Greetings to all! I just bought my first ever Mercedes and first ever diesel powered vehicle. I wish we had more diesel power options here in the USA! Anyway, I have a 1987 300D with 225K miles on it so the engine is just getting broken in! . The engine is nice and clean and the transmission just got rebuilt last year so I think mechanically it is decent.

There are a couple of things I would like to ask about/change:

1. Low end pick up is pretty poor. Once the RPMs get up though, acceleration picks up pretty good but from a dead stop it sucks! Any way to fix that? Is it just pure turbo lag?

2. Planning on getting another key, I don't think the keys have immoilizer built in but haven't found definitive information on this. I know MB has complex immobilizer and key coding like BMW.

3. I plan on putting remote central locking in. I have seen people add this without issues.

4. Want to put '95 grille and lights (since the lights are all faded and one is cracked), Do I just need to change lights and grille or is the hood different too? I have searched a bit on this but haven't found the information I am looking for yet.

5. Dash is cracked, is this a common issue? Good places for replacement dash? Should I just get dash cover?

6. In colder weather (not terribly cold), it is very hard starting, if I am at home I can always plug it in but at work there is no power outlet. Any tips with any particular glow plug or other method to help with the starting?

So far a nice little car. I will probably run biodiesel in it after reading how injectors can get coked and clogged with WVO. It seems that to run it cleanly, you need to switch between diesel and WVO after it is warm and then back to diesel before you turn off. Distances I travel are not huge so not worth the return.

Lot's of questions I have I will search around on this and other forums, but if folks are willing to chime in on recommendations, it would be much appreciated! Thanks!

 

6. Use the largest cranking power battery you can find and use the proper winter oil, (i.e. thinnest) as outlined in the manual.

 

Thanks for the information. That is helpful to know. Anyone have thoughts on the hard shifting? The transmission seems to shift had, but I was told that is normal. Spoke to a Mercedes mechanic today on the lag at the bottom end and he said we could richen it up a little to make it pep up a bit. This thing is actually pretty quick once it gets going just when you first hit the gas.

 

1. Most diesels are slow compared to other gasoline powered cars. I really don't know how to get them faster. I can't wait to read what other people put and find out for my self also.
6. To help in the winter you can put in lighter viscosity oil in, synthetic blends work really good for me. Put in some Diesel Kleen additive to help for the winter, and change your glow plugs if they have been in for a while. I know glow plugs last longer, but I change mine every 2 years.

 

bump, interested.

 

If the engine is in good condition and a good state of tune, you should have no trouble starting the car down to 10 fahrenheit or so, without plugging it in. That's something to think about. Make sure you've got a recent tune up, good glow plugs, low vis oil, fresh fuel filters and if you're still having problems, you may want to have a compression check done.

 

With regards to cold weather starting: If, by chance, you kill the battery on a particular cold day and want to get a boost, it is Ok to use a gas powered car but do NOT attempt to start your dead car immediately.
From my own experience with the 300SD (when it was new), my diesel killed three donor (relatives) cars one winter night (Christmas eve). A tow truck driver came, hooked up his battery, set his watch and we waited 15 long, cold minutes in his truck with the engine on with high rpms. After 15 minutes my diesel started instantly. After a short warm-up, I then started all the relative's dead cars.
Same thing happened twice after and donor cars survived thanks to the technique. The extra short charging of the dead battery by the tow truck was just enough to help the donor car battery do the job and overcome the high compression of the diesel.