 08-01-2001, 10:14 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Battle Ground, WA
Posts: 576
Hi again,
Thanks for the nice compliment, Larry! Yes, I think you are correct about the frontal area making a huge difference - I do notice that with our Astrovan there is a need to "keep your foot in it" at speed, and it has a lot of fan noise also. With the 300D/4.3 I hardly have to touch the pedal at speed, it just seems to float along. I think the 123 chassis is a very good design, aerodynamically speaking, and it's also a very comfortable design for up to 4 occupants. Our Astrovan also doesn't do nearly as well on mileage, but if driven carefully will give up to 24 mpg on longer drives with not too many hills and not over 70 mph. It has an entirely different feel than the Merc, though!

Regards,
Richard Wooldridge
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 08-02-2001, 12:35 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: LEMONT-CHICAGO
Posts: 412
The GM 4.3 is a pretty durable engine a kicks out a suprising amout of power. The 4.3 seems to have more power than the small v8,s suuch as the 262, 283, 307 and low performance 327s of the late sixties early seveties. I know, back in those days anything less than a 350 was scoffed at as not having enough power. Enjoyed seeing this conversion. Hope it lives long for ya.

__________________
1990 190E 2.6
1996 Grand Voyager 3.3
1985 Mustang GT 5.0 5 SPD
1982 Suzuki GS 750T
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Fuel Mileage & Gas Tank Vent bisric Diesel Discussion 6 04-27-2014 08:41 PM
Weber getting bad gas mileage gmask Vintage Mercedes Forum 19 05-28-2004 12:16 AM
Better gas mileage with EHA off, Why? JBoggs Tech Help 5 02-24-2004 06:45 PM
'95 E320 (W124) Gas Mileage tdhenning Mercedes-Benz Performance Paddock 6 05-12-2003 12:02 AM
Gas Mileage? Sterling Gee Tech Help 4 02-17-2003 08:00 PM



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 09:45 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2024 Pelican Parts, LLC - Posts may be archived for display on the Peach Parts or Pelican Parts Website -    DMCA Registered Agent Contact Page