Well, here's the story. I installed the new starter this afternoon. I do think it cranks a little better than the other one (it should, it's the turbo version). But, the car still didn't start. I probably have quite a bit of diesel in there by now, with at least a dozen failed attempts.

Anyway, i put a little light under the oil pan, and throw an electric heater under the hood. I brought the battery inside and charged it, did all this for about 3 hours. Tried again. It spun a little faster maybe, not enough though. Still no start.

So, I let it rest for an hour or so, battery outside but on the charger. I come back out and jump it to a running car, let it sit there hooked up for 5-10 minutes, and then glow. And glow. for about 3 minutes. Then, I try to crank it up. It FINALLY lit! YAY! A small sucess in a world of failure! So, I drove it around for a good long while to get everything hot and clean out diesel in the oil, etc.

So, here's my question. What do you think is wrong? This shouldn't have been that hard. I am questioning these things right now, what do you all think?

1.) Valves. These need to be adjusted, I'm sure. I will try and tackle these this weekend.

2.) Battery. Should my 700CCA Interstate Group 48 (not the bigger 49) be at question here? It DID need that jump to get going, and this bad boy has been on the charger for at least 48 hours now. It is less than 2 years old though.

3.) Glow Plug Reaming. This might be worth checking out, but I don't have the reamer. I have read the threads on drill bits, screwdrivers, etc. But havent' come up with the answer on what is an acceptable (safe!) method. I don't have the cash for the $100 reamer.

Thoughts? Thanks all for your help so far, this will be a sucess eventually!

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'79 240D 4 speed manual 105k miles