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  #1  
Old 10-25-2007, 07:09 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 45
anyone in the NY metro area/ NJ / PA that could help me learn more about my 350SDL?

Im kind of a newbie to car maintenance. I got this car passed on to me from a parents friend. it is a 1991 350sdl with 280k miles but had a rebuilt engine at around 100k (estimate).

I know how to change filters and do a diesel purge but thats about it. I'd like to know how to keep good care of this car and even how to improve its performance. I live in Jersey City, NJ, which is right across the water from new york city.

If anyone lives relatively near this area and would be interested in helping me learn my car, I'd be greatly appreciative, and can offer whatever money I can,

more about me - college junior (20 years old) at RPI in Troy, NY (near albany), but my home address is Jersey City, NJ. I'm studying IT and have a music minor (nothing to do with cars heh).

Thanks!
Tyler

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1991 350SDL (Navy Blue) - 278k
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  #2  
Old 10-27-2007, 01:46 PM
Benz'n'thusiast
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: new jersey
Posts: 74
i live in parsippany.. right around morristown, boonton, montville etc. you aren't that far. i knew my 82' 300D like the back of my hand and i'm now learning my '87 300D the same. while i'm no expert, i can hold my own fair share.

anyway, no one can teach you to be handy in your car, it's all self taught. you can't read it in a manual, you can't have a friend tell you, you can't read it on a forum. you need to burn your hands, cut em up, get them dirty, bust a knuckle, wack your head on something, drop a bolt or ruin a threading to learn your car the best you can.

i'm 18, the name's carmine, and i attend engine city technical institute in south plainfield. it's a diesel school.


are there any other local members? it would be pretty cool to get one last meet or cruise before the crappy(ier) weather comes in with a roar
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.:1982 300D "The Ambassador"- R.I.P:.
.:1987 300D 3.0 "Häns"- Current Whip:.
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  #3  
Old 10-27-2007, 08:42 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: NORTH WEST NEW JERSEY
Posts: 97
Hi, I live in North Western New Jersey, drive to East Rutherford 5-6 days a week in my 85 300SD. Don't know much about the newer Diesel engine, mine has a 5cylinder Diesel (617). The suspension my be similar. Let me know if I could help.
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  #4  
Old 10-31-2007, 08:29 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 45
ive posted a few problems lately i've been having lately in another post-

Basically i have a stalling problem that I am sure has to do with an air leak somwhere.

The other seems like a transmission problem - my car sometimes refuses to shift up a gear (or takes too long to do so?) - this only occurs at high speeds - for example I was on the thruway and I was at 50mph speeding up, and the engine was making a loud sound, and a hissing sound like air leaking out of something. I could get the car to high speeds but the RPM were at 3400 - too high for the normal 2800 max or so.

I am looking for anyone who may be able to help me fix or diagnose the problem. I appreciate all the responses. I am willing to drive a fair distance - I just don't want to go about this on my own!

Thanks
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  #5  
Old 11-01-2007, 12:02 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Woolwich, Maine
Posts: 3,598
Welcome to one of the internet's better resources for learning about your car. As fellow former student from RPI, I am sympathetic with your situation - heading into winter with a Diesel in Troy, NY. If you are willing to take instructions from this board you will get all the help you may need.

You have a great car, with the exception of the engine in some instances. It sounds like the rod bending problem has been addressed on your vehicle with the rebuilt engine at 100,000 miles. So you have a vehicle that has likely got more life left in it than a typical vacuum formed piece of plastic built within the last couple of years that goes for an automobile these days.

Unfortunately I dumped my 350SD before I ever had to learn anything about an automatic transmission, and my E300D TurboDiesel has been doing ok in the transmission department with fluid changes every 60,000 miles. However, at some point in the past the automatic controls were operated by vacuum. I am not sure that is the case with the 350SD, but it may. The sound you are hearing may be either an issue with an air intake to manifold issue down stream of the turbo or a massive vacuum leak. Do a search too, as it seems older units do well with a filter and fluid change. Someone here with experience will pipe up - they will likely need a bit more of a description of the problem - and, if you learn to use the search feature, you can do some research on past threads. One nice thing about older cars is you find you are hardly ever the first one to experience a problem now.

If you spend a bit of time tracing out the induction system - intake to air filter to turbo to intake manifold - and looking for either loose or missing hardware holding the tubing together, or missing sensor connections, you may solve your problem, or at least get a handle on it. The later cars have an emissions system implemented that keeps tight tabs on air flow, so a malfunction indication "Check Engine" lights up on the dash if you have a significant leak anywhere. I don't recall such a feature on the 350SD. So you have to check it out yourself. Look at the exhaust gas recirculation connections and valve carefully. Let us know what you find. One key to getting help here is being precise about your descriptions of the problems.

Good luck,

Jim
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Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)
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  #6  
Old 11-01-2007, 04:33 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 45
I really appreciate the help Jim, unforunately it is exactly what you are talking about that I would like someone to help me with. I can change filters but I don't feel like I know enough about the car to trace tubes. I am really looking for someone who can teach me HOW to diagnose problems. I would love to spend a few hours with someone who knows my car - I am a quick learner. I will try my best to give a better description of the problem, but it is a hard for me since the car seems to run OK when I am in Troy, driving locally at slower speeds. The problems start to occur when I get on the thruway to head home, and this is only every few weeks. So next time I head back I will try to recognize everything I can. I plan on bring a recorder so I can record some of the sounds I am hearing and post them here.

Again, if anyone is around the area of Troy, NY or around the NJ / NYC area that would be willing to help me diagnose this, I would love to learn more about the car.

Thanks,
Tyler
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1991 350SDL (Navy Blue) - 278k
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  #7  
Old 11-02-2007, 01:10 AM
Moderator
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Woolwich, Maine
Posts: 3,598
Tyler,

If you can change the oil filter, you can find the intake plumbing and trace it from the air filter to the intake manifold.

Diagnosing the problem you are experiencing, especially with the transmission, is something that will need some additional input to get any meaningful help. There is a current thread on cleaning the intake plumbing downstream of the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) Valve. I am not that familiar with automatic transmissions - I got rid of my 350SD before I had any problems with the transmission so I never had to learn - however, I believe there are vacuum/pneumatic signals that may come from the intake plumbing that could be distorted by clogging up your intake manifold with gunk. Normal if you have an EGR valve, and you do, but a mess to clean.

But others with more specific experience with automatic transmissions should pipe up and offer some insight into your issues. I am not sure about your stalling situation - for the most part this is something that, unlike gas cars, hardly ever affects Diesels to my knowledge. Seems some signal is being intercepted or distorted by either being disconnected, clogged or restricted if it is pneumatic, or just being loose if it is electrical. Don't be shy. Be sure to lift the hood into the vertical position so you can get some access and light on the subject, then go for it. If you are worried, take some digital photos of stuff so you can make sure you get it back the same way it was when you are done poking around. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)
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