Hello everyone,
It was bad this morning. I almost drained my battery getting it started. 1984 300SD. Lots of smoke. It was about 10 deg C and I was getting scared. I thought I would have to ride my motorcycle to work!
The weird thing is I just went out and started it right up,. the temp now is 16 deg C.
I took some OHM readings on the plugs on the 200k scale from the plug socket on the wheel well to a ground on the shock absorber:
1-21.3
2-29.3
3-21.2
4-.000
5-.000
Also, I have never seen my glow plug light come on but I'm sure at least some of them are working because I had some starting trouble before and I replaced plugs 4 & 5 and it cleared right up. they were reading 1.000 before I replaced them.
I thought it might be a burned out bulb but I just tested and swapped it with one that I know works and it still didn't light up. I checked all the fuses in the fuse box and they are all good.

I'm sorry if this has been addressed before. I checked the DIY section but it wasn't much help. I really need some help from you guys here I don't want to ride my motorcycle in this weather. That would really stink!

Danny

The resistance values on a 200K scale are meaningless.

You need to find a suitable meter that can measure on a 10 ohm scale, maximum.

You are looking for values below 1 ohm on all plugs. You must ground the test equipment to the battery, and not the shock tower, to ensure you are getting valid readings.

If any plugs read above 1 ohm, or, you get a value of infinity (open circuit), replace the plug.

Remember, many times the vehicle will fail to start if it gets too much fuel without a light. Usually, at very cold temperatures, you get one chance to start it. This is why the owners manual suggests to hold the key in the start position and not let go until you are sure that the engine is fully running at idle.

Here's a real simple factor that's very easy to overlook this time of year depending on where you live, and it was a "gotcha" for me- filling stations may still be transitioning from #2 (Summer) Diesel to #1 (Winter). Especially if you last filled up at a low sales volume for Diesel place, you might have got a tank full of #2, and at 10 deg C there would be some partial clouding of #2. For me it was far worse- we had a real sudden cold snap from +15 C to -8 C, and on that cold morning my car started, ran for about 5 sec. then stopped cold. My attempted re-starts had absolutely no combustion happening at all, so I pretty much knew what it was. Then, the next day we went back up to a daytime high of +12 deg C, and the car came to life instantly- in fact, I don't think it has ever started as easy!

So when it's warm, if you still have a lot of fuel from your last fill-up on board, get yourself some kerosene or even some regular gas and put it in your tank. That will keep things flowing until you get #1- obviously you need to ask the attendant if they have their winter Diesel yet (you might get a blank stare back at ya')

I will lay odds you have 3 bad glow plugs. Agreed with 200k scale. Use the lowest scale you can, and get your ground connection directly to the head. My plugs measure on the order of 0.5 ohms.

__________________
'83 240D with 617.952 and 2.88
'01 VW Beetle TDI
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD
'89 Toyota 4x4, needs 2L-T
'78 280Z with L28ET - 12.86@110
Oil Burner Kartel #35

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...oD/bioclip.jpg

hey,
I don't know if I want to put regular gas or kerosene in my tank. I'm too new to this diesel stuff to mess around like that.

I'll take some more readings later after work. I'm ok with going to the battery ground but do I test at the plug or is it ok to test at the connection on the wheel well?

Having the starter on while the engine is cranking on it's own power won't hurt it? that always has me worried. It almost kicked over a couple of times but I stopped because I didn't want to hurt the starter.

Also, what I really want to know is why isn't the plug light coming on? How do you check the relay? Is that the black box above the plug connector on the wheel well? Is there another fuse for the plugs besides the fuses in the fuse box? The FYI instructions mentioned But I didn't see anything like this.

Help me please

Danny

Kerosene is simply #1 diesel fuel. The M/B owner's manual suggests using kerosene, in various proportions, to assist in cold starts when using only #2 diesel. You can run the engine on 100% kerosene, however, it will be lacking in power because the fuel has less energy than #2 diesel.

It is preferred to test at the connection on the wheel well. Just pull the plug and connect the probe to each one of the sockets.

It's not a gasoline engine and the starter is designed for this purpose. Just hold that key in the start position until you are somewhat sure tht it will run on its own. Naturally, it's better to not rev it up if the starter is engaged.
When you stop the process, you are much less likely to get it going on the second or third attempt.

The plug light is not coming on because you likely have a few bad glow plugs.

You can check the relay by setting up a voltmeter on one of the plugs. Turn to the run position and check for 12V at one of the plugs.

The relay is the black box above the plug connector on the wheel well. Take the cover off and there will be a copper plate that is secured with two screws on the top of the relay. This plate is the fuse. It does not look like a fuse, but it is an 80A fuse. If you have any doubts about the condition of this fuse, replace it. It's only a $2.00 item.

Help is what we do here.

I have 5 new glow plugs and my glow plug light only works once in a blue moon...but the glow plugs are coming on.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Kerosene and Diesel #1 are 100% the same substance?

__________________
1999 Mercedes-Benz S600, 103K miles - garage queen
1988 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL, 89K miles - daily driver
2007 Hyundai Sonata Limited, 31K - daily driver