Mercedes W124 E300D estate - progress, or not...
Discussion
Oh, and I just refilled for the trip home tomorrow.
350ish miles (250 on the run up, 100 of mixed driving while here) plus more idling & stationary than I'd normally do.
44ish litres. 36mpg isn't bad for a slightly-poorly 6 cylinder 4-speed auto! 3000 revs at 70ish feels like a bit of a thrash, but the economy is okay for a big boat.
350ish miles (250 on the run up, 100 of mixed driving while here) plus more idling & stationary than I'd normally do.
44ish litres. 36mpg isn't bad for a slightly-poorly 6 cylinder 4-speed auto! 3000 revs at 70ish feels like a bit of a thrash, but the economy is okay for a big boat.
Yesterday's trip back home (boo) went fairly well. I'd again parked nose-up, and didn't have a repeat of the side-on starting problems I had a couple of days ago. I guess I'll steer clear of repeating that for the time being.
One small issue with running, once the initial starting smoke cleared (although it's less bad than before) - after c100 miles of clear running, I had to stop at a red light, and the idle dropped to where the battery light started to flicker. I added a smidge of throttle, and the problem didn't recur.
Now, moving on: I think I should get some parts in. If anyone with superior parts catalogue experience can advice, it'd be much appreciated.
Glow plugs: A001 159 15 01 or A001 159 16 01? Not sure of the difference. I'll be going for Beru.
Inlet manifold: what expected-breakage bits should I get in before the IM comes off?
What other stuff is worth replacing while the IM is off? (Or, once the bits that break have been done, will the IM come off more easily after that?)
The MOT is due next month, so I don't want to go crazy but I do want to get things done if they need doing, or it makes sense while things are apart.
Thanks!
One small issue with running, once the initial starting smoke cleared (although it's less bad than before) - after c100 miles of clear running, I had to stop at a red light, and the idle dropped to where the battery light started to flicker. I added a smidge of throttle, and the problem didn't recur.
Now, moving on: I think I should get some parts in. If anyone with superior parts catalogue experience can advice, it'd be much appreciated.
Glow plugs: A001 159 15 01 or A001 159 16 01? Not sure of the difference. I'll be going for Beru.
Inlet manifold: what expected-breakage bits should I get in before the IM comes off?
What other stuff is worth replacing while the IM is off? (Or, once the bits that break have been done, will the IM come off more easily after that?)
The MOT is due next month, so I don't want to go crazy but I do want to get things done if they need doing, or it makes sense while things are apart.
Thanks!
A new gasket will be needed if you take the inlet manifold off. Pretty much zero chance of being able to re-use it. Getting it off is pretty easy, the airbox has to come so maybe replace the air filter? It's a complete piece of piss to replace it normally anyway if it's anything like mine. As for the glow plugs, it's something to do with the model year, I'd also recommend Bosch ones. I'm sure someone more knowledge on your engine specifically will chime in, mines got the 2.5l unit.
If you're taking the inlet manifold off, you will need a gasket, as noted above. Nothing should break. It is all good solid metal fixings.
You should make enquiries about having the manifold and cross over pipe properly cleaned (I mean the inside). You will see what I mean when you get it off but, essentially, it will have a thick lining of heavy soot which is quite hard to get off. An engineering shop ought to be able to do it for you. Or you could mess around with fat pipe cleaners, solvents and then cleaning yourself, your shirt and your garage floor.
With the cross over pipe off, you can remove the rocker cover. You should replace the crank case breather pipework, the stuff in the bottom of the picture below. It goes brittle and leaks. I don't think it's expensive stuff. Are you taking the injectors out? If so, think about replacing the return pipework. It is part number A 615 476 03 26 and you need about 1.5metres: 340mm from injector 1 to the pump and then five lots of 165mm between injectors. Number 6 injector has a blanking plug, A 604 070 02 55. Fit the blanking plug to the injector before installing the injector. I have ordered these bits recently and they were peanuts, though a pig to fit. There is a seal ring at the bottom of each injector, A 601 017 00 60, I don't know whether you need to replace them.
You need a special tool to remove the injectors, a deep socket with slotted sides (so as not to damage the return nozzles). See the picture below. Search for om606 injector removal tool. This is quite a useful thread, too: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discuss...
You should make enquiries about having the manifold and cross over pipe properly cleaned (I mean the inside). You will see what I mean when you get it off but, essentially, it will have a thick lining of heavy soot which is quite hard to get off. An engineering shop ought to be able to do it for you. Or you could mess around with fat pipe cleaners, solvents and then cleaning yourself, your shirt and your garage floor.
