Black oil is normal, it'll look like that about 10 minutes after an oil change.
Black fuel isn't normal. Get some biocide at a marine good store (West Marine) and get several sets of filters from Rusty (two or three big filters, four or six inline filters). Carry the tools to change both in the car, as well as some filters. Reminds me that I need to check my inline filter, I just changed it and treated the fuel because the filter was filling up with brown sludgy stuff. -Max -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ed Booher Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2010 9:31 AM To: Mercedes Discussion List Subject: Re: [MBZ] Ed's new ride, was 240D Transmission issue,now cleaningcrud from tanks On Sat, Apr 10, 2010 at 9:08 AM, Tim C. <[email protected]> wrote: > And might not be necessary if you take care of it in time. And no one > knows what "in time" is so sooner is better. :) Rarely, unless you have bad fuel or a bug infection. In the latter case, > I think three or four of each is conservative. > Well, if I'm seeing what I'm supposed to be seeing, the fuel looks almost as black as the oil. So ..... that's most likely extremely bad. > I'd seek the list wisdom on this sequencing. Seems like maladjusted > valves could cause more damage than bad motor mounts? And similarly > transmission fluid/filter, unless you are sure this thing was > well-maintained up to parking. Turn signal I would do last, of > course, if the lamp is still there, not least because one might turn > up on ebay for cheap. > > You should also do bearings I believe, if you don't have maintenance > history. I haven't done mine yet but I think they are due every 15k. > Similarly rear differential but they may do that with your transmission. Actually, I'm pretty sure "well maintained" has never entered the same sentence as Ol' Frau. She's been driven pretty hard from what I can see. I'm not an expert, yet, but I just have a feeling that this is the case. I did read in the owner's manual that the transmission needs serviced and a new filter *every 30,000* and the odometer, which is exempted because it's already so high, is at 319,000 and change. I'm very, very afraid to see what the transmission filter looks like. > > > Car was very hard to start again this morning. Fearing for this winter. > > Valves, glow plugs, fuel leakdown, poor fuel flow, or something more > serious. Since you may be dealing with poor flow already (critters, > air leak, or tuning) I'd say deal with that and worry about the slow > start later, worst case you're cutting a little off the lifetime of > the battery if it turns out you have a shorted glow plug or something. > You've got a long time until winter. :) > The glow plugs are brand new. Just had them put in a couple of weeks ago. The oil is Rolls Royce Sapphire Black, the fuel not far from it. The engine is pretty black too, from the leak. So I'm not even sure if the valve cover is the only leak. > They are expensive at first, aren't they? I always forget that part. > > Enjoy, > -Tim They are expensive if the PO didn't care about them, as it seems is my case. But I still feel I got a good deal, so I'm still working it from that angle. EdB -- "I've come to your planet on a Class IV Intergalactic Doom Freighter." - Adrian Monk _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
