290 td

Hi Looks and rides like a 460 series G' ..has only one difflock. auto G'box robs the OM 602 DE 29 engine of some torque...get the same performance/economy from an OM 617A 951/2 engine.. 461 series uses the same Auto G'box (with a W124 torque converter).as the 460 280GE... rare so pricey...

I love them, and the engine can be tweaked. It is the sprinter engine, and they go like something nasty off a shovel.

That is the only car I would change mine for. Spider can even keep his wood and leather.

From the pic of the rear it looks as though the front seats have side supports like the recaro interior which means that you might be able to retro-fit an armrest. A better picture of the front seats would help though.

I like it, looks to be in tip-top condition.

I would comment that I have always found the performance of our 1998/1999 van "adequet" as in exactly that, Rolls Royce adequet that is.
I am never looking for more oomph when driving it.
And tank in tank out 24.something mpg, never 23 never 25. Honest
boys used to 5 litre petrol toys could well have a different perspective on the performance however.
cheers
M

Did you really mean 80 mph :lol: Or kmh :oops:
I dont go there that often. But she will certainly whiz up to 70 plus with ease
Since it is Senior Managments motor I only drive it occasionally, and from what I recall ....No bugger, I had better check.
The gearbox is playing up again ( flaring) so I do not know that I would reley on what figs I would be quoting.
cheers
M

When you look into the 461 in detail there are many improvements from the earlier 460 model

1. Plastic fuel tank as fitted to the 463
2. The front seat are the same as the 463 so to allow for the heated seat option available in the 463 range.
3. The wiring loom is the very much the same as installed in the 463 with the fuse board being installed under the passenger side dash area using plate rather than the old bullet type fuses as used in the earlier 460 model.
4. The gearbox is the 722.3 box from the early 463 range and not the old 460 720.1 box.
5. From 1999 rear discs replaced the conventional drums (except for chassis cab or military models)
6. An oil cooler was fitted to the traditional L7 steering box.
7. The heating system is pre plumbed for the ancillary heater should you wish to install retrospectively.
8. A third brake light was installed to comply with the later regulations

There isn’t an intercooler on the Td but a charge air system. The intercooler is basically an additional radiator but instead of cooling water it cools the air pushed through by the turbo. Hence the bigger the intercooler quite often the cooler the air which as many of you boffins will know does not compress as much as worm air hence bigger bang in the bore. Simple.

So why a charge air system and not an intercooler. Well the charge air is again a radiator which like the engine radiator cools water. This time the water intern cools a water jacket around the inlet to coo the air. Are you still with me .. The advantage being it cools the air better at low speeds giving the G more power off road. The intercooler is better at high road speeds where there is a greater air flow. Some of you may have noticed your turbo diesels perform better in the cold weather.

So coming back to the 290, yep loads of the right stuff for low speeds.

I would agree the power could be described as adequate. Slow thought to mid range speeds, say up to 60mph are fine but it becomes a bit lazy through to around the 80-90 mark, although I must add this is with the slightly larger 265/75/16 tyres. But it should be remembered that the equivalent size tyre was available as an option on the 461.

As for having a chip or re map well I spoke with ORC our German parts friends who used chipped 290s as support vehicles for there race team, they said it made a lot of difference didn’t experience any premature parts failure as a result.

In summery they are good trucks but as with our women, as new better models come on the seen you need to give a bit of a whipping to keep up the pace.

Alternatively you could look at 463s and ignore all I have said, and talk about broad loom carpets, and decide if you would prefer twisted pile or smooth 50/50 nylon mix with whipped edges to contrast the seat stitching. I know which one I would choose…

Sorry but I don’t understand the point your trying to make. The gearbox in the silver G was changed as the truck had been left in the hands of a Merc dealer and not with somebody who understands vehicles.

Both Merc Newcastle and Coldstraem were not prepared to look any further than a simple diagnosis into the the problem and simple opted for the easy route of changing the box. Good old Merc UK

I know 3 chipped 290td's. They are all being used on and off road a lot, all have more than 100 000 km's on the clock and no problems with the chipping. They have however all fitted a different water pump to cope with highways in Africa heat. It is simple and cheap, but I don't think you are going to drive at 140km/h for hours on end, so you wouldn't need it.

Standard I think the 461 is close to the 463, but possibly a bit livelier at lower revs, but chipped it becomes an up to date car, more like a chipped td5.

Didn't want to sell Spider a new gearbox recently?

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Lybia+g+wagen&search_type=&aq=f

Sad to hear about that :(, how about a G300TD instead?

http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/showDetails.html?lang=de&id=128471910&...

This looks good, but if you don't mind slightly higher milage: http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/showDetails.html?lang=de&id=128321370&...

I am quite tempted by the silver one, will go and have a look at it soon.