i had bought a rustfree 74 240d with a blown rod. this car was a beautiful california car with unknown mileage, but 50,000 showing. it looked good enough to be the first time around. treated it to a full blown professional rebuild, detailing all parts as we reinstalled it, even clearcoating all of the aluminum parts. put new bilsteins on it, new michelins, etc etc. it was looking beautiful.

well after a year or so i allowed my #3 daughter to drive it to columbus oh from lafayette in, a 4 hour + trip. before coming back she went to a station and filled up at the diesel pump (she thought) and headed back. well... it started making a lot of noise and instead of calling me she stopped at the next filling station and asked the cash register operator if it sounded ok to him. he said "all diesels sound loud", so she headed home. she got as far as richmnond in, about 100 miles... it turns out that she determined that the diesel was in that pump by the color of the guard on the nozzle (green like it is where she usually fills up)... she filled up with regular... gasoline...if she would not have had about a half tank of diesel when she filled up i guess it would have ended sooner...scored cylinders, cracked head and much much more.

gasoline in a diesel is decidedly fatal.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

..........so.........how's life with two daughters??

Nonsense. That won't hurt it.

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'78 300D 310K Maple Yellow / Bamboo
'87 300D 81K Barolo Red / Safron (RIP @ 113K)
2003 E320 34K Pewter/Charcoal
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Somehow, I think this isn't working out as planned...

Ok, there are a couple of silly answers, but a lot of good ones.

Overheating!!!

Revving with no load...

Quickest way to wreck any engine is to run it without any or not enough oil in the crankcase. Or to run it with enough oil but the oil pump breaks. Been there done that a '64 190D when the oil pump shaft broke.

P E H

Drive around investigating natural gas leaks.

actually, brian i have four daughters. they're pretty cool except the cost of weddings is murder. they are a little hard on the cars... but come to think of it my son was too.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

New members may learn a lot from this thread.

Drop a piece of paper towel into the oil gallery while changing the oil filter (this is a real life story on a big CAT of some sort, I got to do the analysis of the paper towel). It neatly wrapped around the oil strainer at the bearing, starved it of oil, blew the crank out.

My brother still has the chunk of crankshaft from his 75 300D -- some numbskull did a rebuild on it and used orange silicone sealant everywhere, including on the oil filter housing gasket, and not just a little, either. A big glob went down the mail pressure galley and clogged the oil hole for the #2 crank bearing, hence starving both it and the #2 crankpin of oil. Both bearings failed, and the crankpin bearing scored the crank, got a classic radius failure crack going both ways. When it blew (at 60 mph), the rod with chuck of crankpin busted both sides of the oil pan out and cracked the block.

I think the PO on my "new" 300D dusted the engine with a K&N filter -- way too much blowby.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Do a lovecrap conversion.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

Hit a raised crosswalk too fast. Ask how I know. It would be dead if it wasn't for dumb luck.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

Adding 16 quarts of oil instead of 8 quarts .

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Adding 0 quarts of oil instead of 8 quarts.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

I would say running it without oil.

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2003 Volkswagen Jetta Wolfsburg Edition, "Tiffany," - Black/Black Cloth - 75K miles, Jetta #6; my faithful, turbocharged, BBS-adorned sled

SOLD 3/08 1981 Mercedes Benz 300D, "Elise" - Astral Silver/Black M.B. Tex - 217K miles - I miss her everyday; the best-built car I've owned