E300D Mysterious Dash Light, etc.
Tom Meagher
I just picked up a 1995 E300 Diesel for my wife (Merry Xmas Honey!), and it
is in good shape, 81K miles, but missing the owner's manual. (The dealer
has ordered one, but we won't see it for a few weeks...)
We've figured out most of the stuff, I think (I used to have an old 220).
One item has me kind of puzzled, however. The little yellow light at the
lower right corner of the dash board with the "corkscrew" icon in it. Is
this the glow plug light? It extinguishes after a minute or so. There's
another red light, to the left of it that I thought was the "wait for
starting" light. It seems to extinguish within 10 or 20 seconds of turning
the key. Which is which?
Anyway, after it's warmed up, it seems to start right up, with no waiting at
all, just fine. Is it OK to do this?
Anything I should know about this vehicle? Maintenance bug-a-boos? What
kind of fuel mileage is normal?
We plan on taking it from Texas to Washington state this winter. How is it
in snow and ice? What kind of chains are recommended? How fast can it
safely be cruised?
Has anyone pulled a trailer with this type of car?
Thanks!
Tom Meagher
Houston TX
Michael Gruby
position and wait for the light to go out, i've never drove a '95 300D, but, all
other mercedes diesels i've drove have a buzzer that accompanies the light, wait
for the buzzer and light to go off. If the car is warmed up, its not that
important to weight for the light to go out. I'm not sure what the red light
is, does it have any letters? Most of those are just your warning lights, like
ABS or airbag, and there supposed to go on during starting. Don't worry about
any of them unless they stay on during driving, only watch the yellow glow
plug. This car should get around 30mpg on the highway, I'm not sure what engine
it has, I believe a 6 cylinder non turbo, but don't recall off hand. The car
should cruise at 80+ no problem. A diesel engine will let you know if you are
pushing it too hard, just watch your temperature gauge. Cruising too fast will
hurt your mileage, you might want set your speed according to your tach,
2500-2800 is a pretty good cruising speed, on that car probably around 70 miles
an hour. Hope this helps, sounds like a real nice car. My family (Dad) is a
diesel freak we've owned and currently own in the past few years, '82 300D, '83
300CD, '84 300D, '87 300D(6cylinder turbo, Awesome car, 268k miles), '91 350SD,
'92 300SD, and a '91 Chevy Beauville 6.2 liter diesel for towing. the '92 had
engine problems, and we just got the '91, hopefully won't have any problems but
got it cheap. Good luck, these are great cars, and your should last a while.
Han Cremer
Awsome car !!!!
I own one myself and drive about 30kMiles per year with it and the clock
shows 250k Miles at the moment. Never had any problem with it besides the
normal maintenance.
This car has, as all cars have, it's weakpoints though. These are:
- The oilring of the cranckshaft at the front of the engine tends to leak
after 200k Miles. I replaced it last year. $10.-- and two hours of work.
- The vacuumpump tends to leak oil after 220k Miles. $150.-- and one hour of
work.
This car has never left me standing at the side of the road.
I use it to pull a trailer at least once a week and no problems whatsoever.
I just placed heave springs at the back in order to keep the car leveled
with a heavy trailerload.
All in all: Treat this car well and it treats you very well !!
Han Cremer
>
Hans Marius S. Mastermo
Tom Meagher <to...@icshou.com> wrote in message
news:RBI14.73672$5W2.2...@news6.giganews.com...
> Hi All,
> I just picked up a 1995 E300 Diesel for my wife (Merry Xmas Honey!), and
it
> is in good shape, 81K miles, but missing the owner's manual. (The dealer
> has ordered one, but we won't see it for a few weeks...)
>
> We've figured out most of the stuff, I think (I used to have an old 220).
> One item has me kind of puzzled, however. The little yellow light at the
> lower right corner of the dash board with the "corkscrew" icon in it. Is
> this the glow plug light? It extinguishes after a minute or so. There's
> another red light, to the left of it that I thought was the "wait for
> starting" light. It seems to extinguish within 10 or 20 seconds of
turning
> the key. Which is which?
>
>
it
> in snow and ice? What kind of chains are recommended? How fast can it
> safely be cruised?
>
> Has anyone pulled a trailer with this type of car?
>
> Thanks!
> Tom Meagher
> Houston TX
Congratulations on your "new" car.
I own an 94 E300DT(ouring) my self, and I assum that we are talking about
the 24 valve engine.
The "corkscrew" ligth is the glow plug ligth. My glow plug light extinguish
within 10-15 seconds after turning the key. 1 minute seems too long, I don't
know why.
I live in northern part of Norway, and needless too say, I have som
experience with winter driving. My car is not equipped with ASD, nor with
ASR, but crusing at 80-110 km/h (do the math yourself) on snow and ice is no
problem. The speed limit is 80 km/h offcourse, so that can be a problem.
I have Good Year Ultra Grip 400, with dubs, as my winter-wheels. Good tires,
but i'm not sure you can get these in the US.
In summer this car easy cruises at 170-180 km/h, it's a great engine.
HMM
Thomas
Tom Meagher don't let your babies
grow up to be cowboys...
>How fast can it
>safely be cruised?
100 mph is no prob. We (taxi) have a 250D and it still runs 185 kp/h
after 370.000 kms with a clunky tranny.
--
Met de groeten van,
Thomas tho...@thoushallnotspammeth.dds.nl
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