Hello folks. I have one of these Pre-Lubers on my Mustang. I have a custom motor with forged rods and forged pistons and is zero balanced. It is really nice when I turn the key to accessory and my Pre-Luber comes on for about 30 seconds. I watch my oil pressure gauge build to over 50 psi before I start up my motor. For my 300SD I am being anal and ordering Frantz filters for the oil, transmission, and one for an additional fuel line filter. These Pre-Lubers cut down start up bearing wear by up to 90%. I have no affiliation with Pre-Luber. I am just seeing if there is any interest in a Group purchase here to save us all some money. I paid ~$565 for the one for my Mustang. It would be nice to save some loot on the one I will be buying for my 300SD.The Pre-Luber can be moved from car to car so if you sell your MB you can re-install it into your new motor. A big plus for the turbo users here is these come on automatically at shutdown and recirculate the oil for two minutes. The one in my Mustang pumps the oil at shutdown for around 30 seconds. I have no clue if anyone here would be interested in one like I am. After 4 units we get free shipping. After 5 units we get almost $50 off and free shipping. After 15 units we save $97 plus we get free shipping. I need to post a follow up questions to them because our brothers and sisters with non turbo, and gas motors would still get a break on the price but they have a few different models. I havel sent him a follow up email to address this so he can post prices for the non-turbo diesel models, as well as the MB gasser cars. Like my Mustang I want to keep my rebuilt motor as long as 5 years (or more). Maybe it is only me but the peace of mind for the Frantz oil, transmission, and fuel filters and the Pre-Luber is still a lot less money than a replacement used MB engine. Buying these is still cheaper than just the labor to install a new or used motor in my car. Let me know if there is any interest out here for this.
Did I mention that these can also help you change your motor oil in about two minutes?

Again the prices are MUCH less for the non turbo standard Pre-Luber units. We would all save some loot if we went in at the same time for a group buy. Again if there is any interest let me know. John


http://www.pre-luber.com/preluberkits.htm

http://www.pre-luber.com/magazine_ad1.htm
2 minute oil changes using your pre-luber.


Good morning John,

Thank you for your interest. There could be a discount on a group purchase, but the purchase would have to be one purchase, or at one time. To extend it over a period of time would delay shipping, if that is OK with your people, it's OK with us.

Discount Schedule.................

1 unit $649
2-4 units $649. + free shipping in USA

5-14 units $609 Discounted $40+

15-25 units $552
Discounted $97+

26-50 units $487
Discounted $162+

50+ units $call

Would the discount apply to the less expensive non-turbo models too, or would we have to order 15 of the same model?

I have been tossing around the idea of building my own. My Electrical Engineer Brother in law could design easily design a timer circuit and it would be fairly easy to tap into the oil pan and pressure sending unit. A DIY version would be around $200-$250 Here is a similar pump on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/12-24-volt-oil-pump-gas-turbine-turbo-charger-engine_W0QQitemZ8043656113QQcategoryZ72205QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

__________________
1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

You can use a standard MB glowplug timer. 30 second automatic timer with 80 amp capacity should be more than enough to handle a 29psi primer pump.

Edit: Why is the oil going to the compressor housing? And btw, the turbo is running backwards...

Good idea about the gp relay. Do you think I could just hook into the one that powers the glow plugs, or should I use a seperate one? Will there be a problem if I start the car durring the 30 sec run cycle?

That diagram looks like a turbosucker to me.

__________________
1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Interesting idea...


...however is it really necessary?

The stock bottom end (and valve train too!) on these engines does not seem to exactly be a heavy wear item. With consistant oil/filter changes it seems that THESE components are not the first to wear. What eventually brings about the downfall of the engine is ring and/or bore wear causing excessive blowby to the extent that it just becomes...tired.

Extra oil on startup won't necessarily remedy this. While it would get oil pressure to the bottom end and the turbo, these components should already have residual good oil lubricating them.

I think anyone that has had apart a well maintained bottom end in a merc. diesel will agree that the engines do not commonly fail from loose rods bearings (good maintence assumed).

I can see the advantage of an extra good fuel filter because injectors and IP compoents DO see some wear and tear from anything that passes through them.

