mercedes 300d engines in my 26 ft Bertram

Some of these pictures are taken in various stages of the build, will take some more of the finished product later.

 

Thanks for that Gary.

What are you in it financially?

Are you going to install thermostats or are you done tinkering?

What props did you end up with?

 

Pict.2 what kind of pickup is there?

 

You are not familiar with many of the most common items in the world. Since you don't know anything about Mercedes engines, what makes you claim it is a weak design? Those engines are a really good design that evolved from the 220D, which you are probably not familiar with.

@Gary: With a heat exchanger, the cooling system does not need any modification from an automotive or industrial setup. One of the advantages of the closed system, is that it ha fittings for a heater.

 

You know @gonzo, there is an incredible feature on this Forum where you can ignore a members posts.
Their posts will not show, just a note saying there is an ignored post by them.
I only use it on one member here and it is brilliant.
The only time it doesn't work is when someone else quotes them.
But once you get accustomed to ignoring them, it's easy to simply do the same, even when they are quoted.
I hope that helps.

 

Good advice. I owe you a beer.

 

To answer the question of the gentleman about the 300dt engines, these older engines are scarce to find anymore , even in junkyards, people are scooping them up as fast as some become available, I did ALOT of research on these 300d engines. They are touted by Mercedes to be a million mile engine before a rebuild is required, they run a bit cooler, even WITH THERMOSTATS ( which by the way,I am going to reinstall per you guys!) and they always start and are used out here and highly sought after by offroaders alike,due to their durability. They Always start, mine are stripped down to the bare bones for ease of maintenance. To shut my twins off ,I just pull the throttle back beyond idle and it shuts the fuel off. KISS. You still see these old 300d cars on the road as we speak, the cars themselves seem to fall apart around these engines.How many 1983-84 cars do you still see on the road in original condition? I met a guy that has a 300dt with 1.2 million miles! The ONLY issue that drives me crazy, well, 2 issues . 1: the rear main seal in these engines are rope seals, why? Ill never know, insraed of having a nice heavy rubber lip seal instead, it is sort of like a graphite square rope that has to be inserted perfectly or it will leak, they dont like to be bathed in oil much either or it will leak. I did have to reengineer my oil pans to deepen them and pitch them forward so that the oil would flow back through the windage to the pan reservoir properly by putting a rubber line pointing downward towards the pan because the engines sit on a bit of an upward pitch, I learned it from the Europeans, thats what they do with their 300dt engines that have been marinized. Sooo, to make a long story short, twice,during this build I have tried and tried to reinstall this stupid rear main rope seal and the damn thing still has a very slight leak. (like a couple of drops after a full day on the water.) Everyone I know that has these engines, even in cars have the same complaint.I keep my boat on a trailer so I have to make sure that I keep it level when stored or oil soaks the rope seals.2 : I have buzzer alarms for my oil pressure and cannot find a sensor for less than 10 lbs. these engines run comfortably at idle sometimes , under 10 lbs, buzzer goes off, then throttle up and Im back to 40 or so , no smoke or stall, what do you guys think?

 

I worked on Mercedes for years. There is a teflon impregnated rope for stuffing boxes in boats that works better. Also, instead of puting the ends of the rope seal flush with the block, offset the joint so one is in the block groove and the other in the pan. Something like 1 and 7 o'clock. It helps.

 

Exactly, and cut the ends diagonally, that gives a slight pressure between the end surfaces......old pumpman's trick.

 

Gary,

What process did you endure to finalize your propeller selection?
I know it can be a long, arduous endeavour.
Just curious.

 

Financially, Im into the project for about 25 k out of my pocket. That includes the engine builds(2), borg warner trans(2), all of the heat exchangers and lines,gauges, buzzers,props, conversion kit bell housings(2), flywheels(2), but that is NOT including the labor.Sooo, all in all ,not bad for something Ive always wanted to do. Im very proud of it. Now.... for the electronics, Ive got a budget of about 5-6 k. I am an offshore fisherman in southern Ca. suggestions??

 

Ground fish? Chart preference, are you gonna want an autopilot or just nav and fishing?