'80 300TD smoke signals...

[JimmyL]

New thread, same smoke. Sort of. I decided to drive it today for an errand. Glow plugs glow, car starts immediatly, then sputters and dies. After a couple times of this routine, if I keep my foot working accelerator, it will stay running. Heavy smoke!
Backed outta my driveway, choking on smoke I'm backing into. Got on the road, and the smoke cleared, and stayed gone. Ran about a 10 mile round trip, with 2 stops. Both restarts, car started fine and idled, no real smoke, however it does have a noticable miss.
Got home, let it sit about 3-4 hours, went out to start it, and it wouldn't stay running, and when it did after same routine above, smoked.
One other point of interest, I've always heard what a dog the 240D is. I drove one last week, an automatic. Noticably quicker than my wagon! I tried a 0-60 timed today, and at 28 seconds I had run out of my 1/4 mile road, and was only at 57 or so. It has always been that bad of a dog, I just never had a reference point until I drove the 240D, and also read some 0-60 times in other threads.
Still at a loss. On a brighter note, at least the AC worked today...
Jimmy

[300SDog]

I guess smoke threads are sort of like oil threads around here...... so this one dropped to page 3 with no replies. That's understandable, since most people searching "diesel smoke" in forum archives can find the answers they are seeking.

Otherwise, you've got to at least tell us what color the smoke was and what it smells like..... If your 300TD severely lacks power then I'd investigate a possibly blown head gasket first.

[dresserman]

Jimmy:
What are you running as a fuel additive?

[MTUpower]

Jimmy my 80 617 N/A hits 60 in just over 15 seconds, so smoke or no smoke something is still wrong.
William

When I first got my wagon, the performance was bad, really bad. It turned out that the tank was just filled with bad diesel. This car had probably been sitting around for a long time. I'm not suggesting that your car has been sitting around but to me if you have checked everything else you could have gotten some bad diesel.

Just a thought...

[R Leo]

Jimmy,
I can't remember if you ever told us what the smoke actually smelled like: raw diesel, burnt diesel (bituminous coal smoke), Pepe Le Pu, antifreeze or what?

Enquiring minds want to know.

[JimmyL]

I didn't expect this thread back up top when I logged in tonight. As a coincidense, I drove the silver piece of junk this evening, as now I just try to let it hit the road once a week or so. To be honest, it is rather embarrassing when I completely fog the street, and that is just warming it up enough to idle (1-3 min.) This afternoon I loosened all injector lines from injectors, and had the MB hatin' wife turn the key so I could see what IP did. Well, it just drips from all 5 injector lines. I have no idea how normal this is. Tightened them back up and drove this pig around. On a good 1/2 mile of road, flat, I could only get up to 60! Also, when I let off the accelerator, that is when it smokes most during driving, not on acceleration.
R Leo, I can't tell what it smells like. I have little sense of smell. Wife had gone in before I asked her for the sniff test.
I don't know what to do yall. I'm in to it for way too much to junk it, or sell for pennies. I've spent my saved up birthday/Christmas $ on injectors, accumulators, 1/2 shaft, tires, hyd. high pressure hose, etc, etc....
It's just gonna have to sit until I have more $ to throw at it. And I have seen more clean 123's driving around this week...............
Thanks for letting me whine.
Jimmy

*edit* I'll have my spousal apparatus try to give me a read on the smoke smell. I've used several different additives, as this has been going on for awhile. Tank cleaned, also bypassed tank and ran from my purge bottle, with same result.

[whunter]

Isn’t there anyone near Sunnyvale, Texas who can drop by and look over Jimmy’s problem child???

[R Leo]

Originally Posted by whunter

Isn’t there anyone near Sunnyvale, Texas who can drop by and look over Jimmy’s problem child???

If ya can't find it, call Jimmy and have him fire the beast up...then follow the smoke to it's source.

Dude, we're here for ya, don't give up yet.

[R Leo]

Originally Posted by JimmyL

Well, it just drips from all 5 injector lines.

That's probably all you're gonna get with those lines loose. The amount of fuel pushed to the injector and ultimately injected into the cylinder is infinitesimal.

[MTUpower]

If the engine is running at idle and you crack one injector it should 1) cause the car to miss 2) either foam the fuel around the nut or squirt it, but quite a bit ought to come out. Try that with all injectors and see if they are equal and the engine misses when you crack each one. The less is misses the less that cylinder is contributing to the total power. You may need a IP, and this test will help determine that.

[whunter]

This issue covers two threads.
Have you gotten any further in diagnosis?
Was the issue found and fixed?
Did you find local help?