Thanks for the advice gentlemen. I will break out the multimeter and check the glowplugs, and then do the valve adjustment. I'm real excited about this car, as it seems to be in very good shape, and is quite a pleasure to drive. A guy here in VT brought it up from Texas a couple years ago, and it hasn't been driven in the winters up here at all. I plan to keep it that way and just use it in the summer, so 15W40 should do it.

Barry,
The previous owners have been using biodiesel and reported dramatically improved performance, so I'm going to hold off on the diesel purge for now, but I do plan on doing it soon. The air filter looks like it is in good shape and relatively new. Absolutely no oil on it or in the tray, and I was very happy to see that when I inspected it before purchase.

JimmyL,
Thanks for the info regarding the proper terminology. I guess now that I am a MB owner I need to keep the lingo straight.

Leathermang,
One of the things that attracted me to this car is its "workability". I do a good bit of work on my TDI like general maintenance, but leave much of the major stuff to the pros. I did install an SVO conversion in the VW 2 years ago, and plan on doing the same to the Benz. I'm also going to experiment a bit with some Kero. WVO blends considering the price of diesel and the amount of WVO I have laying around these days. I plan to do as much of wrenching on the Benz as possible myself, so enlighten me as to where I can learn more about the valve seals.


One more thing: How much oil does the crankcase in the 240D hold? And, are Mercedes the official car of Texas or something?