Saturday Diesel Doings - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Jeremy5848 · #1 09-19-2009, 02:08 PM

Drove my '87 300D to Windsor Pick and Pull today. On the way, the car's odometer turned over 150000 miles (still a child!) so I pulled over and took a picture.

Windsor's European section had been badly picked and pulled; several rows were empty and there were no 124s at all. A few 123, 201, some older 126 models was all I saw, all of which have been there for weeks and have had much of the goodies taken. I found nothing at all and was back out in 15 minutes; the guy who had checked me in felt bad enough that he gave me a free admission card for "next time" (that was nice of him) and said they would be filling those empty rows in another week.

So I was unable to find the left c-pillar trim for my '87. Mine is in pretty bad shape with many of the clips broken off. I'll pay handsomely (well, reasonably) for one with a complete set of good clips. I don't care what color it is 'cause I can move my vinyl or paint it to match. Sixto tells me it has to be from an "early" 124, say 1986-89, because Mercedes changed the shape of the seat belt slot in the later models. (Yes, I'll post in the Parts section too.)

One interesting item at Windsor was a 1989 300TE in the "cars for sale" section. It was somewhat beat-up, with front-end damage repaired by Red Green's method and worn leather seats. The 3rd row seat was present. I suppose the engine worked or they wouldn't be selling it as a complete car. They had a $1399 sign on it and their phone number is 707-838-4646 or 707-837-7476 if anyone is interested.

Jeremy

lietuviai · #2 09-19-2009, 02:14 PM

An 87 300D has an economy gauge? I thought only gassers had them because they're vacuum operated.

bustedbenz · #3 09-19-2009, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lietuviai

An 87 300D has an economy gauge? I thought only gassers had them because they're vacuum operated.

Vacuum reversed is boost. A lot of diesel folks have inserted the gauge cluster complete with that gauge, performed a modification or two, and used them for turbo boost gauges in-dash.

There's no numeric scale but if memory serves me reliably (it'll be the first time) the movement range after the modification is something in the guesstimate neighborhood of 0-16 psi boost. If that's completely wrong then somebody correct it.

KarTek · #4 09-19-2009, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lietuviai

An 87 300D has an economy gauge? I thought only gassers had them because they're vacuum operated.

Me thinks that someone hath made themselves a home-spun boost gauge...

bustedbenz · #5 09-19-2009, 02:31 PM

Yeah, here's one of the boost gauge conversion threads... er, posts.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showpost.php?p=388911&postcount=27

JimmyL · #6 09-19-2009, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeremy5848

Geez, it's barely 57 degrees in my fridge......

Jeremy5848 · #7 09-19-2009, 03:32 PM

Actually, I have a "real" boost gauge in the ashtray slot. The "economy" gauge you see in my cluster is plumbed into the vacuum line that goes to the transmission. As I put my foot more into the accelerator, the gauge moves towards the red zone, much as it does in a gasser.

As you know, Mercedes designed (I suppose the factory doesn't "jury-rig?") the VCV and blue flying saucer to simulate gasser intake manifold vacuum so they could use the same transmission control for gasser and diesel alike. Thus, the vacuum line to a 722.3 or 722.4 transmission (and maybe others?) looks like gasser intake manifold vacuum and you can use the same gauge.

The 'economy' gauge is unmodified; it was part of the 4-gauge section in a 1989 300E cluster. Since that car has "unleaded fuel required" written on its gauge face, I swapped the face from a 1984 300SE, which pre-dated the unleaded warning. No other modifications were required; the fuel, oil pressure, and coolant temp gauges are identical to their diesel counterparts.

As a bonus, the 1989 4-gauge section has a little red twist-in fuse that the 1987 version lacks. I don't know what it is supposed to protect but I sleep better knowing it's there.

I posted a thread when I did the installation:

Another diesel use for the gasser "Economy" gauge

So is it really useful? Well, I do notice it moving and I suppose it's a reminder to use as little right foot as possible, hence improving fuel economy a bit. Should the vacuum system fail, I'll have something to look at when my shifts suddenly (or gradually) become harsh. And it's fun to mess with peoples' minds when they see something unexpected.

Jeremy