Just a thought.
Is it possible a leaking hand priming pump on top of the IP would give these problems?
I would bet on glow plugs but they would not cause it to idle badly after it has been running, what about vacuum, I am not familiar with the 123?

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Ncnetman
1959 Chev 3100 Fleetside
1965 Mustang
1968 Torino GT fastback
1969 Ranchero
1974 240d 4-speed -for sale
1976 240d fresh paint- on hold
1978 300cd fresh paint and new rearwindshield rubber
1990 6.2 Suburban 194k-getting a 6.5 turbo
2008 Duramax Silverado
2015 VW Passat TDI

Yes, a leaking hand pump will not seal on the suction stroke of the lift pump, and that will allow air into the fuel system. Very common, actually, and one of the reasons you can get one of these with a "dead engine" for next to nothing.

Replace with the new style sealed pump, never leaks air (or fuel, for that matter!).

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

If it smells like fuel when cranking and smokes heavily after starting and runs OK when going down the road then fuel supply may not be the issue. Crank for 30 sec then sit and start sounds like a fuel prime or compression. Won't idle in gear sounds like a governor or idle speed issue. Won't start when off for a bit but starts hot does sounds like a compression issue. This leads me to the cheap check first: compression. Like psFred says, it may be gunked up valve stems. May also be coked up seats. Running a tad loose for a while will help both issues, but will make a hard cold start worse. Make sure you have a good battery and check the compression before and after you loosen up the valves. Crank and sit in the meantime, and be patient. Diesels have a way of cleaning themselves out over time with good driving habits. And replace the rubber elements of the fuel lines - it's time.

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daBenz - 1970 220D

Check compression.

Hello everybody.

Thank you for all the help. I thought the valves had already been adjusted on this car but it was the other 2 240D's that I had adjusted not this one my mistake I appologize for this. So I adjusted them they where all tight. I adjusted them to the specs that I was told 7 intake and 15 exhaust. It ran better but poorly. So upon further research I found a post that said 3 go 5 nogo and 13 go 15 nogo and this helped considerably. I have also adjusted the IP timing which was way off. I used the bubble method to set this. I have also checked the timing chain and it is dead on perfect. As it stands now the car idles like it is supposed to but is still hard to start.

This brings to my next set of questions. I am inspecting the GP system on this car.

As you know it is a '79 240D so it has series GP's on it so I thought it had filament plugs in it but today I removed 1 and found a pencil type. My question is how do I tell or where can I get the correct parts to make it parallel wiring for the GP system.

Again thanks for all the help on the idle issue. Now I just need to fix this issue.

Don't waste your time, get the conversion kit from FastLane.


F1101-88322 KIT for converting LOOP series GP to hotter pencil parallel system
F1101-88322 KIT for converting LOOP series GP to hotter pencil parallel system

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