1993 Mercedes w124 diesel modifications

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

That's quite a good mileage for a car of this size. When an uncle of mine had an early Suzuki Vitara with a Volkswagen 1.6D engine swap, it got around 5.2L/100km on a regular basis with my lead-footed uncle driving it. Considering the Vitara had the manual, while your Mercedes has an old-school automatic which charges its toll on fuel-efficiency, it's quite impressive.

[SkauneJohan]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

That's quite a good mileage for a car of this size. When an uncle of mine had an early Suzuki Vitara with a Volkswagen 1.6D engine swap, it got around 5.2L/100km on a regular basis with my lead-footed uncle driving it. Considering the Vitara had the manual, while your Mercedes has an old-school automatic which charges its toll on fuel-efficiency, it's quite impressive.

totally agreee, I am also very impressed, had a mercedes 190(w201) or "baby benz" from 1987 with the same engine and manual about 10 years ago I managed 5,4liter/100km with this at best and ususally about 5,5liter/100km

the only difference between the baby benz and my current mercedes is that is “Diesel ’89” initiative wich gives a slightly better swirl and a whopping 3 more hp, this car is both automatic and much larger/heavier

also had a baby benz with a 5 cylinder 2.5 diesel 90hp also from 1987, very front heavy and not that fuel efficient at 6.5liter/100km


also had two bmw 525tds touring (1993 and 1994) 2.5 liter 6 cylinder 143hp wonderful engines and cars, on real diesel these run about 6.5liter/100km but the crappy diesel from the pump here got about 7.2liter/100km


had a few vw diesels too, vw golf, had a 1988 1.6 NA with awesome 54hp the most fuel efficient car ive had 4,5liter/100km but engine had bad compresion

also had a 1992 vw golf ECOdiesel same 1.6 engine with turbo and 68hp this was always thirsty at 5.6liter/100km but after turning up fuel it actually got down to 5.2liter/100km and went a lot better

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by SkauneJohan

also had two bmw 525tds touring (1993 and 1994) 2.5 liter 6 cylinder 143hp wonderful engines and cars, on real diesel these run about 6.5liter/100km but the crappy diesel from the pump here got about 7.2liter/100km

Those older BMW Diesel engines are often reported to be great.

had a few vw diesels too, vw golf, had a 1988 1.6 NA with awesome 54hp the most fuel efficient car ive had 4,5liter/100km but engine had bad compresion

At least since the '70s the sale of Diesel-powered cars is banned in Brazil, even though some (mostly station-wagons and light-duty cargo vehicles) conversions were tollerated and could be legally registered until '93 and are grandfathered. The engine which was fitted into my uncle's Vitara was most likely taken out of a VW Transporter Panel Van.

[SkauneJohan]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Those older BMW Diesel engines are often reported to be great

They do have their problems, The mercedes 5 cylinder 2.5 om602 is much better design (and 20 valve om605 2.5 liter is way out of the league above from tuning/durability standpoint)

First problem is the injection pump wich is semi electric, you can mount a mechanical pump from an earlier 2.4 6cylinder (the engine before) also early engines had waterpump with plastic impeller and the would often crack in the shaft resulting in engine overheating and literally self destructing, the cylinder head channels are somewhat tiny resulting in max power potential of only about 210hp and for durability about max 180hp

and like most 6 cylinder engines it also has problem with cooling the most rear cylinder....

Wonderful smooth engines, miss my bmw sometimes....

Love those bmw 6 cylinder engines


In vw they used the aaz 1.9 engine often in transporters or later cars, VAG began replacing the 1.6 with the 1.9 around 1992-93 if i remember correct

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by SkauneJohan

earlier 2.4 6cylinder (the engine before)

Haven't seen one of those for a while, but I remember having seen many in the '90s mostly with Argentinian and Uruguayan plates.

[SkauneJohan]

Originally Posted by SkauneJohan

so now with four fuel fillups, 80 liters(21 US gallon) and 1290km(802 miles) since the removal of throttle plate my avarage consumption has been 6,16liter/100km or 38.2 US MPG

seems like a trend on friday it is time for the next fillup, exciting to see what it will be by then

allright time for the update, now I have driven 1670km(1037 miles) and used 103 liters (27.2 gallons) since removal of the throttle plate

this gives fuel consumption of 6,14 l/100km or 38,3 US mpg, I am very impressed myself and this is pretty normal driving(no ecodriving)

now it is time to fix brakes , auto fluid change, oil change and spring change

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Did you notice any increase to braking distances after getting rid of the throttle plate?

[SkauneJohan]

you mean engine braking? yes I can coast a lot longer now since engine brake is a lot less

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by SkauneJohan

you mean engine braking?

Yes, that's what I meant.

I can coast a lot longer now since engine brake is a lot less

Sounds good from a strictly efficiency-oriented standpoint, but did you never felt it desirable to retain some engine-braking under certain conditions? Maybe an exhaust-brake could be desirable.

[SkauneJohan]

exhaust brake? you know this is a regular car and not a big truck there is no risk of brakes getting overheated if I need to use them(rarely) so adding a exhaust blocker and reducing engine efficiency is not on the menu

so finally got to change the springs, what a lift both in looks and literallly (from the ground)









wonder how and if this will affect fuel consumption atleast no more scraping everywhere

now next thing on the list is rear brakepads, atf oilchange and regular maintanance