My daughter's high mileage 1978 240D auto accumulates miles quickly, as she commutes to and from school every day close to 80 miles. I know the engine is weak, but here in not-so-cold SoCal it still starts normal and runs okay.

Lately I noticed that (1) oil consumption is up a lot, about 2 quarts per week (400 miles), and that (2) crankcase blowby seems to have increased, as oil is making its way past the oil filler cap, which is a new and unwarped one.

Since the car itself is fantastic (good original paint, zero rust or dents) and I have fixed everything that needed fixing whenever it needed fixing, and my daughter loves it deerly, I am toying with a used 240D engine, which is pretty impossible to find anywhere.

Before I go that route, however, I wonder if there might be another reason why the engine has such a high oil consumption and blowby. Perhaps something is blocked, and engine oil is sucked through the hose into the air cleaner and back into the engine? Car does not smoke, and does not leak any oil, by the way. The way I understand it, if compression makes its way past the piston rings, compression would be so low that the car would be extremely difficult to start.

Any ideas?



Final question . . . just in case I need an engine . . . I know that they changed the glow system from row to parallel in about 1981 or so. Could I use ANY 240D engine and pop it right into my "older" car?

__________________
Bernard
www.californiaclassix.com

My personal Diesel fleet:
1995 Mercedes E300D SE (24-valve, DOHC, 6-cylinder EDS Diesel--> 134hp)
1992 Dodge Ram (intercooled Cummins 6-cylinder turbodiesel--> 160hp)
1985 Mercedes 300CD (5-cylinder turbodiesel--> 120hp)
1978 Mercedes 240D (teenage daughter's first car--> 62hp . . . supposedly)

Pretty much. You might be better off looking for a wrecked 300 to swap parts with. Check car-parts.com for an engine.

__________________
http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

Could be a failed vacuum pump diaphragm allowing oil to be sucked into the air cleaner via the vent line that runs from the pump to the air cleaner. Check to see if oil is going thru that line when the engine is running.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

compression test would tell you if its major or minor issue, diagnosis might be worth the investment before going down the replacement route, get a dealer or trusted mechanic to do a pre-purchase type inspection on the motor

__________________

1982 300CD Turbo (Otis, "ups & downs") parts for sale
2003 TJ with Hemi (to go anywhere, quickly) sold
2001 Excursion Powerstroke (to go dependably)
1970 Mustang 428SCJ (to go fast)
1962 Corvette LS1 (to go in style)
2001 Schwinn Grape Krate 10spd (if all else fails)

Agreed. And if the diagnois does indicated a new motor is in order and the rest of the car is as good as it looks you might consider a Metric motor for about 7 G's.

- Peter.

__________________
2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

I second checking the vacuum pump. You can also look in the vacuum line going to the brake booster to see if oil is getting in there.
Diaphragms can leak and be replaced. Sometimes whole vacuum pump needs replaced, the mechanical parts of the vacuum pump is to worn out and causes the diaphragm to rupture.

__________________
1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

I'll add, that given the picture you posted, I'm surprised you haven't had lots of offers of help from around the country.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Winmutt,
thanks for the car-parts.com Web site. I'm speechless, as I have been looking all over without finding as much as a single engine and there is one, with 38K miles!

Kerry & DeliveryValve,
thanks for that vacuum pump hint. Just about 2 weeks ago I had the vacuum pump rebuilt. Car wouldn't shut off anymore when turning the key off and brake booster failed intermittendly, mostly at idle speed. Turned out the be the vaccum pump. That's the first thing I will check out tomorrow morning.

Thank you all. Can't tell you how much I appreciate your help!

__________________
Bernard
www.californiaclassix.com

My personal Diesel fleet:
1995 Mercedes E300D SE (24-valve, DOHC, 6-cylinder EDS Diesel--> 134hp)
1992 Dodge Ram (intercooled Cummins 6-cylinder turbodiesel--> 160hp)
1985 Mercedes 300CD (5-cylinder turbodiesel--> 120hp)
1978 Mercedes 240D (teenage daughter's first car--> 62hp . . . supposedly)

Hey kerry ----- THAT gives me an idea. My girls would love to climb up on Coda. The problem is.....they wouldn't stop climbing -- especially, my "little climber" .

And Bernard; last time I went to the boneyard, there was a wrecked 240 with an engine in it. 186K+ miles on the odometer. Don't know if the odometer was working though when it was wrecked.

__________________
daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
Cluster Needles Paint
New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

I don't trust the rebuild kits of the vac pumps. All they are are new diaphrams.... I don't know that they can be rebuilt properly.

I replaced the vac pump of a 300D with a very good used one. The old vac pump was rebuilt by PO and it cr@pped out. It was a double diaphram and the cam of one side broke.

__________________
the sooner you start... the sooner you'll get done If it ain't broke, don't fix it.. Its always simpler to tell the truth...
2007 Honda Accord EX
2007 Honda Accord SE V6
96 C220
97 Explorer - Found Another Home
2000 Honda Accord V6 - Found Another Home
85 300D - Found Another Home
84 300D - Found Another Home
80 300TD - Found Another Home
Previous cars:
96 Caravan
87 Camry
84 Cressida
82 Vanagon
80 Fiesta
78 Nova
Ford Cortina
Opel Kadet
68 Kombi
Contessa

I got offered a fresh rebuild, $1.5k, from Pittsburgh. If the seller is willing to palletize it & take to a freight depot, shipping might not be prohibitive.

First check to see if oil is leaking from underneath. Do not reuse the copper crush washer on the drain plug when changing oil .
Check to see if you are overfilling the crankcase... try running it at half way between min and max on dip stick. Check to see if you have the proper color dipstick handle... they are different lengths.
Consider replacing your valve stem seals. Seals are cheap , takes some careful labor but normal DIY can do it fine.
Springs are cheap also... consider replacing them while you have the others off the engine.
Same with valve rotators......
check the things already mentioned in thread first.