California 300D Trap Oxidizer

[dirtcurt]

I'll try to get right to the point but....Also new here(to MB diesels as well) and sucking it all in as fast as I can. What great help this site has been with my new(old)300d.

Picked up a 300d from a friend and found out it's a Cali version with the trap Ox in place. The car runs OK but has some loose ends. Main one that bugs me is the rough start(misses randomly) and moderate shake at idle. Did the valves and they were not all that bad. Still idles shakey(constant rythem) when real warm. It idles good when medium warm. Set the idle for least amout of shake. That's the reason for this post. MB has said they will yank the Trap OX and install new device. Question one: What do they do to remove/install new stuff? Question two: has anybody had this done and what were the results?

Also the car had all maintenance records up to 2000 when it got parked. It showed a new engine at about 140k. The interesting thing is when I did the valves it had a fair amount(OK alot) of sludge on the rocker arms etc. I'm thinking what blew the factory motor was the Trap OX and it's still attempting to blow the rebuild by cooking the motor. It seems like it has a bunch of blow by, but my friend says if the cap stays on resting over the hole it should be ok which mine does. It seems to not burn much if any oil. The last milage check was 16-17mpg All thoughts are welcome! Thanks! Oh! Diesels can be so odd at times!

They replace the TrapOx with an OxCat in the same location and replace the turbo if it was damaged by the TrapOx.

[dirtcurt]

So should I have it done or rob the manifold/turbo off another Federal 300d? I've got access to two other cars. How about knocking the guts out either device?

Get the manifolds, downpipe and oil tubes from a federal model. You can reuse your turbo if you rotate the housings.

There is no advantage to keeping the TrapOx/OxCat installed.

[dirtcurt]

Well I took it to the dealer and things are getting interesting. The service manager called me back to ask if i wanted to buy a new intake manifold ($500)because the bolts on my car were fused together and they could not separate them. I told him that I did not want to put one dime in the car. He then re-thought and said he would try another approach to the problem. Still don't have it back after 3 days. the good thing for me is the estimate had a "W" in the cost and I asked what it was and he said warranty. I get the feeling they broke a part.

I took it in because I wanted them to check my turbo out to see if it was OK.

Even if they break all the bolts, there is no way they could have broken the intake manifold unless they hit or pried on it with something.