New MB 300D T owner, need lots of imput please

[siral3x]

I just bought a 1985 300 D(Turbo) MB with 185k miles. The car is a North Carolina rust free car.( I do live in MI, till I go to APP. State next year).
I'm trully impresed with this car. After sitting for years and years in a garage, and after one year of not being driven or fired up, the old MB started in just 4 sec crank. WOW!
First impresion with the car:
-Car blows some smoke, and has a rough idle;
-After 10 min the car quits smoking and the rough idlle goes away;
-Car seems to run perfect on the road once it warms uP?
-tried to restart car 2h latter..no rough idle drives fine;
-tried to restart car next morning...Rough idle(it misses?) for 10 min and smoke..till warms up;
-tranny seems to stay to long in 1?? shifts kinda hard in 2nd??

I never owned a MB before, but I did own a 2004 FORD FUSION 1.4 TDCI(Turbo Diesel COmmon Rail Injected).

I invested in MANN oil/fuel/PS filters, but I'm not sure what kind of motor oil would be decent priced and good in the same time(winter in MI goes to 20-30dg or lower). Any sugg?
My friend who is a diesel mechanic told me that most likely the injectors need to be rebuilt bc the fuel doesn't get atomized? like it should at cold startup?? I don't know much about diesels, but it makes sence since it only does sputter at startup and not when the engine is warmmed up.
Any comments???
I'm planning on changing the tranny fluid soon also, and other tune up should I do before winter???

thx a lot
Alex

[winmutt]

Originally Posted by siral3x

I invested in MANN oil/fuel/PS filters, but I'm not sure what kind of motor oil would be decent priced and good in the same time(winter in MI goes to 20-30dg or lower). Any sugg?
My friend who is a diesel mechanic told me that most likely the injectors need to be rebuilt bc the fuel doesn't get atomized? like it should at cold startup?? I don't know much about diesels, but it makes sence since it only does sputter at startup and not when the engine is warmmed up.
Any comments???
I'm planning on changing the tranny fluid soon also, and other tune up should I do before winter???

thx a lot
Alex

Pull the injectors have them poptested and rebuilt if needed. Inspect your prechambers. Get an FSM from MBUSA for $20. 85 is the only year a 2.88 diff was installed. Great for highway miles, not bad around town either. There are a few other 85 only goodies in this model. You may want to take a look at your EGR, you may find a quarter there!

[Lycoming-8]

Could well be that you have at least one glow plug that is not functioning. This would very definately give you the cold start roughness that you are experiencing. They can be tested, see search function above for looking up threads that pertain to this issue.

[Motorhead]

Originally Posted by Lycoming-8

Could well be that you have at least one glow plug that is not functioning. This would very definately give you the cold start roughness that you are experiencing. They can be tested, see search function above for looking up threads that pertain to this issue.

Ditto.... Also have the valves adjusted. The intake valves tend to tighten up.

[winmutt]

glowplugs would not lead to 10 minutes of roughness, improper injection will. Did the glowplug light comeon properly?

[toomany MBZ]

All of the above, GP's first.

[JimmyL]

Originally Posted by winmutt

glowplugs would not lead to 10 minutes of roughness, improper injection will. Did the glowplug light comeon properly?

I politely disagree. The symptoms sound like classic glowplug failure. Runs rough at first. Runs fine when hot. Starts and runs smooth after hot.
It would certainly be the first place to recommend a new owner to check, before we start guiding him to pulling injectors and pop-testing.
Do the easy and more common stuff first.

[siral3x]

Nope, the glow plug light didn't turn on at all. I was kinda worried bc I don't know when the glow plugs kick in??How can I tell when they do? My uncle changed the instrunment cluster and said that not all the lights work. I got the old one also so I was thinking of swapping bulbs. Now if the light doesn't kick on does that mean that a glow plug is bad??
My uncle aslo said he swapped 2 glow plugs some time ago, and he still had 3 more to install. I'm skeptical about the Autolite glow plugs...anybody using them????
I paid $900 on this car and I'm planing to keep it until I get out of college.

[Palangi]

Go here for glow plug troubleshooting procedure:

http://www.dieselgiant.com/glowplugrepair.htm

Autolite glow plugs do not have a good reputation on Mercedes cars. They just don't last very long at all. Use Bosch or Beru.

[siral3x]

ok, i'm just gonna put new glow plugs and see if that would make a diff.
How much torque do u need to apply when you put new ones in??
How do u get out the air in the injector lines??
thx!

[winmutt]

Originally Posted by JimmyL

I politely disagree. The symptoms sound like classic glowplug failure. Runs rough at first. Runs fine when hot. Starts and runs smooth after hot.
It would certainly be the first place to recommend a new owner to check, before we start guiding him to pulling injectors and pop-testing.
Do the easy and more common stuff first.

If hed mentioned the GP light didnt come on ...