With the cross over pipe off, you can remove the rocker cover. You should replace the crank case breather pipework, the stuff in the bottom of the picture below. It goes brittle and leaks. I don't think it's expensive stuff. Are you taking the injectors out? If so, think about replacing the return pipework. It is part number A 615 476 03 26 and you need about 1.5metres: 340mm from injector 1 to the pump and then five lots of 165mm between injectors. Number 6 injector has a blanking plug, A 604 070 02 55. Fit the blanking plug to the injector before installing the injector. I have ordered these bits recently and they were peanuts, though a pig to fit. There is a seal ring at the bottom of each injector, A 601 017 00 60, I don't know whether you need to replace them.
You need a special tool to remove the injectors, a deep socket with slotted sides (so as not to damage the return nozzles). See the picture below. Search for om606 injector removal tool. This is quite a useful thread, too: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discuss...
Edited by r129sl on Monday 1st April 22:35
Yeah that's the part number for them, I didn't know whether they were different for the 300d. When I replaced my injectors, I needed some new pipe that went between the injectors. When I removed the pipe it was on quite tight and ripped when I finally managed to get it off. I tried some from my local motor factors but it didn't quite fit so I replaced them with the Mercedes pipe and it's been fine for about 10k miles/the six months since I did it. Again, I don't know the part number as it may be different for a 300d. The torque spec for the injectors is 75nm fyi.
Thanks again - it's great to be able to confer with people who've been there already.
I'm becoming more convinced that the glow plug issue is at least a good part of my problem. It seems logical to me that the colder weather - and lack of fuel warming on at least one cylinder - is causing an unburned dual problem, which prompts some misfiring and a goodly level of white/grey smoke (repeating myself because I'm not 100%, and trying to summarise). I think the #1 GP, which was apparently toast and now also isn't even wired in, needs to be hoiked out and replaced.
So I opened the bonnet to double-check how easy it'd be. And.... it doesn't look as easy as I thought. Access quite limited by the main part of the intake manifold. Bugger. Sounds like an IM-off job, and I'm not sure I'm up for doing that by the roadside (or, in fact, at all).
And then I thought I'd start up while the bonnet was up. And it started straight away (~7 hours from last run) but smoked a little and didn't want to run without throttle for a couple of mins.
So far, so kinda-expected.
Except.....
The clear fuel lines have bubbles in. A fair number of bubbles. And that was after the engine had been running for a couple of minutes.
Bugger.
(I have a video, if anyone is interested, but no clue how to upload)
Guess that means the IM needs to come off! I'm not, to my knowledge, noticing any fuel-supply issues - except that one time, at band camp - but it seems best to deal with that while the IM is off.
So, at this point I'm drawing up a list of things to be done, and parts I need to buy. I'm hoping I can give the job to my local Man, because I trust him and he's local. Not sure what to do about the injectors at this point - it'd save some money not to disturb them at the moment, and possibly he could deal with a couple of things without fiddling with them:
- Glow plug replacement
- Clear fuel line replacement
- Check engine running with IM off, looking for blowback (?) on the rear cylinder intake valves.
Proposed parts list will follow, but does this sound reasonable?
I'm becoming more convinced that the glow plug issue is at least a good part of my problem. It seems logical to me that the colder weather - and lack of fuel warming on at least one cylinder - is causing an unburned dual problem, which prompts some misfiring and a goodly level of white/grey smoke (repeating myself because I'm not 100%, and trying to summarise). I think the #1 GP, which was apparently toast and now also isn't even wired in, needs to be hoiked out and replaced.
So I opened the bonnet to double-check how easy it'd be. And.... it doesn't look as easy as I thought. Access quite limited by the main part of the intake manifold. Bugger. Sounds like an IM-off job, and I'm not sure I'm up for doing that by the roadside (or, in fact, at all).
And then I thought I'd start up while the bonnet was up. And it started straight away (~7 hours from last run) but smoked a little and didn't want to run without throttle for a couple of mins.
So far, so kinda-expected.
Except.....
The clear fuel lines have bubbles in. A fair number of bubbles. And that was after the engine had been running for a couple of minutes.
Bugger.
(I have a video, if anyone is interested, but no clue how to upload)
Guess that means the IM needs to come off! I'm not, to my knowledge, noticing any fuel-supply issues - except that one time, at band camp - but it seems best to deal with that while the IM is off.
So, at this point I'm drawing up a list of things to be done, and parts I need to buy. I'm hoping I can give the job to my local Man, because I trust him and he's local. Not sure what to do about the injectors at this point - it'd save some money not to disturb them at the moment, and possibly he could deal with a couple of things without fiddling with them:
- Glow plug replacement
- Clear fuel line replacement
- Check engine running with IM off, looking for blowback (?) on the rear cylinder intake valves.
Proposed parts list will follow, but does this sound reasonable?
