190d ROAD TRIP: QC to Naga

[stimpy569]

MAKE: 1987 190d 2.5 non-turbo
SPECS: 602 engine, 5-cyl, A/T
MILEAGE: 193,000 kms
CONSUMPTION: 8.3-8.7 km/l city driving

PLEASE BEAR WITH ME ON THIS LONG POST...

Am planning to take my new toy on a road trip. Since i bought it last Oct'10 QC-Pasay has been the farthest i've driven (all work, no time for a vacation).

I plan to drive it to Tagaytay first to see how it holds up on an out of town trip, and if that goes well, then next trip will be from QC-Naga City come May or June. This would be a good test for the car and to clean out any carbon build up in the engine to hopefully get better fuel economy.

Anyone here who has driven all the way to Naga? Please advise on the road conditions, route and possible side trips along the way.

Does using nitrogen on the tires have any real and significant effect?

I plan to take my gf and niece along and it would be nice to optimize our route. Am allotting a total of 5-6 days for the round trip. Maybe an overnight somewhere before hitting naga, then 3d/2n in Naga, maybe another overnight on the way home.

My only concern is can my 23 yr old car make it without any hitches? so far I've taken good care of the engine and have been fixing most of the mechanical:
-replaced valve cover gasket
-replaced water pump
-cleaned aircon
-cleaned and overhauled brakes and replaced necessary caliper kits
-replaced alternator (90amps)
-replaced shock mounting and right ball joint.
-Mags are currently being refurbished (repainted) to complement the 4pcs Dunlop 205/60/15 i got.

TO DO:
-have the wheels balanced and then camber.
-have the brake fluid replaced and brakes re-checked.
-replace fuse box although the current one works fine (i got one that's almost in pristine condition)
-will have the hand brake checked and fixed.
-check right rear suspension, mejo mababa than the others maybe a spring problem as the shocks are new Bilsteins (kaya lng mejo stiff ang ride).

that's it for now...thanks in advance!

[mbeige]

You know your car best - take care of the critical components first. Bring extra fuel filters (emphasize on the "S" since you might get a batch of dirty diesel fuel), some basic tools to replace them. Bring extra fuses as well. Doesn't hurt to ensure your battery is good and glow plugs + relay are good. Bring extra relay fuse!! Cheap part you just can't go without.

I've brought my '83 300D to San Francisco and back to LA (6 hour drive or around 400-500 miles one way) without a hitch, on TWO occasions already. The trip was done at sustained 60 to 70mph speeds, sometimes pushing it to 90mph. Back then it had the same number as your odometer has, but in MILES.

Full load with 4 adults and a toddler on the first trip, two adults and some luggage on the second trip. In truth, it was ME who gave up driving - the car was just relentless and did not want to stop.

If mine can make it, you'll be fine. ;)

Pump up the tire pressures to maximum recommended for full luggage (check fuel filler lid) - make sure it does not exceed maximum allowable pressure indicated on the tires! Make sure spare tire is also filled with air (36psi per MB recommendation if I remember correctly). If you have stock wheels on stock lug bolts - bring 17mm lug wrench and extension tube if necessary, as well as the factory jack and wheel chocks (if you can't find rocks).

Load up on your favorite music and bring some drinks too, and just enjoy your trip. Take as many pics as possible, this is one thing you won't want to forget.

[HBOY]

+1 kay pat. You know your car best... enjoy the trip. I've driven all the way to casiguran sorsogon, unfortunately it was not with an MB and that was about 8 yrs ago.. hehehe... roads should be better now...

[lowslowbenz]

Try taking it to Tagaytay first, that way you could get a feel of the car on medium range trips. Bring tools along if you can, and the usual things that Pat said above ..

Naga is a long way down ... I suggest you have an oil change before the trip, just to be confident that you have new oil in your motor.

Nitrogen in tyres is just waaaay overated .. IMHO .. (besides, how would you know they're "really" pumping nitrogen into your tyres?)

[stimpy569]

thanks a lot guys! very informative advise will take everything into consideration.

right now, options are growing...
naga then to caramoan
quezon and mauban
laiya batangas
vigan and pagudpud

will deliberate within the nest week or two.

thanks again!

[benzlimo]

Drive it daily in Metro traffic condition. If it is reliable in the city, it will be happier on long drives. Just make sure you have checked the basic things like brakes, wheel alignments and tire condition including spare, fluid and oil condition/level, new fuel filters and spare and you are good to go.

Just don't forget to pray before each trip.

[Benzmizer]

Drive it daily in Metro traffic condition. If it is reliable in the city, it will be happier on long drives. Just make sure you have checked the basic things like brakes, wheel alignments and tire condition including spare, fluid and oil condition/level, new fuel filters and spare and you are good to go.

Just don't forget to pray before each trip.

To add, check the belts and bring extra of each. Make sure that you have a complete set of tools too boot. With that, you are ready to :car:

[Thumbdrive]

Anyone here who has driven all the way to Naga? Please advise on the road conditions, route and possible side trips along the way.

Travel by day is advisable, as there are a lot of pot holes along the road... miss them or hit them.
Ingat rin sa mga bus na umo-overtake, kahit nasa wrong lane sila, tinutuloy pa rin ang pag overtake. Muntik na akong ma head-on nitong huli kong byahe kung di pa ako tumabi sa shoulder.

[lowslowbenz]

Dapat sa mga bus driver na yan .. balikan .. habulin .. at barilin sa ulo!

oops ... me bad ..

[reactor]

If it's your first time to travel to bikol, better drive at daylight because of the road condition especially at quirino / andaya highway...un even road pavements, pot holes, mix asphalt and cement road, zigzags.

There is 2 options which way you want to use...via daet cams Norte or quirino / andaya highway. If you take the daet road, it's a longer route but better road quality though you will encounter zigzag roads.

Quirino /andaya highway is shorter in distance but you must be alert and tactful due to un even road pavements, pot holes, etc...there was a time when there were road constructions at quirino, I took the daet road though longer in distance, it has better road condition and that time the travel time is almost the same...enjoy your ride and have a safe drive on your journey.

[stimpy569]

eto na...even before the long drive may sakit na lumaabas. Temp went as high as almost 120 C, twice! Had the water pump & serpentine belt replaced and the radiator cleaned. I always use distilled water.
Please bear with me, this is a bit long...TIA for your inputs!

1st TIME: the other day I fetched my gf from her place at Gilmore, passed by Benitex, then mariposa to EDSA. Even before reaching EDSA tumaas na temp nya. So I parked it at Petron looked under the engine, wala tulo. I thenpopped the hood and slowly opened the radiator cap, steam was going out, then boiling water...after it settled with engine running i poured my baon na distilled water and closed the cap. It was till at 100C, I pumped the accelerator and it shot down to 40C - as in biglang baba. I took it to my mechanic and he said to replace the serpentine belt. It was actually due for replacement kasi napigtas na yun isang rib ng belt. Kasya pala belt ng MB100! got it for P950.00

Then I went on my way...temp was good for 2 days.

2nd TIME: yesterday. 3 baon ko na 1.5L na distilled water. I was at Trinoma, met my gf then brought her home around 6pm. Took the same route from Gilmore, then at EDSA cubao ilalim ayun na! saw the temp goin' 100C...putcha sa ilalim pa ko inabot! luckily walang umiikot na tow truck while i was there. Used my first bottle, took me 10mins to cool off the engine a bit slowly back to 80C. paglampas ng underpass went back to +100C buti na lng nakatabi na ko sa roadside near in front of Superlines and dun ko na inubos yun 2nd bottle ng water ko. Went down slowly to 80C again 'til i reached my mechanic at Cambridge then it went almost 120C again. So I opened the radiator cap let the steam out, poured water on the radiator and fins and pumped the pedal hoping that it would drop quickly to 40C like the other day pero ayaw! so i just shut the engine off and discussed it with my mechanic's helper (wala na machanic ko). He said since napalitan na water pump and yun belt the next culprit will be the radiator, he advised me to have it cleaned. I was also thinking the same, that maybe some deposits inside the radiator clogs it and when na-tyempo pag-pump ng pedal it gets forced back into circulation (it's my theory lang). After 30min I cranked it up again and poured my last bottle in and voila 40C, as if nothing happened! It stayed below 80C the whole drive back home to Mindanao ave.

