New to the Group Questions!
#1
10-11-2005, 04:38 AM
New to the Group Questions!
Hey Fellas,
I am semi-new to the diesel scene and I'd like to bring everyone up to speed along with asking a few questions:
I was recently given two 300SD's - an 81 which is only for parts and an 84 which had been wrecked into a telephone pole and had sustained the following Damages: broken radiator core, in need of a new hood, rad support, inner fender well, head light, outer fender, grille, fan, aux fan, and most importantly... the emblem! ha
She has mix and matched charcoal and black for colors on the front end but it only adds character. I did all of the welding to get her back into shape and things seem to be shaping up nicely. Everything is done that needed to be done to the front end. She's got 230k and is goin strong. But I have a few new problems now that her 'toothless grin' has been repaired.-
The brake light was on because the reservoir for the master cyl. was low and I took it upon myself to bleed the brakes. On the last caliper I noticed that while my dad was pumping on the brakes she was making a small pool of nice clean break fluid on the ground. My heart sank because it was leaking from the hard line that goes to the T junction that splits to both rear wheels coming all the way from the master cylinder. It had just rusted out- she's been a Pennsylvania car her whole life- However- my donor car had spend several years in Florida and is considerably less rusty on the undercarriage and I swaped the brake line from that one and carefully installed it into the good car. And after bleeding again- the brakes are nice and firm just like they should. Thinking I was made in the shade, I took a minute to notice that the hardline for the fuel was also leaking lightly so I imagine I will be doing a bit of swaping on that end too. I've got a good bit of mechanical experience so this isnt really the chief issue- just a bit of backround.
MEANWHILE- The other day I noticed that I had lost my interior lights and brake lights as well- ( they still light up but when I hit the pedal they dont get bright??) I checked the fusebox and the No. 15 spot that house the 8 Amp. (white) fuse protecting the Trunk light, warning system, courtesy lights, and the antenna is blown. And upon replacement with a good fuse it blew as soon as I opened the door.
And on top of that - it must be affecting the Central Locking somehow because I cant get my trunk open and I know that I used to be able to - I am thinking there is a bad ground somewhere but a bit of help would be greatly appreciated-
Barring that- she's in great shape- I am going to adjust the valves and get some regular maintenence done when I've got this sorted out but if anyone has any pointers on what oil viscosity to use and how much mileage (5k?) and all that jargon - that would be great. Also, do air filters also need to be changed more frequently since there is no butterfly on a diesel and she's always sucking in the same about of air - Thanks Pat
I am semi-new to the diesel scene and I'd like to bring everyone up to speed along with asking a few questions:
I was recently given two 300SD's - an 81 which is only for parts and an 84 which had been wrecked into a telephone pole and had sustained the following Damages: broken radiator core, in need of a new hood, rad support, inner fender well, head light, outer fender, grille, fan, aux fan, and most importantly... the emblem! ha
She has mix and matched charcoal and black for colors on the front end but it only adds character. I did all of the welding to get her back into shape and things seem to be shaping up nicely. Everything is done that needed to be done to the front end. She's got 230k and is goin strong. But I have a few new problems now that her 'toothless grin' has been repaired.-
The brake light was on because the reservoir for the master cyl. was low and I took it upon myself to bleed the brakes. On the last caliper I noticed that while my dad was pumping on the brakes she was making a small pool of nice clean break fluid on the ground. My heart sank because it was leaking from the hard line that goes to the T junction that splits to both rear wheels coming all the way from the master cylinder. It had just rusted out- she's been a Pennsylvania car her whole life- However- my donor car had spend several years in Florida and is considerably less rusty on the undercarriage and I swaped the brake line from that one and carefully installed it into the good car. And after bleeding again- the brakes are nice and firm just like they should. Thinking I was made in the shade, I took a minute to notice that the hardline for the fuel was also leaking lightly so I imagine I will be doing a bit of swaping on that end too. I've got a good bit of mechanical experience so this isnt really the chief issue- just a bit of backround.
MEANWHILE- The other day I noticed that I had lost my interior lights and brake lights as well- ( they still light up but when I hit the pedal they dont get bright??) I checked the fusebox and the No. 15 spot that house the 8 Amp. (white) fuse protecting the Trunk light, warning system, courtesy lights, and the antenna is blown. And upon replacement with a good fuse it blew as soon as I opened the door.
And on top of that - it must be affecting the Central Locking somehow because I cant get my trunk open and I know that I used to be able to - I am thinking there is a bad ground somewhere but a bit of help would be greatly appreciated-
Barring that- she's in great shape- I am going to adjust the valves and get some regular maintenence done when I've got this sorted out but if anyone has any pointers on what oil viscosity to use and how much mileage (5k?) and all that jargon - that would be great. Also, do air filters also need to be changed more frequently since there is no butterfly on a diesel and she's always sucking in the same about of air - Thanks Pat
#2
10-11-2005, 10:06 PM
RE: New to the Group Questions!
Welcome....
Ground wires in a Benz are insulated color code brown. There is also a bronze non-insulated strap connecting from transmission-to-engine bolt, to the chassis. You might want to check that. I doubt a poor ground will be causing your fuse to blow! Sounds like you have a short somewhere and need to chase it down. You might double check the front parking/directional wiring for shorts, since this is the area that you say got hit.
For dyno oil, any top line diesel rated oils such as Rotell T, or Delvac are fine, but change oil at 3K intervals, otherwise soot levels become too abrasive and will increase wear rapidly. In real cold winters, 5-40 weight, and 15-50 for summer, are acceptable, 0-weight oils in old engines may not be a good idea! but I'm sure others here may argue +/-!
If you want to run synthetic this is fine, again, diesel rated!!! With synthetic, change oil at 5k...I use Moble One 15-50, and 5-40 for winter.
I also change fuel and air filters twice a year....Also do a diesel purge, or run biodiesel, a tankful of B-100, or a couple of tankfuls of B-20, this will really clean your entire fuel system, including injectors. Add either Red-Line, or Power Services, diesel cetane boost, injection pump lube, to plain dyno diesel, or like I said, biodiesel! Good luck.....BB
Ground wires in a Benz are insulated color code brown. There is also a bronze non-insulated strap connecting from transmission-to-engine bolt, to the chassis. You might want to check that. I doubt a poor ground will be causing your fuse to blow! Sounds like you have a short somewhere and need to chase it down. You might double check the front parking/directional wiring for shorts, since this is the area that you say got hit.
For dyno oil, any top line diesel rated oils such as Rotell T, or Delvac are fine, but change oil at 3K intervals, otherwise soot levels become too abrasive and will increase wear rapidly. In real cold winters, 5-40 weight, and 15-50 for summer, are acceptable, 0-weight oils in old engines may not be a good idea! but I'm sure others here may argue +/-!
If you want to run synthetic this is fine, again, diesel rated!!! With synthetic, change oil at 5k...I use Moble One 15-50, and 5-40 for winter.
I also change fuel and air filters twice a year....Also do a diesel purge, or run biodiesel, a tankful of B-100, or a couple of tankfuls of B-20, this will really clean your entire fuel system, including injectors. Add either Red-Line, or Power Services, diesel cetane boost, injection pump lube, to plain dyno diesel, or like I said, biodiesel! Good luck.....BB
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