Lately since the cold weather has come finally, my '87 has been acting up.. Extreme amounts of blue smoke on start-up until the car is fully warmed up (not a problem for me because she doesn't burn any oil, and I'm not the one driving behind me ). Blue smoke, not black unburnt fuel or white smoke. Stumbles a hell of a lot until warmed up, also. And on each engine "studder/stumble" a noxious blue cloud is emitted from the exhaust

I've also developed an odd "tick". It sounds to be coming from the IP side of the engine (not the IP itself tho). It increases with engine speed and it isn't always there. It goes away sometimes, and then returns and sounds crappy until it decides to go away again later in the day. I've noticed it isn't there when I start my car cold in the morning (after it warms up), but after some driving (driving like a granny or like i stole it, it makes no difference) it returns. I'm stumped but the sound to me, sounds like money. And I don't have that right now

Can anyone point me in the right direction or relate?

OM603, 201,455 miles. fresh 10W40 Rotella-T non-synth

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.:1982 300D "The Ambassador"- R.I.P:.
.:1987 300D 3.0 "Häns"- Current Whip:.
.:1967 F85 Oldsmobile "Grandpa"- Show And Go:.
.:1991 WS6 Firebird Trans-Am "Blackbird"- FOR SALE:.

Change start procedure:

1) Turn key to #2 position.

2) Wait exactly 30 seconds.

3) Start engine and immediately increase speed to 1500 rpm.

4) Hold 1500 rpm for 30 seconds.

5) Release throttle and allow to idle normally.



The ticking sound that comes and goes is the lifters. Just about every 603 has this unfortunate characteristic. It's been claimed that Mobil-1 will cure the problem after 10K miles if you'd like to give it a shot.

The stumbling doesn't bother me and I've been plugging the car in, I know diesels don't like the cold too much..

My only issue is with the extreme amounts of blue smoke on cold-start. The engine like I said has 201,455 miles which really doesnt strike me as enough for the piston rings to be toast by now to leak oil through (which I can back up with good service records). My diesel mileage isn't all that great either at around 360 miles to a full tank driving about 50/50 city/highway. As I said, blue smoke- not black unburnt fuel.

Never knew that about the lifters, as long as nothing is being harmed I guess I'll try the mobil-1 now.


Any suggestions about the blue smoke?

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.:1982 300D "The Ambassador"- R.I.P:.
.:1987 300D 3.0 "Häns"- Current Whip:.
.:1967 F85 Oldsmobile "Grandpa"- Show And Go:.
.:1991 WS6 Firebird Trans-Am "Blackbird"- FOR SALE:.

How many gallons does it take to fill your tank? 360 to a tank is horrible! On a W126 that would be like 18mpg!

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Ah, it's a W124. A 1987 300D W124 with the OM603 6 cylinder in it. Once the reserve light comes on, after a few miles it take around 16+ gallons to fill her up.

Not too happy about the fuel mileage considering I commute 54 miles to school and 54 miles home each day...

__________________
.:1982 300D "The Ambassador"- R.I.P:.
.:1987 300D 3.0 "Häns"- Current Whip:.
.:1967 F85 Oldsmobile "Grandpa"- Show And Go:.
.:1991 WS6 Firebird Trans-Am "Blackbird"- FOR SALE:.

You've got bigger problems than a faulty start procedure.

The very poor fuel economy dictates a problem with an injector or with compression in one cylinder.

You can make an attempt at finding the cylinder by cracking each injector nut..........one at a time..........when it's smoking and missing when cold. If you find one that DOES NOT affect the idle (doesn't get worse than it already is).........that's the culprit cylinder. The blue smoke should cease at this point as well..........the fuel will be running down the side of the head.

If you find this.........then pull that injector and have it tested. If the problem is not the injector, it's time to look at the prechamber and/or get a compression check of that cylinder.

I have had three 603s, never a lifter tick. I don't agree.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Three out of thousands doesn't make for a firm conclusion..........

No, but three out of three is statistically significant enough to contradict "just about every 603" isn't it? Mercedes did much better on hydraulic lifters in the '80s than VW/Audi anyway. ;~)

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Every once in awhile I will hear mine make noise, not tick but get loud. I replaced them all and they have been in a clean bath for Delvac 1 since then.

Having been around a lot of 603's, they seem to have kind of loud valve trains.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Fine. Most 603's suffer with occasional lifter noise.

.........that suit you, OK?

My 603 has no noticeable ticks either. It's almost always smooth as a top after it's warm. Sometimes I wonder if it's really a diesel.

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-E300d '99 350k
-Suburban '93 220k
-TDI Jetta '03 350k
Sold
-F250 '96 7.3
-Dodge Ram 12V
-E320 '95 200k
-E320 Wagon 1994 155k
-300d Turbo '87 187k miles
-E320 1994 200k
-300d Turbo '84 245k (sold to Dan62)
-300d Turbo '84 180k
-300sd '80 300k
-7.3 Powerstroke Diesel 15P Van 500k+ miles
-190d '89 Non Turbo 2.5 5cyl 240k (my first MB)
Tom's Imports of Columbia MO Ruined the IP in changing leaky delivery valve O-Rings - Refused to stand behind his work. Mid-MO MB drivers-AVOID Tom's.

LOL. I've had people ride in my car who didn't realize it is a diesel, ... until I told them. An oil-change jockey thought my 602 had loud lifters, but he thought it was a gas engine.

And yes Brian, ... I'm sooo happy now. You're just in an agreeable mood tonight aren't you?

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

my car had a large amount of blue smoke on startup when i got it, even when it was starting around 40 degrees F outside. I found the jam nut missing on one of the glow plug wires and the terminal was just kinda loose on the glow plug. My car did idle like hell before and after I fixed it. Once i tightened things down, the blue smoke was pretty much entirely gone. Just a little puff once the engine catches. I cleaned the injectors in my car and that helped the rough idle, but my fuel mileage went down as well after the cleaning. Mine is a Non-turbo just in case it matters.

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2003 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins - Georend fully built trans, Banks Big Hoss Bundle, Smarty Tuner, 5" turbo back exhaust. 500 HP and 1100 ft/lbs to the ground.
1979 Mercedes-Benz 300CD - Lost to a four car pile up on 275, Thank You Michigan Drivers.
1986 Mercedes-Benz 300D - Sold, Euro non-turbo car.

Don't know much about the 603, but on our 617 in the TD, cold starts produced smoke and it ran rough. I expected more than one issue as blue smoke is oil and it running rough I had hoped was not being caused by some oil getting into the cylinders. I began with repairing the GP system and the roughness went away, however the blue smoke was still present. I recently changed the valve stem seals. The blue smoke is gone.

I didn't go the route of a compression and leak down test but that might be a good option.

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1980 300TD-T (82 Turbo and Trans) 159,000 Miles "Jackie-O"
1983 300SD 272,000 Miles "Aristotle"
1987 Jeep Wagoneer Limited - keeps the MB's off the ice and out of the snow
1994 BMW 530it