2,000 Mile Trip Planned For 1968 W110 200D

[Squiggle Dog]

Tomorrow I drive off for Utah from Washington. We'll see how the car does. I am hoping the memory stick for my camera arrives tomorrow so I can take pictures.

Changing the oil in the transmission (Redline D4 ATF) greatly helped with shifting. I no longer have to "jam" it into a lower gear.

You'll know in a few days if I made it or not!

[Squiggle Dog]

Originally Posted by dropnosky

can you seal the oil pan leak temporarily by cleaning around the area and smearing a lot of ultra grey silicone there?

Someone did this with my 300TD for the turbo drain tube, and when I finally pulled it apart, there was no O-ring at all, but it was not leaking and the repair looked a number of years old.

Also, thats an interesting neighborhood you live in, in the back of all your pictures, there does not appear to be any modern cars, couple pictures look like they could have been taken in the 60s 70s era.

I may try sealing it, but the upper oil pan seems tricky to get at.

Those old cars are my roommate's. He has a lot of them. Sometimes they overflow onto other people's property.

[mercmad6.3]

if you get a socket to fit the fastners on the lower pan and speed wrench you can get it off in a few minutes. Clean the gung from the bottom ,change the gasket and have it back on in under an hour. A good pressure wash is always a good idea with a diesel that has few miles on it . It's easier to check for leaks.

[JB3]

Good luck!

Do you have a bicycle and maybe a trunk rack? Whenever I cover major distances in one of my old cars, I throw my bike on the roof. People assume its so I can ride it at my destination, but its actually primarily so if the car breaks down, I can leave the car and still be mobile enough to get around and fix it.

In one circumstance, I had to replace a bunch of bell housing bolts for the starter, and the closest place I could find metric bolts of the correct type was about 10 miles away, hopped on the bike, pedaled down there, and was on the road again later that afternoon.
Saved me a lot of cash for cabs and whatnot, and it sure as hell makes me breath easier knowing I have a second form of transportation with me.

[strelnik]

Originally Posted by dropnosky

Good luck!

Do you have a bicycle and maybe a trunk rack? Whenever I cover major distances in one of my old cars, I throw my bike on the roof. People assume its so I can ride it at my destination, but its actually primarily so if the car breaks down, I can leave the car and still be mobile enough to get around and fix it.

In one circumstance, I had to replace a bunch of bell housing bolts for the starter, and the closest place I could find metric bolts of the correct type was about 10 miles away, hopped on the bike, pedaled down there, and was on the road again later that afternoon.
Saved me a lot of cash for cabs and whatnot, and it sure as hell makes me breath easier knowing I have a second form of transportation with me.

I have a freind who has a large truck and sticks a small scooter in there for the same reason

[Squiggle Dog]

Originally Posted by mercmad6.3

if you get a socket to fit the fastners on the lower pan and speed wrench you can get it off in a few minutes. Clean the gung from the bottom ,change the gasket and have it back on in under an hour. A good pressure wash is always a good idea with a diesel that has few miles on it . It's easier to check for leaks.

The lower oil pan gasket looks fine and it doesn't seem to leak from there. The upper oil pan (or lower half of engine) is where it seems to be leaking from. I believe there is no gasket there, rather sealant is used. I don't know if it can be removed without pulling the engine.

[Squiggle Dog]

Originally Posted by dropnosky

Good luck!

Do you have a bicycle and maybe a trunk rack? Whenever I cover major distances in one of my old cars, I throw my bike on the roof. People assume its so I can ride it at my destination, but its actually primarily so if the car breaks down, I can leave the car and still be mobile enough to get around and fix it.

In one circumstance, I had to replace a bunch of bell housing bolts for the starter, and the closest place I could find metric bolts of the correct type was about 10 miles away, hopped on the bike, pedaled down there, and was on the road again later that afternoon.
Saved me a lot of cash for cabs and whatnot, and it sure as hell makes me breath easier knowing I have a second form of transportation with me.

I used to have a bicycle that came apart at the center that would fit in the trunk. The bicycle I have now is way too big and heavy to fit in any car. I would like to add a receiver hitch and some sort of bicycle holder, though.

[JB3]

throw some roller blades in the trunk then. With a leash on the pooch, he can tow you.

Just saw a lady doing this on a bike path yesterday. She was on the cell phone and everything, and the dog was just towing her along. (Big dog and small lady though, so I don't think it was too hard on the dog)

[Squiggle Dog]

The 200D made the trip from Washington to Utah and back! I cleaned the exterior, polished and waxed the paint and metal, then dressed the rubber. It looks a lot nicer than it used to. I am attaching pictures from the craigslist ad before I bought the vehicle.

[Squiggle Dog]

Here is the 200D after I had cleaned it up, right before leaving for Utah. It still needs rocker panels, floors, and some touch-up painting/blending.

[Squiggle Dog]

I am very glad I installed a new Blaupunkt CD player since it made the driving more enjoyable.

[Squiggle Dog]

I installed a used radiator which had a split at the top of the tank that had been soldered and split again. I put JB Weld over the split and painted it. I replaced the radiator cap, hoses, hose clamps, belts, bypass pipe, thermostat, etc., with genuine Mercedes parts. I rebuilt the rare brake master cylinder with parts from a new ATE cylinder, replaced all fuel hose and filters, adjusted the valves, and replaced the injection pump governor diaphragm. I also cleaned the air filter and filled it with fresh oil. I use Amsoil 15W40 full synthetic diesel oil.

My dog, Yogi, came with me for a Yogiventure. He has a harness that attaches to the seat belt to keep him from flying out of the car in a crash. We left on Thursday, the 24th of June.

[Squiggle Dog]

I stopped at Associated Petroleum Products in Fife to fill up with B99 biodiesel. I also filled up my spare fuel jug. I made it to Twin Falls, Idaho, before refueling with diesel since that's all that was available.

The car was comfortable and drove very nicely between 65-75 MPH. I have had problems with the car surging at idle during warm-up and smoking here and there (at sea level). As I climbed in altitude, I noticed the car smoking more and more. I noticed in Idaho that the car was starting to run sluggishly and billow black smoke out of the exhaust pipe.

When I was at my destination (around 7,000 feet above sea level) the car would smoke constantly and I had to be very light on the throttle to avoid covering the car behind me in smoke. It would only do 40-50 MPH uphill now, where at sea level it would hold 75 MPH uphill without a problem. It was really, really embarrassing and probably reinforced the stereotype of diesels being slow, stinky, and smokey cars. Apparently the injection pump and/or injectors need attention.

When I started driving home and dropping in altitude, I noticed the smoke decreasing and the power coming back. Now that I am home, I notice the car is almost back to normal, but it is smoking a little more than it used to, and the idle is much worse now. I imagine it also needs new engine mounts. This may be because it still has diesel in the tank and may run a little better on biodiesel. In any case, the injection pump and injectors need to be looked at.

[Squiggle Dog]

I stopped at the Wal-Mart in Boise, Idaho, to sleep. The front seats recline all the way for sleeping on. The next morning Yogi laid on top of me and told me it was time to get up. My clean car apparently caught a lot of bugs going through Oregon.

It was very hot coming into Utah and my heater valves were stuck open. Even with the windows down we were roasting, and the A/C needs to be recharged. I ended up stopping at the hardware store and getting clever with some C-clamps and washers to fix the problem.

[Squiggle Dog]

I stopped at Jardine Petroleum in Park City for B20 biodiesel, which got me around while I was there and into Idaho on the way back. I stayed for a couple of days at my parents' 32 acre property near Price, and attended the family reunion that was the reason for the trip. Yogi had fun running around the property and met a friend at the reunion.