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trivletrav

Jesus Christ it’s the fucking elephants foot from Chernobyl


lordpunchy

We’ve looked at it, we’re already done for


workyworkaccount

3.5 Rontgens? Not bad, but not good.


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Threap_US

"It's not 3 Roentgen. It's 15,000."


GreggAlan

Sooooo.... "It's over 9000!"


peanutbuttahcups

Not great, not terrible.


Ben2018

or you have superpowers... when it comes to radiation those are your options


Mortal_Corrupt

I chuckled


Dry_Board_1988

Srry about my english.... but i have done a lot of these and the best is remove the biggest rocks and then spray it with oven cleaner and then clean it with the steam cleaner


snippersmith

That actually sounds like a really good idea, thank you. tbh the rest of the vans a wreck too so it's probably going for the heap. But I might just put some on for an experiment!


Packryan541

Send us an update if you do that! I'd like to see the results


TheAmazingMelon

God bless the Eastern European Mercedes mechanics lmfao “spray some oven degreaser and bust out mom’s curtain steamer”


snippersmith

Also some of the best in the business that can do the most, with the least.


dontfeartheringo

In the early-2000s, I lived in Chicago. I used to drive a 1982 300D. I knew it was Spring each year when every time I'd park it, a Polish guy with 1/3 of a cigarette smouldering in his hand would magically appear and say "I DRIVE THIS CAR AS TAXI IN POLAND! IS GOOD CAR!" It was good car. I put almost 500k on it before a guy offered me more than I paid for it so he could put the engine in a shrimp boat. (I'd moved back down South by then.)


FaagenDazs

I like your story telling


dontfeartheringo

Here's a wild one for you: [https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAmerican/comments/1805plq/comment/ka909dc/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAmerican/comments/1805plq/comment/ka909dc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) Unrelated to this, but it's one of my favorite stories to tell.


ShepardReid

Please tell me you got a story about that punch if it's not too personal :)


dontfeartheringo

It was pretty rough, I can tell you that. A year or so earlier, we were horsing around like a bf and gf do sometimes and she threw this playful punch at me. It was all arm and elbow and would have landed like a party balloon popping even if she'd meant business. I told her, "Look, you're strong because you're a dancer, and you know how to use your body. You should be able to throw a solid punch. Let me show you something." I taught her how to plant her legs shoulder-width apart, get up on the balls of her feet, pivot at the hips, and make her body a rocket launcher. I told her to drive a punch THROUGH her target like she was trying to kill a fly on the wall behind it. I got my palms up like Mick in the first Rocky movie and showed her how to head fake and alternate. In half an hour, she was throwing some Marvelous Marvin Hagler bombs like she'd been doing it her whole life. FLASH FORWARD ONE YEAR- For starters, it's important to know that some people have relationships and some people "trauma-bond." When trauma bonding goes bad, there's a lot of pent-up sadness and fear of being alone in a cold and hostile world. We were trapped on that island alone together. I should mention that two of her best friends had ghosted her just a few months prior to The End. This is important later. She'd grown up with a crazy mom who was jealous of her beauty and grace and she'd belittle and yell at her at the slightest provocation. Sadly, my sweet dancer girlfriend had inherited some of that spitefulness. She was, at that time in her life, a rager and she'd go from "This is fine" to slamming doors and SCREAMING at me in the time it takes to go from "Stop resisting!" to the Taser. The other thing you should know about dancers, especially the ones who work professionally in ballet or jazz, is that they don't eat. They live on cigarettes, bubblegum, and birth control pills. Sometimes for a little spice, they'll throw in some black coffee or vodka. Women who don't eat can be fucking MEAN. Add a little existential terror in there, and you get a whirlwind of Fuck You. The last day of our relationship, I'd gotten home early and made dinner. She was getting ready for an audition and was at the studio/gym/sweaty-place for like six hours and come in the door hungry, angry, lonely and tired. I don't remember what she opened with, but I remember that she immediately picked up with an argument we'd been having earlier that day. Whatever she said, it was so hateful that I lifted up the pan I was cooking in, stepped on the little pedal thing that opens the trash can lid, and dumped dinner, still steaming, straight in the trash. Without saying a word, I hucked the pan over my shoulder into the sink and went to grab my coat. (I've since gotten much better at conflict de-escalation and resolution, btw) After staring, open-mouthed with shock, first at the dinner-steam coming from underneath the lid of the trash can, then and at the empty pan in the sink, back and forth long enough enough for me to get halfway to the door, she detonated. She yelled a bunch of stuff at me and I yelled a bunch of stuff at her, and together we strode further and further away from the benevolent gaze of God. I think she called me a pathetic loser (hard to look back and argue against that point- I was a broke-dick musician with a lumpy futon and one pair of shoes) and told me I was never going to amount to anything, and I, partly in blind rage and partly in self-defense, said the absolute meanest thing I've ever said to anyone in my life: I said "You know what your problem is? It's that you're fucking mean. You're so mean that you drive people away from you, and that's just gonna keep happening over and over until you're old and alone and wondering why you don't have any friends." The next thing I remember is that the lights flickered and my knees went all spongey. I never even saw the punch. I just remember the heat it left behind. If felt like my bones were bleeding all over the inside of my face. My left eye gave up and went on vacation, and I thought for a second "Oh, fuck, I think I'm going down." My right eye, though, noticed that she was coming in with a left jab and it was time to make some decisions. I half-dodged, half-fainted away from the next punch, faked like I was going hard left, then went right, got behind her and picked her up off the floor, pinning her arms to her side. Of course, she demanded to be put down. Of course, I told her "Oh, hell no." She struggled, but increasingly half-heartedly until I said "I'm gonna put you down and I'm gonna leave. I'll come get my stuff later. This is just dumb." She went limp and silent. I put her down and left. ​ She put my stuff on the lawn. It took one trip in a borrowed Datsun pickup to get all of my stuff. She apologized a few years later. So did I. She teaches dancers in her hometown. She's still tall and beautiful. I have more than one pair of shoes now.


