I'm curious if it would cause any sort of damage to drive my 240 without the air cleaner assembly for a couple days. Let me explain why.

My 240d was recently had a fuel shutoff valve with a failed diaphragm. I was using the stop lever for a week or so, which always caused the engine to shake quite violently if it had been warmed up.

A few days ago, i noticed an awful rattling noise which i assumed was the air cleaner assembly, and stopped to find that the aluminum on the air cleaner housing had broken off on all points mounting to the rubber buffers. When i purchased the car, the aluminum on the outermost mounting point had already been broken, and the rest decided to go with the violent engine cut-off's.

So I searched ebay and all parts stores i could find on google, and here, and authorized mercedes dealers to find that the air cleaner housing is no longer available from mercedes or any of their retailers. Which led me to search local pick-n-pulls and foreign car junkyards in a 250 mile radius, a lot of long drives, to find all air cleaner assembly's missing from every 240d i found with the same assembly as mine.

I just took it in the my local metal fabricator to have it fixed, since it's the only other option i can think of, but the fabricator wasn't in, and the rep at the desk was unsure whether or not they would be able to repair it. They will get back to me on Monday morning to tell me if they can or not.

Which brings me back to my question, would i be putting my car in jeopardy by driving it for a couple days without it? I have school 10 miles away and its all highway, not a dusty environment, but I'm not sure if the extra air intake from reduced restriction would take a toll on my engine.

Well there is an air filter for a reason....To keep foreign material from entering the combustion chamber....

I have no idea what you are talking about, the only air cleaner that has a mount that can break is that found on a turbo diesel....On a 240D there is only the air cleaner, rubber mounts and the intake manifold...

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That's not mine, but that's the same break as mine has, only the holes are larger and on every one of the three points where the rubber mounts enter.

I would take a picture of mine, but it's sitting at the metal fabricators shop waiting to be seen by the fabricator on Monday.

Can you take a pic of this damage and post it?

The only thing that should break is the rubber feet (bushings) that screw on one side into the manifold and the other, up through the lower part of the air cleaner housing (131-134-137 in the parts diagram posted above). These are easily replaceable and very cheap.

Otherwise it sounds like someone may have fubar-ed the mounting setup for some reason.

Incidentally, the engine shaking at shutdown when using the manual shutoff probably had nothing much to do with the mount failure. If it caused any failure then the part was ready to fail anyway.

As to driving the car... depends on where you live. If you live in an urban environment with minimal dust or other airborne debris, you can use the car on a limited basis, if you must. If you live in a rural or desert environment, I would not drive it at all.

If you are desperate to find an air cleaner housing, you can post a "want to buy (wtb)" ad on the used parts for sale subforum on this site, and specify you need it sent by express mail.

But let's solve this issue of what is up with your existing assembly first. Because what Cooljay said was correct, the issue as you describe it doesn't scan....

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

I attached a picture of somebody else's air cleaner with the same break as mine, but his only has a break on one of the points where the rubber mounts enter the air cleaner. Mine is broken on all three points, and the breaks are much larger, to where a simple bushing on each side will not suffice to hold it on anymore.

I would post a pic of mine, but it is sitting at my local metal fabricators shop waiting to be seen by the fabricator on Monday morning.

I live in California, in a small urban city in the SF Bay Area, it's not very dusty at all.

Attached Thumbnails

 

That is really odd....never seen a NA air cleaner break like that...

Worse case there is some on ebay.....
Mercedes Air Cleaner Box for OM617 NA Diesel | eBay

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Running a car without an air cleaner or with a leak in the intake is a very bad idea. Millions of particles will make their way through the engine in those few days. You will quickly begin using oil and smoking. You can't undo that damage.

I'd get some JB weld and try to patch it if you're desperate. Worst case scenario get a stupid pod filter and try to attach it to the intake manifold opening.

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'84 190D 2.2 5MT (Red/Palomino) Current car. Love it!
'85 190D 2.2 Auto *Cali* (Blue/Blue) *sold*
http://badges.fuelly.com/images/sig-us/302601.png
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Its over 30 years old so metal fatigue is not unexpected. However you might check for motor mount collapse causing excessive vibration as well.

You may be able to replace it with a steel housing which would be stronger.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Ok, I won't drive it until the air cleaner is back on.

I ordered the air cleaner for the 617 that cooljjay linked me to (thanks!)
Didn't know that housing was interchangeable.

I recently replaced the motor mounts, and when doing so, found that the bolt on the passenger side that connects the chassis to the engine through the motor mount was missing.....
Already ordered a replacement for that bolt as I couldn't find the correct one locally, I'm sure that's causing all sorts of extra vibrations...

Alot of the NA OM617 will interchange with a 240D....As far as I know the air cleaner only differs from turbo and non....This one has the vent on top for the extra line from the vacuum pump but your lid should interchange....I think the 240D's were made out of aluminum to reduce weight...maybe someone else will chime in...

What brand motor mounts did you use?

Alot of folks don't know that 300D mounts will also exchange and are seen as an upgrade. The only brand mounts to buy are genuine mercedes, lemforder or phoenix...

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I would not have thought the ac housing was interchangible between 616 and 617.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Go to an auto parts store and see if they have a universal or clamp on air cleaner that will fit? Probably cost less than any custom fabrication you'd have done.

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617 swapped Toyota Pickup, 22-24 MPG, 50k miles on swap

Can you patch it with JB Weld or a fiberglass repair kit for those couple of days?

Sixto
83 300SD

No. The piece must be bought or fabricated or welded. Mine broke on one of the SDS. The parts car had a broken piece also. I expect that it is common. The part was not expensive because I'm cheap and I bought one.

An air filter could be fabricated by coming up with a hose that fits and clamps to the turbo inlet with one of the cone filters being installed oh the other end.

Search "cummins bhaf pic" for an example on another engine.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

I used Lemforder motor mounts.

I'm going to pick up my broken one from the metal shop tomorrow and try to get it back on there until the new one arrives.

I was thinking I could put pieces of sheet metal on top of the broken parts inside the housing and put the rubber mount bolt through it to clamp it down.

I replaced the fuel shutoff valve a few days ago, so it wont be suffering through more of the awful vibrations that caused it to break in the first place.