Its another oil/filter thread but just throwing another coal on the fire in the name of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)

It would be best to use a second one. 5 GP's @ 15A each=75 amps. Add a 10amp pump onto that and you would pop the fuse.

The GP realy has a stop circut (Purple wire) that kills GP power when you hit the starter. At cold idle our engines make 3bar+ (44psi+). So beyond the first 2-5 seconds of cold start the extra flow from the luber would be unneeded.

The oil from the squirters will run down the cylinder walls and help wall/ring wear as well.

And if they are at the bottom of their stroke?

Even if the walls were hosed down with oil, the LOWEST ring...the oil ring...will wipe the cold thick oil off...the rings that see the wear are the upper ones which would most likely only benifit from hot thin oil being put on the walls.

In theory it sounds good but we aren't talking about a v-8 big block with 1/2 gallon worth of oil galleys to fill before the stuff gets lubed...

Those squirters are for cooling the piston. Cylinders are generally lubed from oil sling off the big end of the rods. As Brandon said, the pre-luber will not be much benefit to the cylinder walls .

Actually when I originally contacted Pre-Luber I was more interested in the same model for my car that is in my Mustang ~$560 or close. I really was not as worried about the MB turbo. These last for years and are not as expensive as a lower end. I like the idea of the pump only for sale above. You would need the T-fitting for the install near the oil filter and still have to either drill a hole in the oil pan or cobble something else. I am not a cobbler fan after seeing some horrific results on friends cars over the years. There is a NEW link to another guy selling a 12 volt engine pre-lube system. But it is not the same company. His price is MUCH better at just $495. This will also cool down the turbo at shut down. I have sent him an email to see if we do a group purchase if he can knock off shipping charges, or give us a small discount. His price is a lot less. I also spent some time reading his articles. He is a mechanic with 30 years of experience who designed this. One of his articles called "Shimmy shimmy" shows he can poke fun at himself for missing a small thing when rebuilding the front end of a van full of young women. This certainly falls under the creed we all live by that goes something like "No good deed shall ever go unpunished." Anyway his Pow-R-Lube 500 looks like what I will buy for my car. I will let you guys and gals know if he is willing to cut us some slack on shipping for a group buy, or a very small discount. The quick painless oil change feature is almost worth the entry price alone to me. I will be using Synthetic oil. But some people wonder if these remote oil pumps can pump thick oil? I do not see why not. Even Dino oil folks should be using a proper winter weight motor oil. Some claim that using 100% synthetic will always leave a light oil film on cylinder walls and the piston rings to aid with dry starts at startup. Who knows for sure? Maybe NASA, or the Military.. That question could easily turn into a battle I do not wish to participate in. So for my 300SD the multi Frantz filter(s) and one of these more affordable pre-oilers is going into my car(s). The turbo on my car is 23 years old. I am already scrounging for one to have rebuilt as a spare. I thought about the one company with the link to their pump only for sale on ebay. I would bet their more powerful pump would be around $275 at least with the shipping. By the end of the day with other parts and the grief from "scrounging and fabricating" parts it would not be that much of a savings over the $495 Pow-R-Lube 500 complete kit below. I will just sit back and see what everyone thinks. John

http://www.prelube.com/powrlube500.html

I'm in but lets try to cut out the middleman and do a group buy and purchase the pumps direct. With a quanity I bet we could get them down under $200

Best source I found for a the same brass geared pump.. and $224 ( The Plastic houisng/impellor one will not be as heavy duty IMO on the Powerlube 500)

http://www.enginegearonline.com/enginegearonline/gepuforoilfu.html

http://www.enginegearonline.com/enginegearonline/doityoprid.html ( click on the pic to enlarge)

The electrical and misc parts could be sourced easily( modify ECM) and all done under $250-275 IMO

bennett

__________________
81' 240d 4 spd 140k on the clock

Except for the fact that the MB glowplug timer actually senses the current to the plugs, which is why the lamp doesn't illuminate if you have failed plugs.

This isn't to say that it won't work. I don't know.

jp, I like the PowrLube unit. I would be interested in buying just a pump($139) and I'd do my own fittings, as I'm not crazy about his choice of fittings. Have you asked him if he has the banjo bolt/drain hose for the MBZ oil pan?