Bought a "New" 300D.. Parts 1,2 & 3
 

Part one of the story.. and some questions
Ok, so always keeping an eye out for the perfect deal, I run across a 1979 300D with about 160k on it. It was bought used in the early 80's, and driven by grandma until 1996 when it was parked in her garage. She went senile and apparently forgot she even owned the house where the car was stored. Fast forward to last month when the son pulls the car out for his wife to drive. Yes, it was there for 9 years. So he puts a new battery in it, new gp's, fresh fuel and changes the filters but can't get it to start. Says to me, " I just want it gone, it's taking up driveway space". I'm picking it up tomorrow..

I may be foolish, but I think I can get it running. He pulled the injectors to find out if they were working, and says there is clean fuel in the filters.

What should I be looking for to get it started? Any tricks I need to keep in mind as I approach this? I am hoping to drive it some distance home and therefore didn't buy a return ticket.. (go big or go home, right?) :rolleyes:

*Air

*Good fuel

*compression

These are the only three things that one of these diesels needs to run. Without one, it cant run.

A good starter (that turns over fast) and a well charged battery help a lot too ;)

Make sure there is NO air in the fuel lines, and make sure the GP's are getting voltage. Fresh oil is a have to. Then crank her over...

It takes quite some time to bleed the air out of the Injection pump, so be pacient. You might want to check for fuel at the injectors. This is accomplished my loosening the hard lines at the injectors and cranking it over while watching for fuel.

If he just changed the filters I am thinking that he never bled all the air out of the lines. But, if it wont start after 10 minutes of total crank time (15 seconds max at a time, 30 seconds at least in between) then you have a problem.

If anyone knows about problems starting one of these..... ;)

Clogged tank screen? Could have algae in the screen, buttttt it may be simpler. PRIME the fuel system with the hand pump on the driver side of the engine.

do a search in here for "Prime" for more information. You might also search under lift pump.

To avoid a possible fuel blockage you can suck fuel out of a can instead of the tank to see if it runs. If you do this you definately have to prime the system.

Yeah, I'm bringing along a late style replacement hand pump just to hedge my bets.. :D I'm almost certain there will be both algae and air in the system. I've also packed some extra lengths of fuel tubing, and the trusty mity-vac....

That poor engine, he didn't even change the oil and spray some lube in the cylinders before starting it? 9 years...the whole engine must have been bone dry! :eek:

search function
 

see my recent thread on '240D no start anecdote'.

try having the valves adjusted. if too tight, the engine won't start.

does the glow plug light go on? maybe it just needs a strip fuse (for the glow plugs).

It's a good car even tho it is not a turbo.

check the shut off valve and associated vacuum lines. U can disconnect certain vacuum lines to get the thing started and diagnose associated probs. do a search on these subjects in order to avoid associated problems.

Ok. Part 2
 

So on to part two of the story..
Arrive at the house this afternoon about 2. The car is sitting under a tree, looking pretty good. 142k miles. Not a trace of rust, interior like new. Guy comes out and opens the hood. Valve cover is off, all the injectors are out and other misc. type things. He asks where our tow-bar is, and when I tell him I'm driving it home he just laughs. Apparently he used to be an auto mechanic, and after doing all the right things, still couldn't get it started.. So I spent an hour of putting it back together with a couple of new parts I brought and filling the filter with diesel purge we give it the college try. Pump the heck out of the new primer I brought. Everything. Not even a burp. We even gave it a couple of shots with ether. Not a puff. Nada. I tried everything I could think of and finally gave up. Had to admit I was beat. So, we hook up a tow strap to get it out of the guys driveway and head off down the road. Thinking that there is no dying way this thing shouldn't start, at 45mph I drop it into 2nd, then low a couple of times to see if I can spin the engine up.. On the third try the rear hydraulic pump does it's thing and the engine finally winds up, coughs, bang, clank and away she goes... I knew it had to run.. The poor guy nearly had kittens when I called him from just down the street with his car running. After 30 minutes and a little run on the freeway it's smooth as silk and no smoke. Every single thing works, cruise and all. Shifts perfectly. Now for an oil change, new tires (holy flat spots batman!) and a little road trip home.. Pics to come..

Wonderful, Im glad you got her going!

I will be looking forward to your pictures...

It took approximatly 9 months to get mine going :eek: so consider yourself lucky.

w123
 

HooHooHooo that is awesome! I can imagine that guy had a cow that he just loaded off a supposedly junk car on ya!!

OK so we need pics and how much did ya say it cost?

Yeah, do your diligence on it and take a long couple of trips to get the engine happy and bring out the bugs.

Don't worry, you know what is at the end of the yellow brick road..OZ who ain't perfect. :sun_smile

good
 

show! pulling to start is a good way to go. with the cylinders dry after all that cranking it was prob the only way to get enuough compression to start it!

tom w

Exactly what I was thinking... :D

On to Part 3...
 

So now the car is running. After new tires, and oil change and 10 stops to change filters and pump the hand pump, I'm finally home. Discovered the tank screen plugged solid. No wonder it kept losing power. Too tired to write more now, it was a 20 hr day yesterday after a 24hr day before that. The p/o included the service records, and I see the ACC Servo was replaced shortly before the car was parked. I can already see I'll have my hands full fixing up the acc system, it blows poorly, out of all the vents (def, dash, lower) at the same time, and no a/c. Any ideas where to start? Ugh.. so tired... I'm throwing in a picture from the drive.. Not a place you want a breakdown.. Oh yeah, gave 500 for it.. :thumbsup:

the a/c amp located behind the glove box. check to see if it is burnt. get a used one from junk yard.
this routine revived my a/c in my w123 after years of non-function.

Congratulations on getting her home, especially under it's own power.