hei,

i'm new here, and glad to be here. if i may just jump in. i live in cold Finland
(right now -20c) and i just got a 1983 200D 123W 2 liter. i got it in a town about 500km (310 miles) away from where i live. the engine was warm already when i picked it up and i drove it back home with no problems. in short stops it started up again perfectly. the next day i did not plug it in over night (the coolant pre-heater) and in the morning i could not start it. after many tries while cranking constantly i got it to catch on 1 cylinder and then another and eventually it started. but i almost killed my starter. when the engine had warmed up it worked nice no smoke and decent power. the next morning (today) i plugged it in for 2 hours and tried to start it. it would not start and i drained my battery dead.
i had a 1982 240D a few years ego and it would always start up with no problems, even with out pre-heat. (not healthy i know but i forget some times...)
my fuel lines where cracked and leaking when i got it and on the way home i needed to shorten the line after the pre-filter to cut off the cracked part. i did not prime the system free of air after. can that be the cause of the problem?
there is also a slight leak around injector number 3.
the glow plugs are working fine and the turn over sound sounds like my good old reliable 240D. any ideas?

other then that it is a grate car! since i sold my old 240 i have had a ford, a citroen, a volvo, a mitsubishi, a nissan, a dodge, a opel, and other too. some newer (1999) and some older (1982) but all have failed me. i am glad to be back to the only car that is worth it! (even if it needs some work)