So where have I been in August? Well, I bought Sylvia from one of our group members. Sylvia is a 1984 w126 300SD. I did this because Martha had been rear ended in Puyallup and Mary was getting an engine replaced in the LA area. I flew into Boston where Barton picked me up and I spent the night at his house. In the morning I took Sylvia out of his driveway and began the journey to Columbus, Ohio where one of my daughters lives. Enjoyed a very pleasant drive along state route 2A admiring the beauty of Massachusetts and New York. Heard a strange noise in Pennsylvania but everything seemed fine at 70 mph, except the engine would not shut off when I stopped for fuel. That should have been a red flag warning for me. Back in the car and entering Ohio, it was dark so I pulled into a rest stop to phone my daughter. That is when the engine shut down and I coasted into a parking spot. Popped the hood and there was no oil - the vacuum pump had exploded and tore out a 2" part of the casing (probably back in Pennsylvania), and oil had been exiting the hole for several hundred miles. Got towed to Alliance, Ohio where I got oil at Walmart to see if the engine miraculously survived and spent the night in a motel. Next morning got towed to an MB dealership in Columbus to see what the damage was. They found a vacuum pump in Chicago and started the engine. Bad miss - same as when I pulled it over; ok when running at 3000 rpm, but dead in the water at lower rpm's. I already had $3500 in the well by that time and decided to pull the plug rather than take the engine apart to see if it was a rebuild or replace issue. This week Sylvia will be towed to my daughters house where she will either be donated to NPR, or parted out. I will be flying down to LA in about 3 weeks to pick up Mary and drive her up to Washington - you may remember that Mary's engine blew coming into Bakersfield a few months ago. Moral of the story - if you get some lemons along lifes highway, make some lemonade. Safe travels to all.
Posted by: bstromsoe@yahoo.com
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