first of all, i am new here and very much appreciate any help given. i recently purchased a 1979 300TD. it has been performing well (i drove it from georgia to michigan when i bought it) and i have been driving it around town until saturday when it would not start. in the last week i had put a new battery and a new stereo in it (i cant see how either would affect it). i have manually bled the system and when i remove the fuel line from the first injector diesel comes out of it (much more comes out when manual pumping than when the car is turning over, but it does come out either way). the car had very little fuel in it and was parked on an incline (with the back downhill) so i put a couple gallons of diesel in it - still wont start. it turns over and small puffs of smoke will come out of the exhaust but it doesnt seem to be "firing". any ideas as to what the problem may be? anything i could try to narrow it down? any suggestions? please keep in mind that this is my first diesel (besides an old GMC truck that i owned for a couple of months but that doesnt really count) and my first old mercedes also, so dont be afraid to "dumb it down" or be too descriptive, i wont take offense. much thanks to any response and i truely appreciate it. peace, aaron