1981 240D-- Previous engine clapped out, no compression and burning lots of engine oil. Quit running about 1 year ago. Put used engine in over the weekend. No start. Checked all reasonable things.. Glow plugs, etc. Could be bad fuel. Any ideas on how to best purge old fuel and any first start tricks on newly installed engine? Thanks.

I remember reading a thread about how you should break in a newly rebuilt engine here in the past few months... you may want to do a search for it... they said it was crucial for ensuring a good long lifespan of a diesel engine.

As far as purging fuel... Lubro Moly has a product where you disconnect some fuel hoses... stick them in this products container and wa-la! Clean fuel system. I bought a can of the stuff but just don't know enough about purging systems to use it... it says for "professional use only"

Question: Did you prime the system with the fuel pump?

I did purge the line with the manual pump. The engine was running before I bought it. I emptied the fuel tank, and all I can say is it wasn't diesel fuel. Now I have clean diesel, installed a new filter and reprimed the system, including loosening the injector lines at the injectors until they ran fuel. When I crank it now, it occasionally fires, but doesn't yet start. I am getting some black or grey smoke out of the tailpipe. The engine seems to be in good shape, with 350+ pounds of compression. Also, when I crank it the oil pressure goes up to 3 bar. Is there any technique, e.g. holding the pedal to the floor like you would with a flooded gas engine, etc.? I am recharging the battery right now, since I discharged it getting the system ready to go. Thanks guys for all your good advice already.

Yoda

Yoda, if the engine is trying to start but not successful, then have a look at each glow plug again. Make sure that each one is working properly. I sounds like the cylinder air temperature is not increasing enough during the compression stroke to enable it to start. I had a similar problem once and got it to start with a block heater (1 hr). Then I later figured out that the glow plugs were'nt working properly.

Gary

It's Running!! I put in new glow plugs like you all recommended, and it fired right up. Thanks to all of you who responded and got me back on the road.