modifying a 1982 mercedes diesel

I bought a 1982 300D Mercedes, which is definitely a major improvement on my ES symptoms over my old gasoline car. But I still must deal wit with the alternator, which is giving me symptoms. My mechanic said that I can't disconnect the alternator because it will prevent the water pump from working. But I've read on this forum that some people do disconnect the alternators.If so, how did you do it - and did it not impact your water belt? Am I missing something? Best,

Josh

All you have to do is unplug the alternator (leave the belt in place). The
plug is on the back
side of the alternator. It is held in by a clip. Use a screwdriver to
loosen up (or
remove the clip). When you need to plug the plug back in, forget the clip.
The first few times it is not easy to get the plug in and out. After that
it's
not bad, but takes a long time before it is really easy.

Beware, there is a wire in the plug that is always hot. You may get some
nice sparks when the front of the plug touches anything metal in the
engine. I found the harness behind the instrument panel to add a kill
switch for that wire. But make sure the wire is hot when driving with the
plug
in or you can kill the regulator in your alternator (after the alternator
self-seeds at
higher rpms). Actually, if starting on a low
battery with the plug in, you can have the switch off, then turn it on as
soon as the engine
gets going. Starts noticeably easier.

Never try to plug or unplug with the engine going.

Get a deep cycle yellow-top Optima battery, 15 to 60 watts of solar panels
(on the roof
you need a flexible one; the trunk is flat enough to mount a glass one).
7amp sun-force
charge controller. I had to mount the battery backwards and use a longer
negative
cable. Add some kind of voltmeter. Get a plug-in charger too (though they
are mostly
nasty emf-wise; keep it far away; The intelitender model 150 by Patco is not
too bad
but only 1.5 amp. If you're handy add your own plug connector so you don't
have
to open the hood (Anderson PowerPole connectors are nice). Get a volt
meter.
At 10.5 volts the battery is dead. Below 11.5 you risk not being able to
start
(though in warm conditions you may start at 11, and in freezing weather need
12).

There's stuff you can disconnect that wastes power: a relay for the heater
valve (just
use a mechanical clamp) radio and antenna, window relay (just wire past it
so windows
always work--but beware if a switch gets stuck you'll drain the battery).

Incidentally, the problem is not so much the alternator as the regulator,
but replacing
it with a linear one is a big job and not as good as running without the
alternator.

You should notice a big improvement. Check with an am radio, because there
may
be other noise sources (loose wires etc) that need to be addressed before
you
feel the benefit.

Bill

On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 8:57 PM, Joshua Kurlantzick <[hidden email]>wrote:


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Thanks so much. I'm not that handy, which is why I took it to the mechanic.So it's not going to kill the cooling fan? He assured me it would. The problem is - I have to have a mechanic do this, because I would just screw up the easiest mechanical task, so I need to convince someone this is feasible. Best,

Josh

To: [hidden email]
From: [hidden email]
Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2009 09:44:17 -0700
Subject: Re: [eSens] modifying a 1982 mercedes diesel




















   
All you have to do is unplug the alternator (leave the belt in place). The

plug is on the back

side of the alternator. It is held in by a clip. Use a screwdriver to

loosen up (or

remove the clip). When you need to plug the plug back in, forget the clip.

The first few times it is not easy to get the plug in and out. After that

it's

not bad, but takes a long time before it is really easy.



Beware, there is a wire in the plug that is always hot. You may get some

nice sparks when the front of the plug touches anything metal in the

engine. I found the harness behind the instrument panel to add a kill

switch for that wire. But make sure the wire is hot when driving with the

plug

in or you can kill the regulator in your alternator (after the alternator

self-seeds at

higher rpms). Actually, if starting on a low

battery with the plug in, you can have the switch off, then turn it on as

soon as the engine

gets going. Starts noticeably easier.



Never try to plug or unplug with the engine going.



Get a deep cycle yellow-top Optima battery, 15 to 60 watts of solar panels

(on the roof

you need a flexible one; the trunk is flat enough to mount a glass one).

7amp sun-force

charge controller. I had to mount the battery backwards and use a longer

negative

cable. Add some kind of voltmeter. Get a plug-in charger too (though they

are mostly

nasty emf-wise; keep it far away; The intelitender model 150 by Patco is not

too bad

but only 1.5 amp. If you're handy add your own plug connector so you don't

have

to open the hood (Anderson PowerPole connectors are nice). Get a volt

meter.

At 10.5 volts the battery is dead. Below 11.5 you risk not being able to

start

(though in warm conditions you may start at 11, and in freezing weather need

12).



There's stuff you can disconnect that wastes power: a relay for the heater

valve (just

use a mechanical clamp) radio and antenna, window relay (just wire past it

so windows

always work--but beware if a switch gets stuck you'll drain the battery).



Incidentally, the problem is not so much the alternator as the regulator,

but replacing

it with a linear one is a big job and not as good as running without the

alternator.



You should notice a big improvement. Check with an am radio, because there

may

be other noise sources (loose wires etc) that need to be addressed before

you

feel the benefit.



Bill



On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 8:57 PM, Joshua Kurlantzick <[hidden email]>wrote:



> I bought a 1982 300D Mercedes, which is definitely a major improvement

> on my ES symptoms over my old gasoline car. But I still must deal wit with

> the alternator, which is giving me symptoms. My mechanic said that I can't

> disconnect the alternator because it will prevent the water pump from

> working. But I've read on this forum that some people do disconnect the

> alternators. If so, how did you do it - and did it not impact your water

> belt? Am I missing something? Best,

>

> Josh

>

>  

>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





 

     

   
   
       
       
       
       


       


       
       
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I should have said, the screwdriver is just to bend the clip out of the way.
Then you gradually work the plug out.

Bill

On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 9:44 AM, Bill Bruno <[hidden email]> wrote:


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]