Hello Everyone,

Although this is my 1st post, I have been reading thru this forum
for a number of weeks now. What a tremendous amount of
information.

However, I have yet to find the answers to my problems!

I could write a book about this entire adventure and I am sure
some of you would find it quite entertaining...I'll not bore you
with all of the details.

This all starts with...I purchased this car on eBay. It is an '86
300 SDL with 187K miles. When I picked this car up, it started
really fast but, it did not sound smooth. We trailered the car
to home and she would not start to unload. We jumped her
off, unloaded her and parked her in the driveway.

She ain't started since!

I am in rural central Texas...no Mercedes mechanics around
here. Every trusted mechanic and diesel mechanic I know in
these parts has looked at this car...to no avail. The only
diagnosis is that the car is not turning over fast enough to start.

I took her to a recommended mechanic in Abilene and he had
this to say: The battery is good, the starter is good, it is getting
fuel, and the starter is pulling way too many amps while trying
to crank her. He suggested a 'stacked' bearing might be the
culprit.

Here is what has been done to the car:
Replaced the battery
Replaced the starter
Check all the grounds
Checked the glow plug relay
Made sure fuel was getting past the injector pump
Pulled valve cover off
Took out the timing chain tensioner-it seems to be ok-I lost one
of the 5mm steel balls and am trying to locate one then I will
reinstall it.

FYI- she does not have a 'trap oxidizer'.

A couple of things are real puzzling...how fast it started at
first and how fast it decided never to start again.

I am not a mechanic. However I can do have some mechanical
experience. And I am not 100% familiar with all of the
abbreviations you guys use in this form. So, please be very
descriptive with your responses.

In a nutshell: Please Help!

Thanks a million.