Re: [diesel_mercedes] Vibrating gear shift lever - Sylvia 1984 - 300 SD

 

Car in question is 1984 300 SD - vibration is only in the shift lever, not transmission. Engine mounts, flex discs, all those components renewed within last 25K mi.

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Posted by: barton.fiske@gmail.com
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[diesel_mercedes] Mercedes Fuel Gauge Sender Service [14 Attachments]

 
[Attachment(s) from Nate included below]

 


 

 


O.K. , your fuel gauge doesn't work or the low fuel lamp doesn't come on or you're Nate and have been struggling with terrible fungus growing in the fuel that won't go away no matter what .

It's time to address the fuel gauge sender and here's how to do it at home cheaply and easily , co$t$ le$$ to buy the tools , take it apart and clean it than buying a new sender does .

Pic. # 1 shows the tool kit box removed and the LARGE water pump pliers you'll need unless you have a 46 MM  (IIRC) socket handy .

You'll need to put your hands down inside the body's hole as shown in pic. # 2 , , one side of the water pump pliers will have a larger nut on them making it hard to grip the sender's hexagon , flip them over , get a good grip and pull firmly but slowly , the sender _will_ begin to slowly unscrew , once you get a 1/2 turn , it's easy to unscrew by hand , be aware it is FULL OF DIESEL FUEL so don't just yank it out as there's a tiny little drain hole on one side of it 2" up from the bottom so you have to watch for the thin stream of fuel pouring out and tip it so this fuel drains back into the tank ~ I like to fold up a LARGE clean old bath towel and lay it across the package tray just behind the top of the upper rear seat cushion , this helps catch the Diesel fuel you're sure to dribble no matter how careful you are .

Pic. # 3 shows the sender out of the car , notice it's black or brown , this is the fungus .Also is a bottle (I used two) of Isopropyl alcohol and a tall , narrow plastic water bottle , both from the .99 cents store .

Pic. # 4 ~ use some small water Pump Pliers to *gently* squeeze the brass nut and plastic on the very bottom of the tube to unscrew it and release the bottom cover and maze , the gooey black crud that also has chunks in it , is the dreaded fungus and it why your fuel treatments didn't quite kill it all off ~ it hides inside the sender tube .

Remove the bottom metal and plastic plates *gently* , then wriggle the aluminum tube off  and peer in it , Pic. 5 shows a typical fungus filled tube , this wasn't touched at all .

Take the top and guts of the sender and ever so gently submerge it in a cheap water bottle filled with Isopropyl alcohol (picture 6) and take the delicate aluminum tube , soak a rag with more Isopropyl alcohol and gently run it through , like in Pic. # 7 twisting it as you go , when it comes out the tube should look like Pic. # 8 inside and out .

Pic. # 9 is what the sender should look like when you're through cleaning it ~ there are three delicate wires so be gentle , use a small soft bristle brush to work the alcohol into the fungus then wipe it off with clean rags or blow it clean with starting fluid (ether) in a foo-foo  can .

Pic. # 10 , invert the sender on the open bottle of alcohol and carefully re assemble it , gently snug up the brass/plastic nut and you're ready to go back to the car .

Pic. # 11 shows one of the many places the special O-Ring might have fallen off (this one I found on the package tray,they also fall on top of / behind the fuel tank) ~ you CANNOT re assemble it sans the O-Ring ! .

climb in the back seat of the car and connect the harness plug then set the sender in the body hole so it hags more or less down , you'll hear the float inside the tube slide down and stop at the bottom ~ reach between the seats and turn the key on only until tge gauges come alive and the dash's warning lamps light , you should have a zero gauge and the low fuel lamp lit . Pic. # 12

It is ? good ! now , tip the sender up whilst watching the gauge and see how the low fuel lamp goes out and the gauge rises to the ' full ' mark . Pic. @ 13

Now you're ready to re install it , wipe the O-Ring and tank top and sender tube and threads clean with a clean lint free rag , place the sender into the tank and carefully screw it in by finger ~ if it doesn't easily screw in , STOP and back up , try it again , it should make several complete turns easily by your hands before snugging down into place .

Now , use the Water Pump Pliers to slowly but firmly snug it tight , not super tight here .
 
Last pic. shows the car running and the gauge working fine again . Pic. # 14 .

With this 21 gallon tank in my 1981 W-123 240D , I have 153 miles on it and still shows 1/2 tank of fuel ~ I think I'm going to like this modification very much .
 
-Nate
 
DCG Whse.
 
Your Tax Dollars at work !

 
 

 


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Re: [diesel_mercedes] Vibrating gear shift lever - Sylvia 1984 - 300 SD

 

If the tranny starts to rattle & vibrate, I'd inspect the drivetrain: motor mounts, tranny mount, flex disks etc.
Also there's the Rack Damper bolt, which could need adjusting or replacement (usually an idle problem)


Rob
'85 300D
Garden Grove, CA

On 8/5/15 7:38 AM, barton.fiske@gmail.com [diesel_mercedes] wrote:

Thought I had posted this earlier in the week but haven't seen any replies or threads with the title above.


We're having strange symptoms with Sylvia - the gear shift lever is vibrating and "ratlling" between 1000RPM and 2000RPM. Seems to happen in idle and D until shifted into 3rd or 4th gear. No change in engine performance or transmission behavior otherwise. What would cause the shift lever to rattle/vibrate enough so that you can feel it and hear it? Holding the shift lever against the edge of the shift-way suppresses the noise but you can still feel it in the lever. Goes away at higher revs and when accelerating...


