On my newly restored 300D, the car has been in layup and perpetual modification for almost a year that it never really hit the highway. Two years ago it received a second engine and transmission but because I was driving the car as a "Junker"---a quasi pickup truck-sometimes with one seat only, I never bothered to adjust and fine tune the setup. Half of my vacuum lines were plugged and non functional

After completing the restoration and putting in a new chain, retiming my pump, and adjusting my valves and linkage and unclogging my Fuel Enhancement Solenoid ( the white line that leads to the ALDA) the engine seemed to run well.

So this weekend I got on the highway. I always had heard of a "Poor Man's Tune-Up". So I decided to floor it and I took it to about 95 to see how stable the front end was. ( I had redone the front end completely)

Suddenely the engine coughed or burped. It wasn't something really loud or abrupt, it was more of a gentle burp and then...it just seemed like something changed..it runs so much quieter and smoother now..
It seems much well mannered now and my Auto transmissions shifts are so subtle now....I don't think this could be much different from when it left the factory...so I guess my Poor Man's Tune-Up actually did wonders--but whats the Technical Reason?

You basically blew out all the choking carbon and crud build up in the combustion chambers, cleared out fuel injectors and lines, etc.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

gotta love the italian tuneups

I was being careful not to offend anyone, being of Asian heritage myself, 'course you could say everyone bleeds red when their hands slip on a 1/2" ratchet and you see chunks of flesh gone on a 20 degree day

Increasing the combustion pressure and temperature I think is the primary feature of running hard. It seems to be benificial in a lot of cases. The sensation of the car having a burp or whatever is interesting as well. I wonder if that might be carbon igniting or something simular. Might even be just cleaning out the exhaust for all I know. The pressure is high as well as the temperature is increased. That would upset the applecart for a moment perhaps. It is caused by something. Have always visulised the essential normal cheap tuneup as the really cheap one unless you have paid to have the injectors checked for example. A normal tune up is usually just time. Plus you get quicker at it with experience. The highway thing is perjhaps just icing on the cake as the car will not run it's best unless the other things are checked. It is always nice to hear of an engine running very well. Hopefully your fuel milage will be better now as well. Thats if you can keep your foot out of it with the increased performance.

I think of it kinda like a self-cleaning oven. Hot enough and you vaporize the gunk.

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Paul
2004 E500 4matic; 72,000mi

The possible reason for the shifts getting better is due to better response out of the engine. Since you now do not have to push the pedal down so far the transmission is not being told to use the rougher shift points. The shift points are based on throttle position, not on the amount of power being produced.

-Jim

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1995 S350D, Green with black leather interior.
Bought January 2008 w/ 233,xxx miles.
I did 22,000 miles during the first year of ownership.

Technical reasons for running em hard to clean out combustion chambers?

Consider this: According to the chart below w115 220D's develop a piddling 32hp at 2000rpm yet produce 60hp at 3500rpm. Obviously complete combustion is directly related to engine output efficiency which itself is related to torque and HP SAE. Hence operating at bottom end performance level of the power band, lugging the engine around town will eventually foul pistons, valves and pre-comb chambers through incomplete combustion. Could be stressing internal engine parts too as it struggles to maintain speed while developing less then 50% of its rated horsepower at/near 40% output efficiency.



Politically incorrect "Italian Tune-Ups? "

My first on the books summer job was helping out at a Fiat dealership circa 1971. I made $2.25 per hour or roughly $78 per week after taxes, saved all Summer to buy my first vehicle - 5 yr old Triumph Spitfire mk2 that somebody traded in. The dealership let me have it for $650. Brand new cars in those days sold for about $29-3200 or so.

Anyhow the 124 Fiat Spyder was built like a baby Ferrari, souped up stock w/ twincam engine, 5-spd and Webers. And I swear to god have seen this with my own eyes - factory trained Italian mechanics would take em out and rev the hell out of em as part of the tune-up process. Could hear the engines racing more then a block from the dealership on return from test drives. And who can blame em? Look at the race cars Italians build. You will find Lomborgini police cars at Italy today. And they've gotta have em to catch Ferraris and Bugattis. These guys have earned a reputation as speed demons that goes back nearly a century. So why should naming high-speed tuneups after em be "politically incorrect" or construed as offensive? There really is no better phrase then Italian tune-up to describe this tried and true method of thrashing the bugs out of an engine.

Good old italian tuneups, tons of fun with any car/boat/bike.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

The term came from old Ferrari's. Back when they had 6 Weber carbs on top of the V12's they used to foul out and run like crap if you idled around town. Run one through the gears and blow the crap out and it ran better.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Good story 240dog.

I sold Fiats around 1980, had a Triumph TR6, ... hmm, do I know you LOL.

The spyders especially (now a 2liter twin-cam) would carbon up, piss all over the spark plugs and stuff, and basically wouldn't start/run well after sitting. The GM knew that I could get them to run properly, toss me a set of keys and off I'd go, down the beltline with it floored until it cleared up.

Would sometimes be kind of funny to bring them back with the undercoating smoking.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Sorry for getting off tracked, I just had a realization that in one of my favorite movies – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off… The Ferrari in the movie actually benefited from the joy ride the parking attendants gave it!

Movie Quotes..
Cameron Frye: “The 1961 Ferrari, two-fifty GT California. Less than a hundred were made. My father spent three years restoring this car. It is his love, it is his passion . . .”
Ferris Bueller: “It is his fault he didn't lock the garage.”

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1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

Nah, the Ferrari in FBDO didn't benefit from catching air in slow-mo... that was prolly hard on the suspension... but a good run thru the gears catching some revs and engine load, that's fine. Every car I've ever owned has been ran to redline at least weekly. Heck, the Audi probably exceeds 100MPH 3-4 times/wk...

Oh, and I'm Italian, that term is far from offensive, IMO...