1987 300SDL

OK, no big problem here, but a speculation. National Enquiring minds, etc.
I've been looking for a cheaper source for adjustment shims for the diesel injectors than $50 for 24 of them. The few places that had them all say they use ones from Bosch, meaning, all overpriced like the above. Even the rebuilders/wholesalers I've contacted say they get them from Bosch. Given that they're just hardened steel washers, it seems that any source with the right exterior dimensions would do, perhaps even with a variation in the interior dimensions. I've heard that in the old days, truck mechanics would sometimes make shims themselves out of any number of materials.
It seems that it would be cheaper to either get off-the-shelf shims from a shim manufacturer, or even to make a small run of shims if there were enough people who didn't want to pay $1-$5 per shim.

So I have a couple questions:

How many "home" mechanics pop-test and balance their own injectors?

Are these old mechanical injectors becoming so rare that there's just no market for shims?

Are the injectors in the gasoline Mercedes also this same mechanical design, and if so, when did they switch to electronic injection?


Thanks for your feedback!

Were can you buy hardened washers, seems to be that theose would work fine. Im interested in finding them. First i need to build, or borrow a tester.

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1985 300TD Turbo Euro-wagon
1979 280CE 225,200 miles
1985 300D Turbo 264,000 miles
1976 240D 190,000 miles
1979 300TD 220,000

GONE but not forgotten
1976 300D 195,300 miles
1983 300D Turbo 175,000 miles

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...e485-1-2-1.jpg

It seems to me that this has been discussed here, many years ago and the consensus was that the hardness needed was so great that nothing could be found . Maybe that needs to be revisited with a fresh set of heads. But, yeah. that's all they are, if you can get hard enough washers that fit. I don't even think they need holes.

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

I haven't looked into the hardness or other specs required for this, but there are factories in the US and India that can make anything out of hardened steel. I don't know how difficult it can be.

Re: pop tester. Me too. I notice no one ever sells one used on ebay.

When I worked in a Fuel Injection Shop we would on occasiong get some Injectors that some one had used Brass Shim Stock on.
This did not cause any issues as long as a Hardened Shim/Spacer is up against the Spring.
Also at least with the Injectors from 1985 and Older or ones thay use the same Injector Bodies you do not need to have a hole in the Center of the Shim Spacer (same Shims are used on Bosch Directe Injection Injectors and on some of them you need to have the Hole).
The Japanese Company Disel Kiki has Shims without holes that work and the make thin ones that make it easier to bring the pressure up.
In one of the Threads some one said McMasters Carr sells some Shims that will work.

I bought a Shim Stock Hole Punch and Stainless Steel Shim Stock so I could Punch out thin Shims. I cannot find the pic of that but it is in one of the Treads on the subject of Shims and Spacers.

In a Fuel Injection Shop it is not a big cost burden on them because they have a box of Shims to measure and sort through and you swap the Shims. So you most often get one shim back for the one you substitute and once in a while need to order some of the thinner Shims.

If you want to dig there is several threads on the subject.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

If it were me I would cut some feeler gauge piece to size. The shim is to take up some space to compress the spring further. There is no wear and tear to speak of. You have thickness from 0.001 and up, a lot of selection.

I have not done it before but I am sure it is doable. Just a thought.

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Not MBZ nor A/C trained professional but a die-hard DIY and green engineer. Use the info at your own peril. Picked up 2 Infractions because of disagreements. NOW reversed.

W124 Keyless remote, PM for details. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-used-parts-sale-wanted/334620-fs-w124-chasis-keyless-remote-%2450-shipped.html

1 X 2006 CDI
1 x 87 300SDL
1 x 87 300D
1 x 87 300TDT wagon
1 x 83 300D
1 x 84 190D ( 5 sp ) - All R134 converted + keyless entry.

I have found pieces of Feeler Gauge inside of Injectors. They were not even round and appeared to be cut with a Tin Snips

Getting some cheap Feeler Gauges might be cost effective for one Injector.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

mercedes source sells a shim kit you can buy, it has an assortment of sizes.

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2011 e320 cdi (132,000) current
2005 Jeep CRD diesel--2.8L (138,000 miles) wrecked, insurance took
1993 Mercedes benz 300D 2.5 Turbo Frybrid powered. (336,000 miles) wrecked and sold as parts car
1990 Mercedes benz 300D 2.5 Turbo (170,000 miles) wrecked and sold as parts car

Check out my Frybrid Vegtable Oil Conversion at http://1990300dfrybridconversion.shutterfly.com/

Their isn't a high demand for individual shims, since most rebuilds are done by specialists who buy the large variety kits. So at a cost of a $1+ per shim, it adds (worst case) to $5 for the rebuild... nothing given the cost of rebuilds.

Then again the chances of setting the pop pressures of new nozzles with the current shims is very small. I recently rebuilt my injectors and had 3 sets of injectors to raid for springs and shims... good thing too because I was setting the injectors +/- 25 psi.

I would ask a local specialist if he'll sell you a few shims or even exchange them.

It has been several yeas since I have bought Injectors at the Junk Yard; at that time they were $5 each.
As the other Member said besides the Shims, you can swap Springs and that center Plate. Changing any one of the 3 can change the opening pressure.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

By center plate do you mean item 11 in the FSM injector diagram? Mercedes calls it the Annular groove and inlet ports. Had to look that one up. I think VW calls it the intermediate disc, much easier to remember. That part as well as the top injector body half can be lapped to increase pop pressure. Not recommended unless you can lap evenly.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

I do not have my FSM handy. But, it is the Plate that goes between the Nozzle and the Upper Injector Body.

Yes you can lap them to make them shorter/Thinner.

Where I used to work we had a Lapping Machine. I used to put the Center Plate on the Lapping Machine to thin them so I could get the opening pressure I wanted.

I did not do that with the upper Bodies because we had no fixture to old them on the Machine.

Even using 500 grit lapping compound like we did where I worked it can take some time to lap down a Center Plate even on the side where the groove is. Even more so if you use if you use finer grits.

And, yes I did get frustrated at the slowness and use wet/dry Sandpaper once in awhile to reduce the thickness but always followed that by lapping.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

did anyone ever find a cheaper source? i was thinking about hitting up my local blot and screw shop to see if they have some super thin washers i could buy.

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84 300sd 2.47 dif 360k
26 mpg needs lots of love
given to me in pitty

89 civic hatchback auto 140k
33mpgs soon to be low to mid 40's
been in the family since mile 1

85 300d with unknown knock. driven over 30k with knock and still going. sold for $800

diesel911, where did you find the shim punch?

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84 300sd 2.47 dif 360k
26 mpg needs lots of love
given to me in pitty

89 civic hatchback auto 140k
33mpgs soon to be low to mid 40's
been in the family since mile 1

85 300d with unknown knock. driven over 30k with knock and still going. sold for $800

I got mine in eBay but if you do a regular internet search for Shim Punch or the Shim Stock eventually you will find someplace that sells the Punch set.

I don't remember if it was this particular thread or another but in one thread someone said that McMasters Karr (Carr?) sold shims that were similar.

After reading parts of this thread I wanted to comment that when I went to work for the Fuel Injection shop they had about 2 cups of Bosch Shims/Spacers of various thicknesses.
In a Shop you don't often buy Shims/Spacers because most of the time you are exchanging a Shim/Spacer from the Injector for one from you stock so you don't really use up the Shims/Spacers on every job.
However, you eventually become short on certain sizes of the Shim/Spacers and have to order more.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel