Upper hose is always VERY firm. Did the tank and cap. Looks like the head... Anyone want to buy a Beautiful Rust free 300TD with 167K miles with bad head?

__________________
83 300TD Sable 402K " Work Truck "
81 300SD Gray 240K " Loner Car "
04 E320 Blue 90K " My Winter rig "
07 BMW X5 4.4 118K " My Summer rig"
04 Jetta TDI Wagon 168K " Wifes "
08 Toyota FJ 109K " Wifes winter rig "
04 Jetta TDI 120K " Daughters Car "

She will idle for days and not go above 85-90. Get on the highway and ZOOM right to 115...

__________________
83 300TD Sable 402K " Work Truck "
81 300SD Gray 240K " Loner Car "
04 E320 Blue 90K " My Winter rig "
07 BMW X5 4.4 118K " My Summer rig"
04 Jetta TDI Wagon 168K " Wifes "
08 Toyota FJ 109K " Wifes winter rig "
04 Jetta TDI 120K " Daughters Car "

This website is hosted by an internet auto parts distributor with a staff of guys who are exceptional. Part of the draw to the site for many of us. If you go to this page:

http://catalog.peachparts.com/ShopByVehicle.epc?q=1987-Mercedes--Benz-300d-Cooling--System&yearid=1987%40%401987&makeid=63%40%40MERCEDES+BENZ%40%40X&modelid=6189%3AMBC|1626%3AED|10000096%40%40300D&catid=240909%40%40Cooling+System&subcatid=240978@@Thermostat+Kit&mode=PA

you will see the thermostat intended for your auto. It has a little check valve for bleeding air from one side to the other, and a feature that recognizes the presence of the tab you ground off - primarily for orientation of the little bleed feature, but also to keep you from installing it upside down.

I have attached the blown up photo, but if that doesn't work for you just click on the photo in the link above and the photo is expanded to a useful size. Compare your thermostat to this one. I believe yours is not the same and therefore may not be working correctly.

Jim
PS: It looks like you are installing it upside down, given the rim of the thermostat has a dent to go over the item you ground off.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
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)

I'll keep my fingers crossed that you just have the wrong thermostat in there. A new T-stat is also cheaper than a new head.

__________________
1987 300TD 309, xxx 2.8.2014 10,000 mile OCI


Be careful of the toes you step on today, as they may be connected to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow. anonymous

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter won’t mind.” Dr. Seuss

Thats the one Jim. Has the notch and bleeder. Mine does NOT have bleeder. Would that be part of my problem now? Can I drill a hole ? And how fast can the parts place get me one to Brattelboro VT?

__________________
83 300TD Sable 402K " Work Truck "
81 300SD Gray 240K " Loner Car "
04 E320 Blue 90K " My Winter rig "
07 BMW X5 4.4 118K " My Summer rig"
04 Jetta TDI Wagon 168K " Wifes "
08 Toyota FJ 109K " Wifes winter rig "
04 Jetta TDI 120K " Daughters Car "

With no oil in your radiator system I find a bad head hard to believe. Even if it was a 'gas' leak.. you would be seeing at least some soot in your coolant.

There really are few components. Radiator, hoses, water pump and thermostat.

One additional check I dont remember seeing mentioned yet is .. collapsed hose. If the springs in your motor to radiator hoses have broken.. when you rev the motor, they will collapse. VERY easy to overlook too even while swapping radiators if your not used to such problems.

__________________
1985 300D 198K sold
1982 300D 202K
1989 300E 125K
1992 940T

"If you dont have time to do it safely, you dont have time to do it"

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

Today is Saturday and they are likely closed for the weekend. Drill the hole 180 degrees from the dent that goes over the tab in the housing cover, and put the thing back in oriented correctly - like your first photo, not your last in the previous post, so the dent in the rim of the thermostat goes over the now ground off tab.

Check the hoses - they need to be firm when depressurized. Not hard as a rock, but they can't be soft either. Soft means they can be collapsed under certain conditions, likely during warm-up.

