Tips

Kent is hard at work on his new series of advanced D.I.Y. mechanic series of manuals. The challenge for him has been trying to make the advanced technical side of the information still understandable to the average home mechanic. For example, explaining how to use electrical testing meters to test the function and health of a diesel pre-glow system is not an easy task. Describing how to fine tune the vacuum adjustments on a diesel automatic transmisson is even more difficult.

The new manuals will be printed and wire bound in a larger format (8.5 x 7 inches). This will allow room for more charts, schematics and larger pictures. Knowing that these manuals will be handled often, we are adding a plastic cover to help minimize grease spots.

INTRODUCTION:

The number one question we receive concerning our SVO conversions is, I have a diesel Mercedes and live in Anycity, USA. I want to get it right? There are so many choices on the market that it is confusing to know which one I should buy. Everyone claims their system is the best. What kit do you recommend?

You are looking at Kents pristine 1979 300SD turbo diesel that he recently acquired from the original owner. This sedan is so cherry the original spare tire has not been out of the trunk. Kent prefers the 116 chassis over the 123 or 126. He feels the ride and handling are smoother and quieter and the their transmissions better shifting and much more predictable.

To make this the ultimate road cruiser, Kent designed and installed his all weather all terrain DTC Ultimate 4000 Vegetable oil fuel conversion. The components he manufactured and chose for this kit came out of his own experience of working on and driving a number of different vegetable oil fuel systems. All the old nagging problems were addressed and we are happy to share with you some pictures of the results.

Over the years I have noticed that many owners never even consider replacing their radiator or expansion tank cap. I have seen some pretty bad ones come into the shop. A bad radiator cap hardly ever leads to severe problems, but it can be the cause of minor coolant loss and drips on your garage floor. The next time your engine is cold, remove the cap and carefully inspect the seal. in many cases you may see cracks in the rubber and a deformed seal as shown in this picture. We carry new caps for most models.

If any of you have had a chance to use some of our nitrile gloves that we send out with some of our orders, you are probably already impressed at how well they work. If you have a diesel or are working around diesel oil or fuel these gloves can be extremely handy. The only problem we’ve run into is if you leave them out exposed to the air for a long time the do start to deteriorate.

Engine driven fan belts (v-belts) can make all kinds of weird noises. They can squeal, rumble, tick, clack, and snap. The noise can sometimes sound like a bad bearing in one of your engine driven accessories or something coming loose in your engine. Before you panic, thinking something terrible might be wrong, try this simple test.

This is good one for all you 123 owners. For all of us that have driven these great cars there are some "blind spots", literally. One of these "blind spots" is in the dash lights. I think all of us familiar with these cars must admit that the actual dash running lights on the 123 chassis vehicles are lacking.

We all know that 123 chassis are prone to unsightly dash cracks. Sometimes the cracks are minor and sometimes they are quite severe. In any case they are very ugly to look at and I don't know of any 123 owner that enjoys looking at dash cracks.

In the forty plus years that I've been working on old cars, I have tried everything to patch holes in mufflers and exhaust pipes. We are talking magic muffler tape that you can purchase at any auto parts store. We are talking sheet aluminum and hose clamps. We are talking special muffler paste wrapped with aluminum tape. I've tried them all. I finally found success a few years ago when I discovered Miracle Paint.

We are so impressed with Optima batteries, that we recommend every owner put one in their Mercedes diesel. They hold their charge forever, they produce much more cranking power than a lead acid battery, and they do not gas out.