Hello all,

I am nearly completely new with cars, or anything mechanical in general. Pretty much the only experience I have turning wrenches (aside the 9 months of owning my 300sd) is on bikes in my childhood. I have probably more motivation and drive than is healthy, which means I always want to know all there is to know about whatever it is I'm currently on.

What I am asking here, is if there are any good books that would help me to grasp how diesel engines and everything else involved in vehicles work. I would love to attend college classes involving diesel mechanics, but unfortunately whoever it is who grants loans for school here in Oregon think my parents make a sufficient amount of money to put me through school ... which is a total joke. So no school loans are allowed to me until I hit 25.

I understand well enough that the best experience is hands-on experience, but I also go by the old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." And seeing as how I drive a Mercedes, it'll be another 20 years before I have hands-on experience with most it's components.

-Geoff

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1981 300SD, odometer stopped at 188,000