PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Parked my dog of a 300cd for two years... now it works great (??)

Zacharias · #1 10-09-2011, 05:46 PM

As the subject line says... I have a 1978 300cd, which came from California but is far from what you would picture the average Cali car to be. It was my worst eBay adventure.

Two years ago I had had enough. From the time I acquired it it never ran well, was a slug, smoked (oily) all the time and badly when cold. Always reluctant to start, really bad when it got even a bit cold, and a lot of blowby. Floor soft. Trans was sloppy on 2-3 shift. Noisiest injectors I had ever heard on an OM617 (PO claimed he had enlarged nozzles installed to better run biodiesel.)

I said To Hell With It and parked it, figuring to find a decent turbodiesel engine and trans to put into it. That was harder than I thought.

Didn't even start it last summer. Went out today after just about two years, charged up the battery, checked I still had oil in it, and got it to spring to life.

Well came back from the dead might be more appropriate. Not only did it start EAGERLY after two years of inactivity, it smoked much less than before on startup/warmup.

So away I went, gingerly, around the neighbourhood (no inspection, plates, insurance so strictly flying under the radar). Ran well almost from word go. Trans shifted crisply. Seemed to have decent pickup for a NA.

I am thinking, Now This Is Damned Odd.

So I keep driving for almost an hour. Aside from a couple of bouts of spoiled fuel behaviour from the injectors, it was great. Decent enough power. Smoke cleared after 20 minutes or so, completely. Exhaust is clear but still smells distinctively oilyolddieselly. Trans just got better and better as I drove.

So here is my question: has anyone ever had an experience like this? I am completely nonplussed. I know about the old jokes in the mechanical trade about the "sunshine repair" but this is insane.