Quote:
Originally Posted by stayalert
Any other things I should be considering for mods/practices to keep this thing a long time?
|
(1) Don't let the engine sit idling to "warm it up". Instead, once the engine is running smoothly and oil pressure is normal (i.e. within 15-30 seconds of starting) drive off gently. Keep the RPM's low until the engine is fully warmed up, the oil cannot do its job at high RPM while thick and cold. How do you know when the oil is at full temperature? When you let the engine speed drop to idle and the oil pressure falls to ~1 - 2 BAR. Normally this takes about 15 minutes of driving AFTER the coolant temperature gauge hits normal (~82 deg C). When I drive off in the a.m., I keep the RPM under 2k, more like around 1.5k, for the first five minutes; then I'll drive at about 2k for five to ten minutes, then upper limit of 2.5k for five minutes, then usually the oil is fully warmed up. Once the oil is at full temp, drive it like you stole it. If you can manage at least one full throttle acceleration from dead stop to highway speed every day, that will help tremendously to keep carbon from building up in the pre-chambers. Highspeed driving up hill for sustained periods, which causes the engine coolant temperature to climb up over 90 and maybe up to 100 deg C and stay there for a few minutes, is also a great way to "burn out" the carbon. If your car has a block heater and you really want to baby it, plug that in for 30 minutes to an hour before each cold start.
(2) Change the oil on schedule and use a diesel-rated synthetic oil (I love Mobil 1, would recommend 5w-40). If you want to run extended oil drain intervals, pay for used oil lab analysis to get the soot load number, which should not exceed 2%. Send a sample at 5k miles, estimate from that when the soot load will hit 2%, sample again before your estimate to confirm, adjust as necessary. Costs about $75 for three samples if you purchase all at once.
(3) Adjust the valves every 15k miles or annually, which ever comes first. Best practice is to adjust in the fall before the onset of cold weather (tight valves = poor compression = much harder to start the engine when cold).
(4) Only source parts from the MB dealer if you can afford it, especially suspension rubber. MB parts last much much longer than just about any aftermarket parts you can get. If you must use aftermarket, try to get OEM or OE, and NOT made in China. Exceptions: Bilstein shocks, Bosio or Monarch injection nozzles, Mann or Hengst or Mahle oil/fuel filters, Bosch glow plugs, Bosch starters/alternators. There maybe a few other OEM items that are still high quality comparable to MB dealer prices. MB Northlake dealership has online ordering and really nice prices. MB Classic Center in CA has expertise to get the right parts for your car. If you buy crap aftermarket parts, expect a much shorter life. If you can source used parts from a pick-n-pull auto recycler, that would be preferable to most aftermarket junk.
(5) Measure the timing chain stretch when you adjust the valves, lots of posts out there on how to do this. I prefer the simple: line up cam-shaft markers, read stretch at crank shaft position indicator.
(6) The vast majority of the maintenance and repairs can be best done by you, if you have the time and inclination to learn. Finding a competent Mercedes-Benz Diesel mechanic is hard. They need all three qualifications: Competent, trained/experienced on MB cars, trained/experienced on MB Diesel engines from the 80's. Look for white hair and German first/last names. There is a ton of free and good information on this forum and other places on the web.