My 83 300D (non turbo) is running on 4 out of 5 cylinders. I confirmed this today by cracking the injectors while it was running, and the idle lowered on 4/5, but when I cracked the first injector (closest to the front) the idle remained steady, and some fuel leaked out.

I've ruled out the injectors, since I replaced them a month ago, and the poor performance did not improve.

I haven't done a compression test, but the engine starts up like a champ, and oil pressure is always good.

I spoke to a German Car Mechanic this morning who said that the engine has to be replaced. He was appaulled to hear that I let another mechanic (not a diesel specialist!!) spray starter fluid into the air filter. He said this strips the oil from the engine, and turns the seals to sawdust. He said "don't bother bringing your car in" after this discussion.

My question, is there any hope for reviving this dead cylinder? Any tips, tricks, or "Hail Mary" techniques I might try?

Any help is much appreciated.

Check valve adjustments.....if they are in spec then get a compression adn leakdown test done....this is only way to find out if it has a chance or not.

__________________
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)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"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

You are much better off withOUT that mechanic... he was really full of it...
If you replaced your own injectors... did you check their pop off pressures and pattern ? Did you put new washers to replace any one time use items?
An aerosol burst of starter fluid into the intake when starting one of our 617's won't hurt anything... not enough BTU's, and this has been discussed here LOTS... and JimSmith posted the final word...
Your problem is probably something minor and when you find it you will be amazed that you thought about giving up on it...and that that mechanic told you you needed a new engine...

Welcome to the forum.

It's an unfortuante fact of life that the mechanic has the solution (always very expensive) before he has even begun to diagnose the problem.

So, first off, get a different mechanic. Anybody who immediately states that you need a new engine, prior to doing any testing on it, is incompetant.

Then, follow BHD's advice. Get a compression test done on that one cylinder. It will tell you, right away, whether you have to pull the head and check out what's going on inside.

I'll bet hes got valves that haven't been adjusted in 40K miles and one cylinder had a valve hanging open as a result. Check that before you pay someone to do a compression test.

__________________
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)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"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

I adjusted the valves myself about a month ago. Granted, I'm not a pro, and I just followed some instructions in a book. I tried to be as accurate as I could, being a novice and all.
How should I go about finding a good Merc diesel mechanic in San Diego? There are many "foreign auto" places in the yellow pages, but none say "diesel specialist" or anything.
I'm a novice, so I don't know what Pop Off pressures/patterns, or compression adn leakdown tests are. I suppose I should have a pro do these.
I'm glad to hear a little starter fluid won't hurt the engine. It was hard to believe that it would cause "death" (as he put it) if the can says its for gas AND diesel engines.
So, what should the FIRST step be? pop off pressure, compression test, or adn leakdown test?

On this site, on the very first page, there is a forum called "good MB shops". You can search this forum. Put "San Diego" as the search term and see what comes up.

If you don't get anything, you can post the question on that forum and someone in the area may give you a lead.


Edited:

Here, I did it for you. Many good results:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=3562&highlight=San+Diego

If fuel is getting to the injector it is probably not a fuel problem. However just for a quick test swap the 1st injector with a good one, say the back one. See if the dead cylinder follows it. This should only take a couple of minutes, then I would:

Adjust valves again
Check compression/leakdown

Did this problem come on fast or over a long time?

Engines don't lose compression overnight, but an injector may clog all of a sudden.

__________________
2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Thanks for the tip on a Mechanic Brian. I'll check it out.

As for the injectors, here is the flow of events:

1. One day engine wouldn't start. Mechanic sprayed starter fluid into it, and it still wouldn't go. The car sat for about two months.
2. I got a jump starting device, and the engine started and blew out a bunch of smoke. This is when I noticed a rought idle and lack of power.
3. I got injectors from a junk yard and installed them, and it still ran like crap.
4. I took out these injectors, dissassembled them, cleaned them, and put them it, and it stilll ran like crap.
5. I bought rebuilt injectors and put them in, and performace still hasn't changed.

So, to answer the questions, yes, the problem came on fast. Overnight.

Have you installed new filters ? If not, when you do put Diesel Purge into the new screw on filter and see if it runs better while that is being consumed. It really made a difference on mine.

If you recently adjujsted the valves, the possibility exists that you didn't torque down a retainer nut tight enough.

Pull the valve cover, and make certain the number one cylinder valve retaining nuts are tight.


You have a few extra injectors laying around. Take out the #1 injector and replace it with another. If the problem persists, Go back to the boneyard and get a few of the injector fuel lines.

Take the new lines and bend them so that the injector will spray into the air. Now BE CAREFUL because you should get a high pressure mist from the nozzle. Comnpare a 'good' cylinder with the one in question. Are they spraying roughly the same amount, is the mist pattern the same?

If the mist pattern is the same for all the cylinders, you can rule out the IP for now.

For about 50-60 bucks, you can pickup a cheap diesel compression tester on eBay. Mine works fine, but the cheap plastic gauge cover cracked, so now I can't throw it into the tool box.


http://www.benzbonz.biz

Marty

I can't really offer more than has already been said but now I know what to do should I find myself desparetly needing sawdust. Does this mechanic have a recipe for gold or other precious metals?

Good luck, hopefully a purge/internal cleansing will provide some improvement and lead to a solution.

__________________
Rob M
Norwich, VT USA
1980 240D Euro delivery 4 speed manual silver/blue
~160K miles

I haven't installed new filters in about a year. Since four cylinders are firing I don't think thats it.

I should have put the valve adjusment in the sequence of evens. It was most recent actually. I did it after the new injectors didn't fix the problem, hoping that the valve adjustment would. Certainly possible that I botched it up. I'll look at the valve adjustment on the first cylinder.

If that doesn't work, I'll get some old injector lines and see how the nozzel is spraying. Since we're on a roll here, if these methods DON'T WORK, what next?

Is the fact that this problem originally happened over night a good thing or a bad thing?

Clifton Mercedes
1003 W. Main
El Cajon, Ca 92020
619-448-7827

has done good work for me.

__________________
Charlie Porter
'80 300SD 487K+ miles

Well with a potiential valve issue al lot of factors come into play...such as temprature....etc....If the injectors are spraying nice....and the valve clearances are in spec on that cylinder then I would get a compression and leakdown test done next......to see if its a burned valve or something worse.

__________________
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)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"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