Sorry but I have to try to get to the root of the problem. I posted last month about some of my symptoms. Here is a little more detail. My one owner previous 81' 240d is so slow on take off compared to another with many more miles. I just have no- get up and go in first gear and it slowly gets better in second. There is no hestitation in any gears just lack of any power in 1st.Flat out highway and 65+ is no problem. #rd gear is a real puller. The car flies in higher gears.
I ran it next to another 80' 240d and this other car smoked me bad on take off and performance. I invite any Utah peeps to come drive them. It really approaches the performace of a 300D.

Here is what I have ....
81' 240 purchased in Germany 1981 on the MB Import program.
Car lived it's whole live in So cal and Las Vegas. The car was garaged and
maintained by a Independent MB dealer in Vegas.
The vehicle was driven by an older couple, mostly driven by the elderly lady. I spoke with here after I got the car at auction. It had a minor fender hit.
Oodmeter is 136xxx and is actual
What I have done:
Adjusted valves
Changed filters
Change oil to Delo 400
put one can of Greased Lightning ( as suggested on this forum) in the tank and saw no difference.
No visible chain stretch.
Very little blow-by

MY questions are this...

What should the IP be set at using the bubble method and accounting for my 4500' elevation.
I see 2 banjo bolts on the IP.. do they need attention/cleaning?
The other 240d I raced.. (yeah like you can race) looked to have his IP retarded heavily( rotated away from motor about 3/8 more than mine..
I would figure worse performance on his but again his is a rocket ship compared to mine.
I know this motor is capable of more power in 1st gear and beginning second cause I have driven one that does.
Help with suggestions...After 2nd .. 3rd and 4th it goes like a cut cat but
i need to purchase binoculars to look for oncoming traffic when entering the freeway as it is now... Help?
IP or injector problem.. what do you think?

thanks
and I did search.. most of the post's suggest to live with 240 low power but I know there is something wrong at takeoff.

As the owner of a 1980 240d manual shift myself I suggest that you turn up your turbocharger a little...since you are at such an extreme elevation.. it sure helped on mine....
LOL....

The first and cheapest things to do IMO is to do the Diesel Purge by the book, check your timing chain stretch and set the IP. I do not know about the bubble method .... I have not seen that in the FSM... I think that was gotten from the guy in Waco....

I don't know what you mean by " no visible chain stretch".... the FSM specifically says " if you have a performance complaint" and YOU DO,.... then the stretch must be checked using the 2mm movement of the number one intake valve method.....

I bought my car cheap because number one cylinder read very low compression and it was using a quart of oil per 300 miles... but it is very perky and always gets 24 mpg...it had some oil leaks and I know it needs valve seals....

It was possibly mentioned on your previous post. Are you positive you are getting full linkage movement at the pump by observation. The pedal when on the floor should have the pump arm fully advanced. Just get someone to hold the pedal down and see if you can push the pump arm any farther. Seen too many 240s with less than optimum linkage movement. I would even hazard a guess there are still a lot of 240s out there with this problem although it might not be yours.

An old lady's diesel benz? The car might be dead meat since diesels combust on their own accord they are alot like creatures of habbit and will break in at different optimal torque and hp power bands depending on how they've been driven especially for the first 150k miles. I've seen this myself with fleet vehicles. Among several issuzu diesel trucks there were some that cooked and others were slugs. The ones used for local city deliveries tended to be slowest of the lot.

Carbon build on pre-comb chambers, piston crowns and valves can be major factor too..... If it was me, i'd take the car out and beat the crap out of it at high rpms for an extended road trip.

Hi,
Maybe running a can of diesel purge through the injectors might help. It made a big difference on my 240d 3 years ago. Make sure you run directly into the IP - not in the tank.

A. Berzins

How are things with fuel delivery to the IP (Tank not under vac., strainer clean, good fuel, etc).

Just a thought