Any ideas anyone? This 300K mi+ engine just drove round trip from Florida to Boston (2400+ mi) and back at an avg of 24MPG w/ AC the whole way.....so it's healthy but getting worried about this new behavior. 


Cheers...


Barton




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Posted by: Aleph93 <aleph93@ca.rr.com>
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RE: [diesel_mercedes] Vibrating gear shift lever - Sylvia 1984 - 300 SD

 

Is this a floor shift? I would guess there may be something loose around, or below, the shift lever.

Also, my 1961 190Db shakes the front bumper at idle because it needs a complete tune-up; it runs rough at those rpm’s. Bill in Oregon

 

From: diesel_mercedes@yahoogroups.com [mailto:diesel_mercedes@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2015 7:39 AM
To: diesel_mercedes@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [diesel_mercedes] Vibrating gear shift lever - Sylvia 1984 - 300 SD

 

Thought I had posted this earlier in the week but haven't seen any replies or threads with the title above.

We're having strange symptoms with Sylvia - the gear shift lever is vibrating and "ratlling" between 1000RPM and 2000RPM. Seems to happen in idle and D until shifted into 3rd or 4th gear. No change in engine performance or transmission behavior otherwise. What would cause the shift lever to rattle/vibrate enough so that you can feel it and hear it? Holding the shift lever against the edge of the shift-way suppresses the noise but you can still feel it in the lever. Goes away at higher revs and when accelerating...

Any ideas anyone? This 300K mi+ engine just drove round trip from Florida to Boston (2400+ mi) and back at an avg of 24MPG w/ AC the whole way.....so it's healthy but getting worried about this new behavior. 

Cheers...   Barton

 

 

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[diesel_mercedes] Vibrating gear shift lever - Sylvia 1984 - 300 SD

 

Thought I had posted this earlier in the week but haven't seen any replies or threads with the title above.


We're having strange symptoms with Sylvia - the gear shift lever is vibrating and "ratlling" between 1000RPM and 2000RPM. Seems to happen in idle and D until shifted into 3rd or 4th gear. No change in engine performance or transmission behavior otherwise. What would cause the shift lever to rattle/vibrate enough so that you can feel it and hear it? Holding the shift lever against the edge of the shift-way suppresses the noise but you can still feel it in the lever. Goes away at higher revs and when accelerating...


Any ideas anyone? This 300K mi+ engine just drove round trip from Florida to Boston (2400+ mi) and back at an avg of 24MPG w/ AC the whole way.....so it's healthy but getting worried about this new behavior. 


Cheers...


Barton



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[diesel_mercedes] W-123 Fuel Economy

 

You alls have been reading my real life fuel economy postings often because it's the # 1 question I get and , I'm one of those who likes to keep track on every vehicle I own .

Clapped out 1981 240D W/ slush box , routinely gets 25 ~ 27 MPG's in mixed driving , going slowly (60 MPH) across the Desert gets 27 ~ 34 MPG's fully loaded , always with the AC on full .

'78 & '80 N/A 300CD's both got 23 ~ 26 MPG's , both had over 300,000 miles and slush box trannies , one had AC (EVIL Klima I ) that worked , one didn't .

'84 300CD W/ slush box got 23 ~ 26 MPG's on the old nearly dead engine that ran like a raped ape , I rebuilt the engine and the mileage went up to 27 MPG , has dropped back down to 23 ~ 25 now so I have the injectors out and waiting for a valve cover gasket , I hope it'll run stronger and improve fuel economy with LESS DAMN SMOKE once I finish this part of the job .

-Nate


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[diesel_mercedes] Fuel Tank Service

 



You're welcome .

I'm writing a detailed fuel gauge sender service message right now but Yahoo keeps choking on it , I have a plan to make it work....

Please stand by , it's also a simple if messy DIY @ Home job that's cheaper , including buying the tools , than buying a new sender is .

-Nate
       Brad  wrote :

Thanks for posting this. I bought a second tank at the "recyclers," also. I was going to gang my tanks so that I could run various fuels but I haven''t done it yet. This write up gives me an idea of what to expect.



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[diesel_mercedes] Trailering

 

Yes , Max ;

The 300 Turbo easily pulls a trailer if the engine is in decent shape and it's tuned and so on .

N/A models are much slower and a 240D would be too slow in any situation involving much traffic .

The W123 chassis needs special bracing to utilize a tow ball , not possible with the rear bumper alone  , the unibody isn't strong enough , you must add forward leading braces .

-Nate


" I have questions for you guys that have  300 Turbo's. I have never had one and only drove one once. It was worn out with lots of blo-by and a dripping, soaked up air filter. (good way to judge one of these engines). This car hauled ass, snapped your neck back, blew my mind with its pickup.  Now keep in mind my Mercedes experience up to this point was a 1959 190D, factory rated at 55hp.( I think in the plus 35 years I owned this car I did pass a couple of cars. I remember back in 1978 I passed  a old lady driving a bright red  Rambler in Oregon, cant remember the other car I passed. ) Then several 240's. One of which was a worn out dog, slow, very slow,  but amazingly it still started pretty good, even in cold weather.( How do those guys build engines that can be so worn and still start ?)  OK, I'm getting to the questions.

What is real fuel numbers? MPG.  Big question. Can you pull a camp trailer? OK, question should be- will it really work to pull around a trailer in the mountains on long camping trips? I am thinking of a big pop up trailer, but probably not too heavy.  Any one live near Clear Lake? Max "


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