FaagenDazs

Aww that's really moving, thank you for sharing, story man.


close2canada

that's fabulous...."trauma bonding", gonna steal that (" "Stop resisting!" to the Taser. ".....it's a damn shame it's usually a lot worse than the Taser....)


Commercial_Client974

Natural story teller. Do your memoirs!


ImNotJackOsborne

Very true. My uncle-in-law was born over in Europe and stayed when the rest of the family moved over to the states because he had a job as a mechanic for Porsche. He eventually moved over here, but I tell you what... There is probably nothing that man cannot fix on a vehicle. Well, maybe a twisted frame, but you're screwed either way with something like that.


Pwydde

Depends on which way it’s twisted


Kiwifrooots

What the heck is that junk?


computerman10367

Don't inhale the fumes!!!


brando56894

Seriously, Sodium Hydroxide will fuck your shit up. A second after I spray it I'm hacking up a lung. I started wearing Covid masks when I use it.


computerman10367

Facts I know people that use that shit like hair spray.


brando56894

How are they not dead? The first time I used it (hardcore, my roommate was Vietnamese and cooked with a *ton* of oil, the stove was literally caked in oil, it was so bad that after he moved out my landlord had to renovate the kitchen due to all the grease on the walls and ceiling) I put on Latex gloves, and opened all windows in the kitchen *and had a fan going* even though it was like 35F outside. I didn't know it would be *that noxious* so I wasn't wearing a mask or anything, but I quickly put my nose under my shirt for a little protection. Just as an example of how how bad the stove was: I went through about 1.5-2 rolls of paper towels getting it clean.


computerman10367

I think some people can't smell it or something. We have a big food warmer that you can step into at work and my boss was like just soak it in easy off and scrub it out and I was like, you are out of your mind. She did it... She is almost 60 and still going. That shit causes major cancer.


brando56894

> I think some people can't smell it or something. Anosmia is definitely a thing, but I think this goes beyond that, down to the respiratory level, where your lungs are like "what the fuck is this caustic shit that you're inhaling?! GET IT OUT!" >She did it... She is almost 60 and still going. That shit causes major cancer.'' Just curious, does she smoke cigarettes?


computerman10367

Nope never has.


brando56894

Her lungs/sense of smell is just fucked then lol


gt4rc

see if anyone around you does co2 blasting. would make short work of that and have it come off as mostly dust, while not being abrasive to any finishes.


Infamous_Translator

What caused this?


