Curt Raymond wrote:
So once again I've picked up my 190D from the Indy. Some of you might remember how it
wouldn't shift into reverse. My Indy took the shifter all apart, cleaned out 21 years of
crud and replaced the shift bushings. That took it from a super sloppy "mystery
shifter" (you shift and hope the gear you get is the one you wanted) to a normal
good shifting car. The reverse gate now works exactly as I'd expect it to, slide to the
right, push down, pull back. 5th is now very easy to get into as well which is good I'm
sure my fuel mileage was suffering by my not shifting into it before.
ALSO now the shifter doesn't lean so far to the side in 1st and 5th so I can
hook the boot to the base without it pulling the base up, nice.
I like driving this car so much I'm now thinking I should turn down Fred's
offer of a set of used seat bottoms and instead invest in brand new seat
bottoms and pads for that new seat feel.
Great to hear that you find the car so much fun to drive (I agree). Let
me caution you. DO NOT hurry to shift into 5th or even 4th when driving
at speeds less than 40-45 mph. Allow the engine to wind out to 3000+ in
each gear. That will NOT increase fuel consumption (may even improve it
slightly). I've been driving 190D 5 speeds (three of them with 2.0, 2.2
and 2.5 liter engines) for more than 12 years (and >250kmi) and have
tried driving them almost every way they can be driven (including
getting the gear box into 5th as soon as possible).
The most common causes of poor fuel economy (after fuel leaks) are poor
quality fuel (good fuel can improve fuel economy by 10-20%) and improper
operating temp (a thermostat that's stuck even a little open can lower
fuel economy in city/stop-and-go driving by 30% or more). Allowing the
engine to lug can easily degrade economy by 10% or more. Shifting to a
higher gear too soon - before the engine will be at least at the low end
of the torque plateau in the gear (that's in the low/mid 2000 rpm range
- the actual torque peak is at 2800, but it's very broad and almost
flat) results in the excessive fuel consumption! Improper injection
timing and poor injector condition (improper pressures or spray pattern)
usually only have a minor effect of fuel economy until they are way off
and usually there is some other presenting problem (noise, poor idle,
smoke) before poor fuel economy is noticed.
Marshall
--
Marshall Booth (who doesn't respond to unsigned questions)
"der Dieseling Doktor" [EMAIL PROTECTED]
'87 300TD 182Kmi, '84 190D 2.2 229Kmi, '85 190D 2.0 161Kmi, '87 190D 2.5
turbo 237kmi
