95, E300 Diesel. NOISY + SLUGGISH + OTHER

[raj-e]

Hi folks,

1.
ive been having a few problem with the e300 diesel (non turbo) for the past few months.

basically im getting a really annoying machine gun/woodpecker tapping coming from the engine no matter if the car is hot/cold or low/high rpm. it sounds like an old pushrod engine with valve clearance issue!

i regularly change the engine oil. (i think i used 10w 40 high milage oil last time). anyone know if this is the proper grade oil i should be using?? also what grade/how much gearbox oil do i need.?


2.
the other problem is that while driving, i get the feeling im driving a 10 ton tank as i really have to give the engine some gas to get it up to speed, the car feels very very slow to get anywhere!


3.
also is there gasket set available for the rear diff as ive noticed it has been leaking slowly and looks wet on the casing.




all help appreciated, thanks.

 

[Dieselman]

The 300 Atmo isn't the quickest machine on the planet and needs a good booting to get it to move but it's worth checking for any air bubbles in the fuel pipes as air causes retarded timing, also make sure the accelerator cable is fully tight on full pedal.

For the noise use an engine stethoscope because noise travels round these engines really well so can mask the source. Suspect the belt tensioner damper bushes though. As a test press the damper sideways.

New diff seals are available and are pretty cheap, but check for bearing wear before doing the job otherwise any improvement will be short lived.

For the gearbox use Dextron III, you need 5.5 litres, the engine does use 10W-40 and the diff is 1.1 litre of EP80/90.

Nice to see you Raj.

 

[Roger Jones]

This may be useful on this and more generally:

http://tinyurl.com/CastrolWhichOil

On the home page there's also a Quentin Willson video about the importance of using the correct oil . . . which turns out to be pure promotional puff and no explanation of technical interest whatsoever -- what a stupid waste of time.