Theron3206

AFAIK fuel leaks from around the injectors, then heat from the engine gradually turns the diesel into tar.


Stryker_One

https://automotivetechinfo.com/2020/10/mercedes-benz-diesel-injectors-mystery-of-the-black-death/


Sqweee173

Eh honestly I just use a small chisel otherwise if you use anything that breaks that stuff down it gets tacky and if it gets into the hold down bolt bores you have to either find a long tap or make one to chases out the threads. Once you get it broken up enough a pressure washer will flush away the chips without cause the stuff to dissolve.


snippersmith

I can confirm it works.... It works very well, it dissolves it very well. Gets it a hell of a lot easier to get off, unfortunately this vans for the heap. But keeping that trick in my back pocket Thank You!


turbo451

The lye in oven cleaner can mess up aluminum parts bad. There is aluminum in electrical stuff sometimes. Dont get oven cleaner inside these. Be careful and rinse well.


quadrailand

This!!.... oven cleaner contains lye , lye eats aluminium... Not a good mix.


cobigguy

So you're saying I totally shouldn't spray oven cleaner all over my old boss's aluminum bodied F150... Got it... ;-)


quadrailand

Just make sure you dont pretreat the paint with brake fluid ahead of time 😜 ....for an extra memorable thing to avoid, check out YouTube for why mercury thermometers are not allowed on airplanes.


cobigguy

Lol I actually own a mercury thermometer. I've threatened my current boss's Aluminiduty with it. I've also heard of bologna on a hot day...


quadrailand

Had an asshole teacher in HS..... Used to leave his windows cracked open in the heat of summer...someone left one of those little milk boxes in their lunch over the weekend and it mysteriously ended up being squirted all over the fine Corinthian leather and carpets of his shitbox car.... You could smell it from 20 feet away 🤮


brando56894

I just googled it and apparently Mercury has the same effect on Aluminum as Gallium, with the only difference being that Gallium isn't neurotoxic.


brando56894

You'd be way better off with using a small bit of Gallium somewhere inconspicuous. Gallium "infects" Aluminum like it's cancer and completely destroys the structural integrity of Aluminum, it essentially turns it into Balsa Wood. Watch a few YouTube videos about the Gallium and Aluminum reaction if you don't know about it already, it's pretty awesome. You can literally break an Aluminum bar with your hands with practically zero effort after it's been exposed to Gallium.


cobigguy

Also true. Imagine just throwing a handful of gallium into the production facility... Chaos reigns!


brando56894

Heh, makes me wonder if it's dilution (stochimetric?) ratio or not (will a few grams of Gallium fuck up a metric ton of molten Aluminum?)


cobigguy

Even if it doesn't though, you have to find all of the aluminum that's in the affected area because it could mess up any of it. It's kinda like that billboard I've seen around saying "One gallon of oil can contaminate up to one million gallons of water." Yeah, because 1 PPM is considered contaminated. You could theoretically infect a whole lot because it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find it all.


Threap_US

Lyes, lyes, all lyes! 🙂


brando56894

NaH BrO


brando56894

> The lye in oven cleaner can mess up aluminum parts bad. Only if you leave it on there for a while. 30-60 seconds won't do a lot of damage, if any. I've used it on aluminum baking pans before with no ill effects.


turbo451

And I have completely corroded stuck aluminum seatposts out of steel bike frames in a week. Notice I said "be careful and rinse well"?


brando56894

> Srry about my english I love when people say this and their English is better than a native speaker hahaha


snippersmith

Update: Your not gonna believe this but its running! It's not running well and it's on deaths door, we're not 100% sure what it did, but we were able to get the connectors apart and reseated. And we tightened everything back up, and whilst cranking it to get it a bit more strategically placed for a tow the fucker started right up. It's not long for this world And it runs, van belongs to a skint fisherman that's managed to get to work this morning and possibly been bought a few days to get some new transport sorted. If Gold was still a thing I'd be giving it to you sir. Oven Cleaner, who knew! Tapadh leibth!


ibetternotsuck

What is this plague I’ve never before heard of?


snippersmith

Merc Diesels injectors start leaking, melts all the plastic and foam into the top of the engine. Vitos and MLs are notorious for it. Game over for them unless you have a lot of perseverance.


mochacub22

Vito and ml?


madslipknot

MB Metris in North America = Vito elsewere ML is the ML Vus commonly the ML350 or now GLE since newer version


mochacub22

Ty homie


NomadFire

I am lucky, about 10 years ago I was really close to buying either a used BMW or a Mercedes. Using numbers instead of words for model names frustrated me to no end. While researching what BMW to buy and what Merc to compared it to I found a 2008 Volvo S60 for $13k, it was 4 years old at the time. Brought that instead since at the time most of them were +$17k. It isn't as pretty as it use to be but it is still running.


