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  #1  
Old 05-18-2010, 04:30 PM
Doktor Bert's Avatar
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Shimming the ALDA 617 Engine:

What kind of results have you been seeing with shimming????

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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership
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  #2  
Old 05-18-2010, 05:30 PM
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ALDA Bravery...

And I'm not talking about Hawkeye from M.A.S.H...

Monkeying with the ALDA is similar to opening up a nice can of worms. If you're lucky, the worms will participate and all will be well. If not, you've opened the Rip Taylor can of worms from Laugh-In, and worms will be everywhere.

Now, I'm all for tuning, I'm all for more power. Here's my ALDA Story, which resulted in huge gouts of oil, no power, and ending up having to gut and plug the ALDA's ports with JB Weld.

In the interest in trying to get a little more from the IP, I read about turning up the ALDA setscrew. I loosened the locknut, put my screwdriver in the slot and gently turned...

....and watched the screw completely split in two.

Somebody had obviously wailed on the setscrew in the past and when I touched it, it failed. Remember, the ALDA is dependent on pressure from the Turbo to compress the two brass 'balloons' inside - which in turn causes the metering rod that sinks into the top of the IP to raise, which moves the fuel rack, which increases flow. Now that the setscrew had split, there was no way to reseal the ALDA and therefore it couldn't pressurize.

Driving a 300SD with the IP stuck on MIN is one of the most awful, punch yourself in the crotch experiences. The smallest hills become challenges. The transmission absolutely hates you and will go into each gear with a colossal BANG after revving high. So, I then discovered that the ALDA had to come off.

Except, the ALDA is mounted onto the IP on an assembly line by Bosch before it ever finds itself on the engine. Which means, getting to the incredibly thin 'nut' casting on the bottom of the ALDA and a wrench on the locknut located further below is an absolute nightmare. I ended up having to fab a 'socket' that would fit over the outside of the ALDA out of square metal tube.

OK. So, it's off. Look inside the locknut and carefully remove the two shims inside. Do not lose these and note carefully the order in which they sit. These little bastards are what stop the ALDA from filling with and letting oil jet out of the top of the IP and going everywhere under your hood.

Closer look on my ALDA revealed that the threads were garbage on the setscrew, and that salvaging this would be useless. So with a lot of patience, and further using machine tools, I unscrewed the four philips-head screws and removed the brass innards of the ALDA. I then proceeded to line both halves with a thin coat of JB Weld, and plugged the Turbo Pressure Inlet with JB Weld as well.

Reassembly produced tons of leaks around the base of the ALDA. Removing the ALDA and carefully polishing both shims on wet emery cloth on top of a pane of glass was the only thing that stopped the leaks.

So, against my will, I now have a 300SD with the ALDA removed. I can say that the car's peppy, and that if you drop the hammer below 2500 RPM you'll end up with a nice mosquito-killing cloud. The ALDA is one of those things on these cars that is very sensitive to being touched in any way. By all means go for what you want to try, but be prepared for it to be an ordeal.

James F. Smith
1982 300SD, 361,678 miles.
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  #3  
Old 05-18-2010, 06:02 PM
Doktor Bert's Avatar
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Mine is backed out CCW all the way and boost is up to 14.0psi. Performance is good with little, if any smoke at WOT, which leads me to believe more fuel under boost would be beneficial...Robert
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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership
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  #4  
Old 05-18-2010, 07:17 PM
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Alda in garage in case I move to a Communist State.No white smoke,max boost over 23 psi.Guage goes to 20,at the O in Sunpro.
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  #5  
Old 05-18-2010, 07:41 PM
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Old Sinner,

Let's talk some more...
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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership
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  #6  
Old 05-18-2010, 07:54 PM
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23psi boost on a stock turbo leads to premature death.

About taking the ALDA off and oil gushing everywhere. Never had this problem.......

I used a washer from the trans cooler? banjo bolt line. Fit right in there.
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  #7  
Old 05-18-2010, 08:59 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by winmutt View Post
23psi boost on a stock turbo leads to premature death.
..
You basically have a heat pump at the pressure.





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  #8  
Old 05-18-2010, 09:09 PM
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I have adjusted (backed out) the screw on my ALDA [SD] without any drama. It did/does precisely what I wanted to accomplish. Just lucky I guess.
This doesn't increase the boost, just the fuel allowed to the engine.
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Shimming the ALDA 617 Engine:-cropped-alda.jpg  
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  #9  
Old 05-18-2010, 09:11 PM
Doktor Bert's Avatar
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14.0 psi seems to be good for me. I know my IP is not perfect, but it runs well and gets good mileage when I am not on the loud pedal...
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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership
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  #10  
Old 05-18-2010, 09:21 PM
toomany MBZ's Avatar
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldsinner111 View Post
Alda in garage in case I move to a Communist State.No white smoke,max boost over 23 psi.Guage goes to 20,at the O in Sunpro.
This is without any turbo adjustment? It has a waste gate, I guess that doesn't work.
You're looking for black smoke as an indication of too much (unburned) fuel.
MB calls for 0.7 to 0.8 bar, the latter equates to 11.6 psi, if I'm to believe the site I consulted.
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  #11  
Old 05-19-2010, 05:14 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DeliveryValve View Post
You basically have a heat pump at the pressure.
Besides the fact that more than 13psi is actually REDUCING power by restricting the exhaust flow!

More is not better by any means. Use as little boost as possible that can burn all the fuel.
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  #12  
Old 05-19-2010, 07:20 AM
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Quote:
....and watched the screw completely split in two.
Same here.
I'm thinking a little PB Blaster on the screw before playing around with it would go a long way.

As far as overboost, wouldn't running lean heat the engine?

Danny
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  #13  
Old 05-19-2010, 09:23 AM
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^ Diesels don't work like gassers. The amount of fuel and the boost work together. Too much fuel will result in unburned particles blowing out the tail pipe, too little fuel will result in low power.
If the screw has been adjusted previously, you need to be careful.
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  #14  
Old 05-19-2010, 09:55 AM
Doktor Bert's Avatar
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When I was setting my boost pressure, I adjusted it in 2.0psi increments until the engine performance (by feel) peaked. Anything over 14.8psi made no difference in 'feel' and no improvement that could be recorded with a stop watch, so I dropped the boost back to 14.0psi and left it there.

Additionally, my ALDA screw is backed all the way out CCW..Robert
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Did you just pass my 740 at 200 kmh in a 300SD?????

1978 300SD 'Phil' - 1,315,853 Miles And Counting - 1, 317,885 as of 12/27/2012 - 1,333,000 as of 05/10/2013, 1,337,850 as of July 15, 2013, 1,339,000 as of August 13, 2013



100,000 miles since June 2005 Overhaul - Sold January 25th, 2014 After 1,344,246 Miles & 20 Years of Ownership
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  #15  
Old 05-19-2010, 09:58 AM
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Is there a stop on the ALDA screw as it's turned continuously CW or CCW or will it fall in or out?

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