Riggswelds

Hey everyone!

A bit about me: Welder, Petrol/Gear head, lover of fine cheeses.

Just picked up an 87 300D turbo (first diesel! and first turbo! achievements unlocked) , and it has some issues.

I believe the trap oxidizer may be effed. the car smokes from the engine bay. It steadily smokes from the tailpipe as well (grey oil) and upon acceleration it smokes rather heavily (black diesel) and is down on power. It got me home from the purchase but felt like my friend's non turbo 5 cylinder 300.

I plan on taking the car to work tomorrow to gut the oxidizer and see if that helps. I am somewhat familiar with turbochargers (been plotting my turbo 13b rotary build for quite some time) but nothing about the stock Merc turbo systems.

Any tips on diagnostics and what things should look like? I noticed right before I started the drive home that the wastegate diaphragm line was broken at the nipple also, so it will be fixed in the morning first thing. It does leak oil at the pan and also must be leaking somewhere around the turbo.

sprinterhightop

Riggs Congrats on your purchase of the 300D.I just sold mine this past spring and I want to
say that I loved that car. I never had trouble with the turbo so can't help there the only thing that I had to fix in 2 yrs was an injector rebuild and that was easy.the car drove like
a top was a good everyday driver good luck.

20swrt

Check your VIN - you might have a recall on that trap oxidizer. I had a 1986 300D. It was recalled after 30 years ! Can you believe that? The parts+labor of the recall cost more than the car itself.

mxfrank

Pre & Post recall trapox:

http://www.westnet.com/~mfrank/mbexh.html

I don't know why you begin by destroying your trapox. The first thing to check would be the air cleaner. If it's clogged you can actually draw oil from the crankcase into the turbo. Also check compression, as low compression would certainly do this.

Next thing to check would be boost pressure. If you look on the left side of the intake manifold, you will see a large sensor. Directly below this is a small hose fitting: remove the hose and install a pressure gauge. You should have about 1 bar pressure when you rev the motor. If not, the first thing to do is to remove the hose barb, and make sure it's not blocked with soot. If it's clear, then you need to inspect the turbo waste gate for proper operation.

If you have good boost, then the most liklely problem is that some fool defeated the Alda, which is the barometric compensator on top of your injection pump. Like gutting the trapox, fiddling with the Alda is a wrongheaded approach to improving power.

markg612

You bought an 87 300TD, I'm sorry.

After 10 years of headaches and perpetual maintenance and repair, mine went the way of the dodo, where it belonged! It was the most bittersweet relationship I've had with 9 different, mostly diesel MBs.

The early 124s were over designed for the technology of the time. My 95 E300 lacks the snap of the 87, but it's been way beyond reliable with 300K on it in comparison. I actually think the germans were so entirely pissed the 86-90s were such total and complete POSs that they needed to redeem perfection the set out to achieved and the did very well by 1995, just in time for a new POS in the W210 in 96, but at least the drivetrain was proven with the OM606 for 96/97 and the return of a turbo for 98/99 and 42% more torque! I honestly believe the only reason the passenger seat in the front was installed is so you could carry a mechanic.

Good luck with your 87, I'd take an 86' 123 in a heartbeat or a 95' before I ever did another 87'.