im hoping the bigger battery fixed things. its been starting fine the past couple days, except today i had to crank longer than usual. it was odd- it started right up, then did the usual cold stumbling that it does (not sure exactly why). i put it in reverse and gave it some gas and it died. tried starting again and cranked for 5 seconds or so and just sounded like there was no gas. pumped the primer but there was no air in the lines. so i unscrewed the oil cap, and it fired right up. still continued to stumble for the next couple minutes but then was fine. and it wasn't even that cold out today!

i saw the thread about making the glow plug reamer- looks like he's using a 5/16 bit. i tried using a 1/4 bit and couldnt get it through. it felt like i was drilling into the metal so i stopped because i didnt want to damage the engine. im now thinking (and kind of hoping) that my glow plug chambers are just all gummed up with carbon and not working effectively, and thats why im having the stumbling and difficult starting when cold. I do run vegetable oil some of the time, only when the engine reaches around 90*C. id like to build that reamer but do not currently have access to a welder. is it possible to clean out with a drill bit? do i need to spray anything in there to loosen up the carbon before trying to twist the drill bit? like i said i tried it once with a 1/4 bit and didnt seem to be getting anywhere. the 15/64 bit went all the way through just fine

i never came to a conclusion about the problem with the last engine, it was just a one time occurrence and never happened to me again. it was very odd!

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1981 300SD, 270K, two tank wvo system
1985 300D, 288K, california version
1985 300DT wagon, 315k, broken odo