Diplomatic/Dictator/Mafia

[vaughant]

8 hours ago, Volksy said:

I've not been doing many miles in this, as my daily commute is about a mile and a half to the local train station and back.

I took it for a run on Saturday and noticed that the oil pressure wasn't quite right. 

These (and most Mercs of this era) have a gauge which in general will go to 3 bar (Max) on cold start idle, then slowly drop to around 1.5 bar when warm. Mine on cold start is going only to about 2.7bar, and hot idle it's around 0.9 Bar.

It's done 137k and had an oil and filter within the last 2500 miles. It's not making any untoward noises or using any more oil than it has done for the last couple of year. 

I now have the fear, so I ordered a oil pressure tester to see if it's possibly a failing sender or gauge which would certainly be the preferred issue! 

 

It arrived today, so provided it actually stops pouring down at some point in the next few days, I'll have to investigate. Fingers crossed!

 

Sure it will be fine, you've looked after it well.

Only just stumbled on the thread but a lovely looking motor.

[Volksy]

Still not got around to testing the oil pressure on the old boat. 

Had to drive into work this morning, as Leeds City Council decided to create complete and utter chaos this morning by putting temporary lights on the main route to my local station. Which resulted in complete gridlock in my neighbourhood and subsequently missed three trains whilst sat in it. 

It was stop start/crawling traffic all the way into the city and took nearly two hours. With a eager eye on the oil pressure gauge, it seems that the gauge is reading 0.5bar lower than it used to. This is across the board, so under acceleration where it used to read 3.0 bar, it now reads 2.5 bar. At a hot idle, it reads about 0.6bar where it used to read 1.1 bar, so I am pretty convinced that the sensor is to blame. I ordered one of Autodoc which arrived the other day, so will swap it out asap and see what, if anything changes. The test gauge I bought screws in to the same port where the sensor goes so will test it at the same time. 

It was a freezing foggy morning, and my god does it kick out a huge amount of condensation from the exhaust. The devil on my shoulder was whispering OMGHGF in my ear, as the M103 6 pot is pretty well known for suffering HGF after 100k. Although they tend just to leak oil from the head joint rather than go full kettle. Either way, it idled fine, temp was solid at 82 degrees. Checking when I got to work, all levels are normal and there's no fluids in areas where they shouldn't be. I think it was just the cold ambient temperature and the fact that I don't have a CAT causing it to kick out so much steam. Hopefully!

[Volksy]

I tested the oil pressure, both cold and hot, and it mirrored what the dash gauge was saying. 

As I'd already bought a new sensor I installed it, and as expected there was no change. 

I booked it in for an oil and filter change so dropped it at the tame garage the other day. They gave it a once over also and couldn't see anything wrong. However with a new filter an a sump full of fresh oil. Pressure is back to normal. 

Seems as it's daily use now is generally only to and from the local station, with and occasional longer run on a weekend, its running basically 'on choke' most of the time. I think it's suffering from a bit of bore wash which over time is diluting the engine oil, hence causing the issue. 

The last oil change (5w30) lasted about 3000 miles. So I've put 10w40 in it this time. I normally do about 5000 miles a year, and get the oil changed annually. May have to do it twice a year if the usage continues. 

I may also have to look at getting a 'Station Mule'. Although with one parking space at home, can I justify having two cars?

[MrBig]

Unless the old filter was junk? You'd be surprised how bad some household name brand filters can be!

If purchasing a station mule, surely it's acceptable for it to live down the street or round the corner, so the 2nd parking space is not required?

[Volksy]

29 minutes ago, MrBig said:

Unless the old filter was junk? You'd be surprised how bad some household name brand filters can be!

I'd not really considered that! Looking back at the order from Autodoc, it was a Bosch filter installed last time. 

They had no stock this time so went with a Ridex one. Be interesting to see if a similar situation occurs in 3k miles!

[Jack D]

If a hydraulic valve lifter is passing or leaking even slightly, it’ll give you low oil pressure.  It happened to mine.