So, this morning I went straight to my suki na radiator shop for cleaning. P1,000 palinis ng radiator as compared to P600 for my Nissan sentra before. Went back after my meetings and they said there were some deposits but nothing major to clog up the system. I went home 6pm with the temp at around 75C from kamias to Mindanao ave.

This is weird. I hope the problem is fixed.

[mbeige]

First make sure your temperature gauge is working properly. A properly working thermostat and temp gauge should read around 80C, not 40C!! That's way too cold, your thermostat could be stuck open.

Second make sure you have the correct radiator cap rating. Dapat may nakasulat na "120" or "140" on the cap if it's the orig type. The expansion tank of your car should have an overflow hose. If the temp went that high, the cap would release some water into the overflow hose, this hose originally connects to another reservoir for when the temp gets high, then siphons it back as the temp gets back down. If you did not see any water under the car either the orig hose is intact, or the cap was not opening due to the increased pressure.

Third make sure when you use the AC, the auxiliary fans in front of the condenser spin at low speed. The fans spin at high speed if the temp reaches way too high. Nothing in your post suggested they worked which means you should drive w/o AC for now until the fans can be fixed.

[stimpy569]

first off, thanks for the response mbeige.
By the way FYI, my radiator and condenser are no longer original, even the shroud for the radiator fan is fabricated .

1. Regular temp of the car is usually a bit below 80C.
2. Radiator cap reads 140.
3. The reservoir has an overflow hose but there's no 2nd reservoir, so the water just spills into the road. So what i do is stick the hose into the wiper wash tank, anyway i only put water in there and don't use washer fluid...
4. AC fans work. mine already converted to 2 fans.

Also, the radiator reservoir tank has cracks in it, tadtad na din ng epoxy but still water sips out when pressure gets high.

the temp went high again the other day from tandang sora to cubao...i met a friend who also owns a 190d. I told him about the problem and that i already got a new water pump, belt and had the radiator overhauled. but still it persists...he checked the top radiator hose (the one near the fuel filter). He said the same thing happened to his car before. the problem was that there was air inside the cooling system, so he took a bottle of water yun 1.5ltr na coke, stuck it in the radiator reservoir and bled the air out from the hose and slowly the temp went down to almost 40C. When the hose was letting out water na he stopped and put the clamp back on. So I guess that was the culprit...

Now, last night on the way home from cubao again the same thing happened. temp went to almost 120C, luckily i was near a gas station, so i stuck a bottle in the reservoir and bled the top radiator hose again. same thing, temp went back down to 40C and stayed below 80C the whole drive home.

am puzzled as to why air always gets in the cooling chamber? is it because of the cracked reservoir? water goes out-air gets in kind of thing? or could it be the thermostat being stuck open?

I need help.
TIA!

[wahzai_swy]

Bro mahirap na pa biyahe mo pa ang MB mo to Naga, kahit ok na ang daan niya sa part ng tagkawayan - del gallego area, baka nasa south express way pala ubos na dala mo baon distilled water. Better bring a more reliable car for long distance drive like QC to Naga, may part don na wala ka mahanap na gas station/ auto shop/ or even people...

[benzlimo]

You should just bleed it once during a water refill. You might want to check on your upper rad hose in the morning before starting if it is hard or soft. If it is hard after an overnight in you garage, it is a symptom of a cracked head or your head gasket needs to be replaced.

[stimpy569]

thanks for the advise.
Will observe it and bring it to the shop for inspection (thermostat, etc...)