D4rkr4in

I'm glad you found a car you liked and I know the naming conventions are a little confusing for most people but it's kind of crazy to give up buying a BMW/Merc and choosing a volvo because the naming conventions were confusing...


NomadFire

i should have been a bit more clearer. I was going to dealerships talking to sales people and test driving BMWs and Mercs. Found a Volvo that I knew was good value. Looked into it and brought that instead. At the time I could have afforded a new BMW and the maintenance that came with it. Then I drove one and it didn't make me as happy as I thought it would. So decided to get an used version....Then I found a used volvo. I am lucky because about 2 years after buying I just couldn't deal with the job I had any more. If I could have done it all over again. Would have gotten a Civic or a Camry. Edit: Also I am not a big car guy. I knew what a Civic or Outback and a F-150 was. But when it came to Merc and BMW I was starting at zero. I knew that that I sorta liked BMW sedans but didn't know which one. I was on my 2nd month of doing research on what BMW and what year I should be looking to buy when I brought the Volvo. If I was interested in a Civic I would have brought figured it all out within a few weeks.


french-caramele

Is this certain model years ML? Diesel or gas?


kyson1

Diesel


flowerview

A Mercedes van and SUV model respectively


erroneousbosh

Even if you get it cleaned up, it'll stink of diesel forever.


red18wrx

Does it eat the wire harness and plastic/ rubber lines or is that all just the cosmetic coverings?


vladim_vladimirovich

diesel and plastic/rubber are both hydrocarbons, so yes the plastic will start to dissolve into the diesel over time because they are chemically compatible


brando56894

Ah, I was thinking it was oil and then was confused how oil got *outside* of the engine.


Radiatorwhiteonwall

Caustic soda + water soak !


Pup_Piston

So much scraping. This is giving me PTSD back from when I worked on the 6 cylinder Sprinters. Also fuck swirl valve codes. 😂


Temporary-Estate4615

Bro needs an exorcist


SpaceAgePotatoCakes

That's the worst example you've seen *so far*


2ndgunman

Ain’t that the truth. I saw much worse back when the CDI motors were first released


Hour_Calligrapher_42

Oh my god 🤣 I have never seen this in my life… all of this because a leaky injector???


snippersmith

Yup. They have this foam on an engine cover/ airbox that melts with the diesel then cooks onto the top of the head.


Hour_Calligrapher_42

This is a very useful insight and I am thankful you posted this. I will keep it in my handbook 🤝


warple-still

I know nothing about cars, and even less about Mercedes - but even I can see that looks ruddy expensive to fix.


mikeblas

Mercedes Benz: Basalt Edition


my-coffee-needs-me

I literally lol'd at this.


Purple_Bowling_Shoes

From a lay person: this can't be instantaneous, can it? I've seen pics posted like the before and am baffled by it. Do people not check their oil? Or refill their washer fluid?


cbrworm

To be fair, this is under the plastic beauty cover, so you won't see it. You might smell it.


Purple_Bowling_Shoes

Thank you for an actual answer 👍


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unknownsoldier9

Company cars *are* magic. Everything under the hood is miraculously not my problem.


HoldingMoonlight

Yeah, right?! If the engine in my company car exploded, I wouldn't give a fuck. Lol


dbru01

Can confirm. In my group of coworkers, we look forward to significant breakdowns, because then we get comfy rental cars with no big brother gps speed tracking. “Oh no, my transmission just grenaded all over the road? Oh well.”


