I'll try to get right to the point but....Also new here(to MB diesels as well) and sucking it all in as fast as I can. What great help this site has been with my new(old)300d.

Picked up a 300d from a friend and found out it's a Cali version with the trap Ox in place. The car runs OK but has some loose ends. Main one that bugs me is the rough start(misses randomly) and moderate shake at idle. Did the valves and they were not all that bad. Still idles shakey(constant rythem) when real warm. It idles good when medium warm. Set the idle for least amout of shake. That's the reason for this post. MB has said they will yank the Trap OX and install new device. Question one: What do they do to remove/install new stuff? Question two: has anybody had this done and what were the results?

Also the car had all maintenance records up to 2000 when it got parked. It showed a new engine at about 140k. The interesting thing is when I did the valves it had a fair amount(OK alot) of sludge on the rocker arms etc. I'm thinking what blew the factory motor was the Trap OX and it's still attempting to blow the rebuild by cooking the motor. It seems like it has a bunch of blow by, but my friend says if the cap stays on resting over the hole it should be ok which mine does. It seems to not burn much if any oil. The last milage check was 16-17mpg All thoughts are welcome! Thanks! Oh! Diesels can be so odd at times!