Does your system hold pressure? Once warm, or hot in your case, the system should be pressurized above atmospheric pressure, everywhere. Which should help in keeping hoses inflated. Once cooled down the system should depressurize.

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)

I may be late here, but I would just replace the water pump while you're in there. I'm not one to throw $ away on parts, but when do you anticipate being here again?

Also, the water pump can be bad and not look it. I had a similar experience on an 84 300TD.

I would just get a new water pump and eliminate the variable. You've said it before, it's the only part that you haven't replaced. Return it, worst case.

__________________
84 300td (Yes, a wagon)
"The Golden Dragon"
195k, 2nd owner
Lives in Redmond, WA

Will do. Lets hope thats it...

__________________
83 300TD Sable 402K " Work Truck "
81 300SD Gray 240K " Loner Car "
04 E320 Blue 90K " My Winter rig "
07 BMW X5 4.4 118K " My Summer rig"
04 Jetta TDI Wagon 168K " Wifes "
08 Toyota FJ 109K " Wifes winter rig "
04 Jetta TDI 120K " Daughters Car "

Those were the symptoms of my friends Range Rover. He started with a thermostat. Forums said that Rovers are notorious for being difficult to bleed cooling system. Finally took to specialized expensive mechanic who diagnosed bad head. After $2500 head R&R...same problem, supposedly bad block. Now negotiation over payment for misdiagnosis is under way.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

Let's do a cost analysis here if you don't mind. How much do you have into the car?

Is it a #14 head?

__________________
1987 300TDT - 195,000 (Original #14 head)
1993 190E 2.3 - 105,000
1981 300D - 250,000

I'd still say your not Circulating Coolant at all. esp if the one hose your able to handle, I would suspect a faulty pump or Possible Clogged radiator, I'd take it in and have it flushed as suggested before. it does no good to keep overheating your engine trial and error like this.

__________________
hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

Since he eliminated everything except the water pump, the head was the next logical hypothesis ( I assumed he had the correct thermostat). The OM603 is well known to crack when overheated. I know nothing about Range Rovers, but I have some experience with cracked OM603 heads. Unless the water pump is completely blocking the flow, he should not see 115 on the highway.

__________________
1987 300TD 309, xxx 2.8.2014 10,000 mile OCI


Be careful of the toes you step on today, as they may be connected to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow. anonymous

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter won’t mind.” Dr. Seuss

The thread is getting long and difficult to keep up to date on easily.

I believe the status is:

Water pump removed, checked, nothing apparently visually wrong, reinstalled - no change.
Thermostat has been removed, boiled, apparently working correctly, reinstalled, not sure if the orientation is correct. No change. Not an OEM thermostat, a possible modification being made to add a small vent hole to the rim of the thermostat.
Thermostat has been removed, engine run, no change.
Radiator has been replaced with a new one. No change in more ways than one (it was expensive).
Flow through radiator verified by filling and watching water run out various places on the engine. No change.

I agree it sounds like there is a no-flow event here. It is feasible that a failing head gasket or cracked head could fill a vital part of the pump volute or some other part of the water jacket with enough gas from combustion that flow would be interrupted. Not sure why there is no effect at idle.

Early heads were known to be susceptible to cracking if they were run at the hot end of the operating range. The -14 Series were notorious. A check of the serial number should be made to see if the head is one of these.

I still think I would study the flow path in the manual and chase down the various parts like hoses, and then the moving parts like thermostats, etc.

Good luck, 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)

X2 with Jim on length!!
I guess many of us are seeing this as a bit of a challenge!! Its not the regular common type problem.
You say that you can leave it idling all day & it doesnt overheat. If you have the car stationary with the motor revving, say 2,500rpm, does it overheat?
Many years ago I had an old gasser that had a very good water pump, when you revved it up it used to pull a vacuum on the bottom radiator hose. The hose would co-laps in so restricting the coolant flow & the car would get hot. We put a coil of wire like a spring inside the hose to fix it.
Does your heater work?

__________________
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving