Three mercedes added to the mix. Anyone with expereince running these on oil?

Josh Carmack

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New additions to my fleet of diesels, these will be my daily drivers, as well as my mail route vehicle. I was driving my F350 as a daily driver, even though it's cheap fuel, it was still burning too much, these cut it in half, and now my wife can do her daily driving on oil as well. The White one is for parts till I get another engine and transmission, and title for it.
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Brad S.

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New additions to my fleet of diesels, these will be my daily drivers, as well as my mail route vehicle. I was driving my F350 as a daily driver, even though it's cheap fuel, it was still burning too much, these cut it in half, and now my wife can do her daily driving on oil as well. The White one is for parts till I get another engine and transmission, and title for it.

No experience but, :hail:hail:hail:love:;Sweet

:popcorn I'll be watching, oh and btw, you got a rich uncle or something?????
 

Josh Carmack

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LOL, white one was $985.00 has 180,000 miles. Runs and drives but has bent piston rod issues common to the OM603 3.5L and will not shift out of first gear, most likely a failed governor, or failed valve body as there is no slippage, simply won't up-shift. IF I can get the proper paperwork (owner deceased requires lots of paper work to get legal title), it'll get an OM603 3.0L transplant and a trans repair. If I do not get the widow to refile the paperwork, then it'll be a parts donor to the other two. It's a W126 Chassis 1991 Same engine and tranny, except it is the bored 3.5L version of the 3.0L

The red and blue ones are the 1987 W124 Chassis 300 D Turbo
Both contain the reliable 3.0L version of the 6cyl OM603 Engines.

Red one was 2300.00 has 185,000 Miles runs and drives fine, but needs suspension all the way around. Has moderate electrical issues, and a small hole in the turbine side of the turbo. Turbo works fine, and is a BEAST compared to the blue one that has a non functioning turbo system. Over all was in great ready to drive shape mechanically. If I had known the turbo had a hole in the turbine side I would have demanded 300 to 400 less, BUT the guy was very considerate and threw a free working turbo in the trunk. Maybe he knew it had a hole, but I like to think he didn't. Although the spare turbo is good and functional, I'm in the process of rebuilding it, and will replace the turbo on the blue one with it, and then rebuild the blue ones turbo to replace the one on the red. I'll then rebuild the larger turbo on the white one to keep as a spare, or perhaps slap it on one of the smaller cars as an upgrade, because it'll build more boost due to the increased size.

Blue one was 900.00, needed suspension all the way around, had a non working glow plug controller, mostly non functioning vacuum system (vacuum controls ALOT of systems on these cars, door locks, injector pump shutdown, turbo system, just to name a few), and no radio. Looked like hell as it had set under cedar trees for years. and will not build more than 1 or 2 PSI of boost. Also had moderate electrical issues. Repairs have already commenced, and the white car has donated a glow plug controller and tires to the blue one.

The blue one has received new shocks and struts and several man hours of repairs, the PO was a "Mechanic" that took lots of STUPID shortcuts and generally *%@^ed things up. The turbo itself is mechanically functional as in I can hear it spin up and down, but either the control system is still mucked, or the wastegate is toast, still have several things to test before I blame the actual turbine and compressor itself. Experienced Mercedes mechanic says these turbos rarely ever mechanically fail in the wheels but often have control and gate issues as they age.


ALL IN ALL even if they don't take my very own locally made fuel well, they still do better in mileage as daily drives than most anything but the newest hybrids and such.

What I know about IDI engines, coupled with the high compression ratios of these engines tells me they'll run just fine on oil, just curious if anyone has feed them WMO and how well they start-up and shutdown on it, as well as turbo coking and smoke issues. Will probably add water injection to combat that.
 

drinkypoo

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Elsbett sells kits for MBZ IDIs to make them single-tank runners, but they are pretty spendy
 

AcIdBuRn02ZTS

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There is a guy on youtube who runs a 300d on straight wmo... cold starts hard but seems to run decent on it..

The guy in the video is nuts... and I cant find it anymore. The car was painted a flat crème color with flat black grille, bumper, wheels.. looked like a tank. lol

I'd say they'll do just fine on a good, clean blend

-Chris
 

JPhauler87

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I've run about 80gal through my 300SDL with the OM603. After 60gal, it needed some diesel/cleaner run through it to restore power. Hoping this isn't as much of an issue in warmer weather. These things already have a fuel heater stock.

I'm sure you've read all about the head issue on the 603s. Mine was experiencing bubbles in the res, white smoke, coolant loss, coolant system pressurized after sitting a couple days, etc. Ran some Moroso engine sealer through it, stopped all symptoms for about 2 months and they've just started to reappear. I'm going to try their leave-in sealer and see if it helps and probably start shopping for a 5 cylinder powered 300D or something. I really wanted a turbo 5 cylinder from the get go, but I scooped this thing for $800 and barely put $200 into it and have been daily driving it for 6 weeks. Near as I can tell, I'm getting no more than 20mpg (broken odometer and speedo) but consumption is only marginally better than my 12 valve. But much nicer to drive on a daily basis! Haha

Also, mine had sat for a while and the turbo was just barely seized. Some oil and putting a socket on the nut on the compressor end freed it right up very easily. Just something to try before you take it all apart.

They are sweet cars, I am definitely addicted!
 

Josh Carmack

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Fixed the turbo issue this morning, it's a night and day difference NA VS Turbo. It's either a bad over pressure cutoff valve/sensor, or wiring to the valve/sensor. I manually bypassed the over pressure cutoff valve to see if it was the problem, and the car came alive this morning. These cars used a sensor and valve to kill the boost signal to the ALDA sensor. The ALDA is what says, hey we got X amount of boost lets throw X amount of fuel to the engine. Once the ALDA could see the boost pressure it blew a giant puff of black smoke and took off. I live in an extremely remote area in the Mississippi river bottom, and have a 7 mile long "drag strip" in front of my house. Lets just say the car went from barely being able to hold 70 on the interstate to being able to hold double that speed for as long as my nerve let me, which wasn't long. Now that I located where, I have to find out why the problem exist. Gonna work on that tomorrow by simply swapping parts over from the 350SDL to the 300 till the problem goes away, most likey the cutoff valve, and where I will begin. Still going to rebuild the turbos, because despite popular thought, turbos are ideally rebuilt every 150,000 or so, and all of them are beyond that. I would really hate to grenade an engine because the seal failed causing a runaway situation.

JP, ive not actually looked to see what head version these have, but none of them are cracked, and typically wasn't a big problem unless it saw some repeated over heating.

I wish years and years ago I had decided to go down the route of WMO/WVO etc, it would have led me to the Benz's quicker, and I am in love with all of them now. For these cars to be as old as they are, they run and drive better than most cars 25 years younger. They were decades ahead of the competition when it came to engineering and design. Yeah they have their caveats, electrical being the biggest, but overall they are great cars.
 

Josh Carmack

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Yes, a Bosch "M" or "MW" IDI Pump. I have not learned what the difference is in the M or MW or how to distinguish them. VERY smooth throttle response and control. Easily compensates for boost and boost lag as well as automatic altitude compensation to make it a very clean runner . They were mechanical until the mid to late nineties i think? It's maybe the OM606 that had the first mechanical/electronic pump. It's still mechanical. but uses electronic compensation.
 

Brad S.

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Interesting, at least thats easier to work on.
So it sounds like you won't have to run a 2 tank system????
I bet space for a second tank would be hard to "work" in.
 

Josh Carmack

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Well, these cars came with an optional axillary tank, forget the capacity, but it was roughly half of the regular tank. It was not a separate system, but tied into the standard tank to add distance. If I could find one of those tanks I could easily convert it. For now I'll use a 20Gal air compressor tank crammed in the trunk. I'll lose half my trunk but ohh well. Or perhaps one of those yard sprayer tanks, it may use space a little more efficiently. Will use the main tank during the summer. But yeah, very little options for a second tank under the car.