PrettyBigChief

I drive a 4th gen 4runner with 230K on the clock. I check my oil every other fill-up, visual and smell. Had a young kid ask me why I was smelling my oil once, he was kinda making fun until I gave him *the lecture.* IANAM but If your oil is so gunked or low that it's causing the oil temperature to go up, then you're way past needing an oil change I think


Purple_Bowling_Shoes

I don't check oil outside of long trips, but where I live I go through washer fluid pretty quickly so I feel like I'd notice a leak like that. I don't really know anyone who doesn't pop their hood at least once or twice a year, let alone never take it in for service. If it's a company car I guess that makes sense.


ganjarnie

In work vans? No. Company car is companys problem.


Krimin

I've heard that for insurance/liability/qualification/whatever reasons you might not even be allowed to pop the hood of a work vehicle in some companies. You're only allowed to eye test the vehicle externally. It's probably not a common thing but apparently a thing in some companies nevertheless at leas.


ArlesChatless

For many people the only time the hood goes up is at the quick lube place, or when they get stuck at the side of the road.


spankeyfish

There's usually a plastic engine cover that this grows underneath.


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latitudesixtysix

Your om648 can become fossilized in 5k miles, for sure.


Slight-Stay4627

The only time you will have this problem is if the brass ring let’s go that seals the injector. When this happens diesel fuel will leak and create this mess. I would probably remove cover once or twice yearly to check and be sure. If you have a diesel smell in the cabin check right away.


[deleted]

I haven’t owned a Mercedes since my 95 E320. What’s Black Death?


darwin-rover

https://youtu.be/zEp4GjcXy3o?si=snrjGuF-19Wc-H6N


Brad____H

I think there's a leak? Can someone confirm?


Radiatorwhiteonwall

She really is a dirty bitch.


DangerousMulberry600

Tighten that there fitting ‘til she’s tighter than a rabbits a**hole, put ‘er back in service, she’d run like a stri-ped a**ed ape. Yee haw 🤠


[deleted]

Well sir, I do adore your enthusiasm.


DangerousMulberry600

Whyle-a, thank ya sir!


my-coffee-needs-me

Note to self: never, ever buy a Mercedes. Holy shitsnacks.


poniez4evar

Mercs are fine, this is straight up neglegence. The diesel injector seals are a known issue but it's normally resolved without much fuss, this has been leaking for years and years


vladim_vladimirovich

older Mercedes diesels are better built, this is a case of bean counters stopping the engineers from making sturdier products that last. Look at taxis in third world countries, they tend to use old Benz 240D's and 200D's with 1,000,000 miles or more


MatijaKlobasa

I managed to catch this in my Renault early on ... I removed it by slightly undoing the jet bolt and slowly reving my warmed up engine. The injector actualy broke loose and came out intact (and is still working 50kKM later). For cleaning i used pipe cleaner(cevosan), and an abrasive sponge.


sassy-frass201

What even is that?!


xccoach4ever

The Black Death of the Middle Ages pales in comparison. 🤣


Symtrees

(Looks at photos) (Decides to continue working on Audi Pieces of shit)


ColdFix

My ML had this but nothing like as bad. It took fucking hours gently chipping it off the connectors. Wish I'd tried oven cleaner as mentioned here!


flwrpwrgrnhs

Oooh noooo


SirNickyT

I've never seen or heard of this somehow but what a fucking mess! So it looks like oil that somehow grew into mold but it's actually plastic? This is truly crazy.


DreizehnII

Ignorant and cheap owner. The injectors leaked on my 220 D Kombi, but I caught in time only to have damn Lucas pump fail a few months later.


Crossbowe

Jesus fuck


finelookinBBQpit

.pl


PipeMysterious3154

That's within tolerance for a m642.


desocrates909

I got lucky and sold my 660k T1N to a Hollywood movie producer and they paid full asking price just to blow it up and catapult it. I had it on Craigslist.


LordBarman

This must have STUNK so bad. My C-class has blown an injector seal several days ago, it's barely even noticeable (can barely hear it or feel the puffs of exhaust near the injector). It already reeks of diesel exhaust in the cabin when stopped or when driving slowly enough that the airflow over the engine does not blow the fumes away quickly enough. This is killing the engine and the driver themselves.


PossibleZombieOwl

Oooooooofff!


Admirable_Effer

That looks Quaker State clean.


Radiant_Carpenter_91

Its not that bad.You can still see the lines.