MBDiesel.net - An Owner's Journey

Fall is settling upon us here in Georgia, and with the change of seasons comes the rite of passage of every Mercedes diesel enthusiast: valve lash adjustment.

Today I checked the valves on the 300TD wagon - three exhaust and two intake valves needed adjusting. Only 1 exhaust and 1 intake were tight enough that the feeler gauge would not slip in, the other three valves were just a little too snug for my preferences. I'd rather a loose and slightly noisier valve in a daily driver, even though I tend to check valves on our cars twice a year (at most about every 6000 miles for the 240D, and closer to 4000 for the 300TD).

Tomorrow I hope to knock out the 240D. This is about the latest in the year that I've done valve adjustments on our cars, but we've had a lot going on the past few months and I haven't been as diligent as I like. Poor thing's gone almost 8000 miles without an adjustment!

In the last bit of car-related news, I recently resurrected Greta, our 300SD. A few years back, we had custom alternators wound for the 240D and the 300TD. It was a great idea at the time, but the company we used could learn a thing or two about quality. Shortly after the warranty period expired, the 240D's voltage regulator let go. That was right about the time the bearings in the 300TD's alternator started making loud noises, especially when the humidity was high - and let's face it, this is Georgia, so when ISN'T it high?

Also around that time, Donna and I were in the throes of purchasing a house and moving everything to it. In the interest of keeping the daily driver up and running reliably, the bad voltage reg went into Greta, and she donated her good reg to keep the 240D in tip-top shape. Then Greta was driven to our house and parked in the driveway. A few months later, the battery was dead. Fast forward 6 months after that, and I jump-started the car and drove her around the neighborhood a bit - scarcely any juice left for brake lamps.

Well, now the ol' girl has a new battery and a new voltage regulator.

And in some obvious site-related news, I've updated my blogging software from MySQL 4 to MySQL 5, and I'm still in the process of cleaning things up. Bear with me.