Glow plugs:
Injectors:
Inlet manifold refit (injector socket needed for injector removal):
Clear fuel lines:
- Beru GN860 plugs (aka MB 001 159 15 01 or 16 01) x6
- Wire-to-plug connector on #1 (p/n unknown)
Injectors:
- Possible rebuild of injectors
- Washer/heat shield (A 601 017 00 60) x6
Inlet manifold refit (injector socket needed for injector removal):
- IM internal clean
- Injector return pipework (A 615 476 03 26) enough for >1.5m if sold by length
- Injector #6 blanking plug (A 604 070 02 55) x2 (spare!)
- Crankcase breather pipework (per r129sl diagram, parts 56, 59, 62, 44, 41, 47, 53, 50, 32, 30, 35; quantities per 7zap list)
- IM gasket (A 606 141 00 80) x1
Clear fuel lines:
- Lines 65, 86, 119, 89 & 110 of the below diagram, plus any required fittings for those lines.
This is true.
I'll send my parts list to my local MB dealer for them to price up - they're literally up the road - and ping off some enquiries to a few places that will/should know these cars.
I am even tempted by the Baister option, although that's a touch more travelling than I was hoping for.
I'll send my parts list to my local MB dealer for them to price up - they're literally up the road - and ping off some enquiries to a few places that will/should know these cars.
I am even tempted by the Baister option, although that's a touch more travelling than I was hoping for.
Thanks, Ian. The fun GP will be #1, which we know is seized. The misfiring is significantly less now, so part of me would like the issue to just be glow plug related, rather than dealing with injectors too. But, to be honest, the extra cost (£24 plus VAT plus parts, per injector, from Tyne per r129sl's suggestion), while it's something I'd prefer not to pay out, would at least mean that they would be done.
I've got some bits coming in now, with more to come from MB. Viton o rings have been ordered, and aren't expensive. I'm hoping this will be a fix-once situation, on injectors, glow plugs & fuel lines, then that's an area I can be comfortable with for a while.
I've got some bits coming in now, with more to come from MB. Viton o rings have been ordered, and aren't expensive. I'm hoping this will be a fix-once situation, on injectors, glow plugs & fuel lines, then that's an area I can be comfortable with for a while.
When I've been to Goodwood Revival, I particularly like the cars that have been in their families for a while, and have stories to tell, compared to the perfectly-restored ones that, while visually perfect, look like they live a sanitised life. I'm hoping that this car will stay with me for some time - it's a pleasure to toddle around in.
It's a good question on the MOT front, as that's due next month. My original plan was for my Man to look the car over the last time he had it, but that didn't work out (to be fair, he was expecting a less intensive job than it turned out to be, so no criticism).
Aside from the mechanical work that's coming up, the car is working pretty effectively. For the MOT I'm concerned about:
- Emissions;
- Holed p/side front wing;
- Holed front inner wings;
- Any scary rust;
- Exhaust leak;
- Handbrake strength.
Exhaust will be on my list - hopefully it can be patched to eke out a little more life but, if not and the problem is the pipe just after the cat, the cat pipe can be sourced for ~£80.
Handbrake may be fine.
Not sure if the front rust would be a failure point, nor whether there's any more lurking around. The car has been up on 4 lifts in the time I've had it and, other than the first place, no-one has mentioned a rust problem, so my fingers are firmly crossed.
So, exhaust will get done (hopefully cheaply!) and I'm currently not expecting much more than that.... but I will ask my Man to give it a good look over.
Another thing: just bought a couple of 15-hole alloys, so I can have an alloy spare and ditch the extra nuts for the steel. Need a tyre for the spare, which (I guess) needs to be no-directional as it might go on either side, and ideally decent but not expensive. Suggestions welcomed.
It's a good question on the MOT front, as that's due next month. My original plan was for my Man to look the car over the last time he had it, but that didn't work out (to be fair, he was expecting a less intensive job than it turned out to be, so no criticism).
Aside from the mechanical work that's coming up, the car is working pretty effectively. For the MOT I'm concerned about:
- Emissions;
- Holed p/side front wing;
- Holed front inner wings;
- Any scary rust;
- Exhaust leak;
- Handbrake strength.
Exhaust will be on my list - hopefully it can be patched to eke out a little more life but, if not and the problem is the pipe just after the cat, the cat pipe can be sourced for ~£80.
Handbrake may be fine.
Not sure if the front rust would be a failure point, nor whether there's any more lurking around. The car has been up on 4 lifts in the time I've had it and, other than the first place, no-one has mentioned a rust problem, so my fingers are firmly crossed.
So, exhaust will get done (hopefully cheaply!) and I'm currently not expecting much more than that.... but I will ask my Man to give it a good look over.
Another thing: just bought a couple of 15-hole alloys, so I can have an alloy spare and ditch the extra nuts for the steel. Need a tyre for the spare, which (I guess) needs to be no-directional as it might go on either side, and ideally decent but not expensive. Suggestions welcomed.
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