Nothing says Merry Christmas like wrenching on your broken sled. Nothing says good morning like the smell of diesel in the garage. After about 3 minutes the problem was evident. Looks like a fuel leaking out of the black thingamajig that mounts onto the silver injection pump, which has all the clear fuel lines running to it. Not sure if there is just a gasket here or if the black thingamajig itself is leaking. However, before one can really get after the black thingamajig, one has to remove the intake manifold, which looked simple enough, NOT.

What is the trick to removing the intake manifold? The 20 odd screw on the top, no problem, but on the bottom side where the Turbo feeds into, how the heck does one even get to those bolts? My short fat stubby hands have no chance in hell fitting in there, so here I am looking for wisdom from the Jedi Masters. Also, would love to hear some advise on the tricks for changing out and or replacing the gasket on this black thingamajig.

Thanks in advance for yalls time.

You have a leak at the o-ring behind the shutoff valve OR from one of the delivery valves (#1,2 or 3) on top of the IP.

Shutoff oring: http://catalog.eautopartscatalog.com/mercedesshop/sophio/wizard.jsp?partner=mercedesshop&clientid=catalog.mercedesshop&baseurl=http://catalog.peachparts.com/&cookieid=1YI003BTU1Z30SR1VQ&year=1999&make=MB&model=E-300DT-001&category=D&part=Shut+Off+Valve+Gasket

The bolt connecting the EGR to IM is usaually removed from beneath the car with a very long extension.

You should prob also replace the EGR seal ring and def need a IM gasket.

I'd look at the rest of the fuel lines under the IM while it is off. If yellow you may wish to replace while access is easy. They are clear when new. To remove them the white horseshoe clip is pushed tightly closed (make a ringer) to release the shoulder of the clips that attach and hold the line down.

__________________
Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

PS: Look at the "DIY Article" tab at top of this window and select OM606 Glow plug removal for pics and description to remove IM.

__________________
Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

You can get the shutoff valve off and replace that o-ring without removing the intake. Just remove the washer bottle (unplug the ABS pump connector) and move the bottle out of the way. The shutoff is held on by 2 torx screws...be really careful with them as the heads will strip out VERY easily, so clean them out really well and make sure you have a good quality torx bit seated as far down as it will go before trying to break them free. I had to drill one of mine out which was a PITA but I landed up replacing them with good quality M6 allen head cap screws from the home depot instead of the crappy hardway MB used.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

Had the same problem myself a few months ago, it's definately the O-ring inside the shutoff valve. Hardest part of the job is getting the intake BACK ON.

Intake can be removed fairly easily, only that one hex bolt holding the intercooler pipe to the EGR valve is hard...I found these great extentions at Autozone that are flexible and tough as well, they do the job perfectly. The EGR clamp can be undone from above if it's turned that way; if not it's just past the other bolt.

Like nhdoc said, be extremely careful with those torx screws, no need to remove the fuel lines, after that just slip the shutoff valve off and replace the O-ring with needlenose pliers. Not too tough.

Putting the intake back on, make sure you push it onto the intercooler pipe FIRST, before doing anything else except connecting those vac lines. It's generally a two-person job; one has to stay underneath and hold the pipe while the other pushes the manifold down. Put in the bolt that holds the intercooler pipe on, then have one person hold the EGR clamp in position from underneath while the other tightens the bolt from above. Line up the gasket (screwdrivers work well), put in the bolts, and tighten to 20NM. Start her up and you should be ready to go. Good luck!

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99 E300 TD -- sold
01 540i 6 spd

PS: biodiesel = no diesel smell in garage whenever the thing leaks

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99 E300 TD -- sold
01 540i 6 spd

Thanks guys, you all have been helpful as always. The article by Lightman is pretty good on removing the Intake Manifold. Thanks TM for the link on where to buy that animal, that was in the back of my mind going to be another PIA.

BioPower, this bad boy does run on BD, however since winter hit, have gone to 50/50 blend, its cold as sheet outside. Kind of wonder if the BD might be why the o-ring went south?

Thanks again guys.

Actually, I believe it to be the exact opposite. I had been in SoCal and had to put in a tank of ULSD (CA mandated, couldn't find BD)....a week later I started to smell petrodiesel in the garage, I looked under the hood and it was the shutoff valve O-ring. Because of the 15ppm sulfur in ULSD (500ppm in old LSD) the new stuff has much less lubricicity than both BD and the old diesel, even with additives. This car hadn't seen petrodiesel for over a year at that time so the ULSD might've affected the O-ring. It's no coincidence.

I don't know if Texas requires ULSD at all pumps so this may not even apply. We're running B100 without problems, but it never gets below 40 F here.

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99 E300 TD -- sold
01 540i 6 spd

Well here I am, almost exactly two years later, and changing this o-ring again. I can not believe that these things don't have a longer life than 2 years(aprox 20K miles)

Looks like this time around, I will also be replacing the torx bolts that hold the fuel shut-off in place as well. Tried to remove the bolts without taking off the intake manifold, and the back bolt got stripped out. I would agree that you could do the o-ring replacement without removing the intake, however, if you bolts are on tight, you are better off removing the intake, as it only takes a few minutes to remove the intake manifold, and only take a second to strip the torx bolt heads. Hope the bolts are not hard to find.

Just thought I would throw up an update. Thanks again for everyone's help a couple of years ago on this, as it was a snap to do the second time around.

I just did this and on advice from others here, I removed the washer reservoir and it was a piece of cake to reach the shut off valve and the other fuel lines. I used a Viton O-ring which should resist the biodiesel more effectively than the standard material.

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-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250