Question from Bob
Hi Debra,
I recently bought an 1987 mercedes 300d diesel and each time I have driven it I feel worse. The car was in great shape pretty clean inside and I super cleaned it in and out with my nontoxic cleaners. The engine was pretty dirty with built up oil and fuel GRIME and I have cleaned most of the engin as well. The a/c is not operational and I feel I am getting my reactions from either the oil and fuel on the engin, dielel fumes or a possible a/c freon leak as the system was most likely recharged prior to me buying the car and could have a slow leak. I am also hypersensitive to mold however I dont feel that it is mold as the reactions I get are different. I am going to finish cleaning the engin remove the freon from the a/c system and see how I do but I think I am in trouble and may end up selling the car and getting a gas model. I dont know if dielel’s are considered more toxic than gas but I have learned that the engines are more oily and dirty???Any help would be appreciated so much.
Thanks,
Bob Fla & Ny
Debra’s Answer
My mechanic husband says…
You can take your Mercedes to an air conditioning shop and they can check to see if there is a freon leak. You might be able to get this for free, or for a very low cost. It’s worth knowing if there is a leak. If it is leaking, and you don’t want to repair the leak, have the air condition system “evacuated” to empty all the freon.
To remove the oil and fuel on the engine, take it to an engine steam cleaning place to clean the engine and transmission thoroughly. Repair any obvious oil leaks.
Get the exhaust system checked at a muffler shop. They will usually do this for free or low cost.
Another possibility is to do as we did and covert it to run on vegetable oil! See our veggie oil car at Our Vegetable Oil Car.
Larry said it’s likely that if you check the points outlined above and make any necessary repairs, your diesel car probably won’t be a problem.