While I did not learn this till after I had purchased these cars, but they are capable of being roll started in the event it won't start easily on my fuel. It's not near as simple as placing it in third and letting the clutch out as it is on my truck, but I have tested it, and they will roll start if you correctly follow the steps. This is the first automatic transmission I have encountered in my lifetime that can be roll started. According to Dad who's 73 it was common back in the day for transmissions to have a front and rear pump, which allowed that procedure. Thats comforting for me to know, because I have had to pull start my truck a few times when the weather etc got too cold for it to start on my fuel.
 

Brad S.

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Well, these cars came with an optional axillary tank, forget the capacity, but it was roughly half of the regular tank. It was not a separate system, but tied into the standard tank to add distance. If I could find one of those tanks I could easily convert it. For now I'll use a 20Gal air compressor tank crammed in the trunk. I'll lose half my trunk but ohh well. Or perhaps one of those yard sprayer tanks, it may use space a little more efficiently. Will use the main tank during the summer. But yeah, very little options for a second tank under the car.

Thats cool, aux tank, check out CL and look for some ATV sprayers too, think they are the same size/style.
We use one on our 4 wheeler, officially its 30 gals but with wmo sloshing around, the lid has a small vent hole, hmmm
The pull start option is really interesting, these cars just get better & better, can see why you got em.
 

The FNG

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All I have to say is that I hate you. I have been scouring the internet while I try to sell my car to find the right mercedes diesel. Actually hate is a strong word, so I will say its 99% jealousy. I've been trying to find how well the the OM603 will handle the WMO, but nobody on the mercedes forums seems to want to guinea pig it. I've found a few that I like, but generally out of my price range and usually have the #14 head casting, which I would probably never trust with WMO.

By the way, that red one...-Showtits-Drool
 

Josh Carmack

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Shadetree, is yours turbo-ed? Do you water inject, or intercool, straight stock?


FNG in my two month love affair I have learned that in the mid south these cars can be found in decent shape for 1,000 to 3,000. At that price they will need lots of repair, but I have also learned that most mechanics don't understand the engineering behind the systems, so with knowledge of the systems, you can do a lot yourself. What I mean by that statement is the owner may think they are a lost cause, because they couldn't repair, or get them repaired. With knowledge of the systems, they are no more or less difficult than any other car. Once I got the proper wiring diagrams, vacuum diagrams, and control function trees, I was able to fix all the issues they had and only spent a few hundred dollars getting two of them right. I found that most of the issues had already been worked on, but by someone who didn't understand the proper function of the vacuum system. To be diesel engines, they rely very heavily on vacuum, through out the car.

The blue one looked like hell, and had blown fuses everywhere, non working turbo, shifted extremely hard and late, would not shut down by the key, most lights didn't work, doors locks wouldn't work, made a horrible racket at idle, no brake booster, working lights fluctuated constantly, Leaked diesel like a sieve from the IP, wandered all over the road etc etc etc....
The PO had used screws in place of fuses because he was too lazy to find the problems.

Items purchased for the Blue one

Idler belt shock 30.00 Stopped horrible idling noise.
Full struts and shocks 280.00 Stopped Wandering all over the road.
Vacuum assortment and hose and bottle of liquid rubber. 25.00 Fixed leaking vacuum issues and all locks and other vacuum controlled equipment started working.
Voltage regulator kit 29.00 fixed light fluctuating
Found three dead shorts in the wiring, and was then able to remove the screws from the fuse box the last a$$hat placed in there. Doing so also made all axillary lights and equipment start functioning.
Added 50% brighter headlights for 50.00 and now all lighting works, including the faulty light indicator. Couple new tires on it and I got 1400.00 total in the car, now all it needs is some prep work and a 300.00 Maco paint job lol.

Ordered the special 50.00 32 point socket last night and will order the 15.00 dollar delivery valve kit tonight to stop the diesel ******* all over the ground, so all in all for a proper car I got about 1500.00 in it, and about 20 hours work, and that included my lack of Mercedes knowledge. If I had payed my local Mercedes mechanic to do the same jobs, and assuming he would have used the same parts, and done it faster, I would still have less that 2500.00 in the car, and if you ask me t'ain't to bad figuring the car will most likely last another ten years easy.

I mention all that, because to me that was easy, and I still look like it only cost me 1500, cause I don't write myself checks whenever I do my own mechanic work lol
 
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