My 1983 300D was idling like a semi the other day so I thought since I just got it for Xmas, it may have been a long time since anyone changed the oil. I decided to go ahead and change the oil. I dont usually do that but i was told it was not difficult. I used Royal Purple synthentic oil like I was reccomended on some other forum.

Anyway I drained the oil and noticed it was extremely dark and even after 20 minutes of draining, it was still coming out. I decided to go ahead and flush it to make sure all the bad oil got out. I hooked up a hose from our 80 gallon water heater and ran extremely hot water through the engine, started it up and I was waiting for the water to come out clean

The engine never went above idle but my buddy told me this would be ok. Anyway, About 3 minutes into this, then engine starts shaking and shuts off. I figured it was all cleaned out so I plugged it up, added the oil and I was ready to go. WRONG! The damn thing won't start now. These diesels just aren't as reliable as my dad's newer one. Looks like another trip to the used car dealer.
I'm sick of these old diesels.

 

Step one: Poke your buddy in the eye because he's a moron.

Step two: Junk the car. You've ruined the engine by following your buddy's advice. You need oil to run the engine. It's a lubricant. Water simply isn't.

In the future, 5 cylinder Benz diesels hold 6-7 qts of oil. If you don't take off the cap on top of the engine, they can take a while to drain. It will come out pitch black. It will be pitch black within 100 miles of driving because it's a diesel. They do that.

In the future, if you don't know what you're doing, take it to a mechanic. You'll save yourself a lot of money (and as you now know, your car) by doing so.

 

To flush the engine you can only add a flushing additive to the existing engine oil and run like this.

Never can a engine be run without oil and never water!!!