OM 603 DE 35 LA - the engine to avoid?

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Sat, 03/04/2004 - 16:11
mortinson
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Location: Old beehive, Madrid, Spain

I love this website for all the truths it says!

http://www.wrisley.com/wmbz.htm

Things like " If you want to haul A#$ buy gas" or " the main reason most of us drive Mercedes Diesels is not to get from stop light to stop light faster than the other guy, but to do so at a more economical pace", both of which I dedicate to my friend Florian (G560).

But I am also very intrigued about the phobia these guys have for the OM 603 DE 35 LA (the engine fitted to the 350 Turbodiesel/ G350 Turbodiesel). This is not the first time that I have seen adverse reports about this engine and not surprisingly, if you scroll down the sites like http://www.autoscout24.de or http://www.mobile.de you'll see dozens of 350 GDT's which have had their engine replaced or rebuilt at some point.

What do you think?

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Sat, 03/04/2004 - 23:06
#1
mark
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OM 603 DE 35 LA - the engine to avoid?

Yes, it seems to be the general opinion of these engines. On one hand i find it strange, i mean, Mercedes make a duff diesel, can't be true. On the other hand, every one cocks up occasionally. :lol: ..
I look through the used German sites on a regular basis (every other evening :lol: ).. I can't read the German notes, but some of those G350TD's have covered reasonably high mileage, there secound hand value, in general, is where you would expect, above the G300D's and below the G300TD's, so they don't seem to suffer on the used market.. Who knows?..
What i don't go along with, is the assumption that the small Merc diesels, being underpowered, fail at an early age because there pushed to the limit. I've never had a G but have had/driven more Merc commercials then i care to remember. Small 2.2 litre 60hp engine's in relatively huge vans (the old 406D),, these were driven flat out all the time, in town, A roads and motorways.. They still covered huge mileage without troubles..

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Tue, 04/05/2004 - 01:58
#2
Bill Moss
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350 turbo diesel engine

Blows head gaskets like there is no tomorrow, resulting in hydrauliced con rods cooked pistons and other high rev nasties.
Best G diesel 300td multi valve 177hp more torque than jehovas but damned hard to find a g with one in.

Bill Moss

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Tue, 04/05/2004 - 20:50
#3
Roly
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OM 603 DE 35 LA - the engine to avoid?

I exchanged several emails with a German guy who has rebuilt his 350 G engine. He says 2 problems in the engine caused all the trouble. The engine cooling system coolant coagulated at high temp which caused overheating and the head was weak which caused it to warp. Both these problems can be fixed and the engine is as good as any other MB engine afterwards.

The 24v 3L turbo could not be fitted to RHD Gs or sedans. Hey Bill , maybe you could try to get one of those into a RHD G and prove MB wrong again !

Roly

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Tue, 04/05/2004 - 21:54
#4
Bill Moss
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300 turbo multi

Don't tease me .

Bill Moss

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