Ok, I know theres already been about a million posts on poor power, so don't bite my head off yet, I did try searching this one and didnt find my situation.

I got the 240D running yesterday with the 300D engine, had no power to pull a hill unless in first gear, and I'm talking something you could ride a bicycle up and hardly notice.

Yesterday on the initial test run the trans acted like it had no vacuum to the modulator, redlined to shift all gears, found and fixed that one this morning, the P.O. had rigged the vacuum lines and had them all routed wrong. Shifts much better now, but early, I think can be fixed by a modulator adjustment.

I still am having a major loss of power though, I can stomp it to the floor, on a grade that can't hardly be called a hill, and it maxes at 30mph, and falls quickly, to the point I wonder if it's going to stop rolling.

I have doublechecked that everything got put back together correctly with the new engine, and my only thought is that it has to be injection timing, does that sound right? It seems to run ok otherwise, revs right up in neutral, idles smooth, doesn't smoke unless I give it a heavy fast rev, and runs between 80 and 95 on the temp gauge. During the process of installing this engine I did pull the valve cover and check the timing chain condition and timing marks, all was in excellent shape, timing was dead on.

One other question I have also, should the oil pressure gauge always read at 3 when running? Hot, cold, idling or driving, never moves.

Any ideas would be appreciated.
-Chris

fuel filters? fuel tank strainer? misadjusted linkages?

For your power problem, have you checked the alda system? It provides boost enrichment and involves a boost line attached by banjo bolt(back of the intake manifold) to overpressure switch (firewall) to alda (IP).

For the tranny, shift points are controlled by the bowden cable and vacuum controller on the IP, not the modulator. Try this:http://articles.mbz.org/transmission/adjust/

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )

The oil pressure always reads 3 bars when cold. But, when the engine is warm, mine reads between 1 and 2 bars at idle and 3 bars at anything above about 1000 rpm. Does yours even read 3 bars at idle when hot?

Regarding the loss of power, have you verified that pushing the peddle to the floor causes the linkage at the IP to go all the way to the stop? New fuel filters? Clean air filter? Any obstructions in the air intake path? At least 1/4 tank of fuel? Air leaks in the fuel line? Does the fuel flow freely from the tank if you disconnect the line at the pre-filter?

Check throttle linkage to be sure you are reaching full "throttle". Thats the first step.

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1976 BMW 2002- 100k
1995 BMW 325i 175k
1984 Mercedes Benz 300D Turbo Diesel- 270,000 mi

1981 Mercedes Benz 240D- Estimated 300,000+ mi Returned to the earth

Sorry, I forgot to add the other details in:

After setting the injection pump via the drip method @ 24* during the install, I connected the linkage, and verified that pressing the pedal to the floor will max the pump out against the full throttle stop bolt (which was never tampered with). I also verified the plastic vac switch for the trans shift gets to it's recommended .5mm from its full throttle stop, and is not stopping the pump linkage, also verified the linkage had full movement without hitting things such as injector pipes. From what I have seen in the archives, proper linkage adjustment is obtained when you can have free movement to the point where the pump hits the stop bolt at full throttle by pushing the pedal, and can still relax back to the internal pump lever stop at the idle end (with idle cable disconnected) If I'm wrong about that do let me know....

Before I even had oil in the engine I had replaced both fuel filters, and the oil filter. Also, I had removed the tank sender and siphoned out the old fuel even though it smelled ok (was years old and didnt trust it), before refilling it with 10 gal's of fresh fuel, I looked at the fuel "sock" with a small mag lite and a mechanics mirror, looked great as did the tank. I could freely blow air thru the fuel line and hear it in the tank. The air filter wasn't replaced yet, but I did check it to make sure it was in good condition. When I was priming the system I had plentiful fuel flow from the hand pump, I prefilled the filters, primed the pump first, then the lines going to the injectors and tightened all up. Didn't appear to be pumping any air.

This one doesn't have an Alda system, non turbo.

On the oil gauge, yes, it does still read on 3 on a hot, idling engine. Only thing I had done on that end of things was to pull the pan and check/clean the strainer.
-Chris

The high oil pressure is strange, AFAIK they all drop to 1-2 bars at hot idle.

I don't know what to make of the power issue either. All it should need is air and fuel. If the air isn't restricted anyplace, it must be the fuel. How confident are you of the IP timing? Any chance the lift pump is bad, so the fuel isn't getting to the IP when the front of the car is higher than the back?

I'm stumped, anyone?

Well, as far as confidence goes, I just taught myself via the pages I found in here , how to set my first pump. I used the drip method, only had myself around, so I did it by removing the pop plunger from #1 injector line fitting on top of the pump and stuck some clear tubing on it in a horseshoe shape, set the engine on 24* btdc and made sure I did so in direction of normal rotation, then worked the hand plunger with one hand and rotated the pump body (in the direction the timing chain would be feeding into it) slowly until it just stopped drooling and went to a drip/second. I did it twice to be sure I hit the same point both times. (I was really proud when it cranked 1.5 turns and fired after initial priming)
Is the lift pump part of the IP? Whereabouts would that be hidden?

I am a bit concerned on that high oil pressure too, I feel better that it's higher than lower, but I do also know that unusually high pressure could mean a plug/restriction somewhere in the system.
-Chris

The "lift pump" is the fuel pump upstream of the IP (with the hand pump attached). This is the "new" style hand pump:

http://catalog.eautopartscatalog.com/mercedesshop/sophio/wizard.jsp?partner=mercedesshop&clientid=catalog.mercedesshop&baseurl=http://catalog.peachparts.com/&cookieid=1CQ0J3JZ41TN0IA5TZ&year=1982&make=MB&model=300-DT-001&category=All&part=Primer+Pump+Assembly

The older hand pump has a white handle that unscrews to work the hand pump.

I do not know the proper method of setting the IP timing, except for what I've read.

On the power problem, there is one more thing that is necessary that I haven't seen mentioned. Exhaust. Could be a plugged exhaust. Just disconnect it from the turbo, run it a very short distance, just enough to see if it makes any difference. If power is up, something is plugged up.
On the oil pressure, I have seen a lot of sending units go bad and cause this problem. If you are using the 240 guages, then use a 240 sending unit and see if it helps. Good luck..

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84 500 SEL (307,xxx miles)

Now that is a point, the exhaust does have an unusual "stuffy" sound to it from what I've heard on other 300's. With the P.O. having it messed up where the old engine ran at redline a lot, they could have melted something into a plug. Since I don't have the exhaust all finished yet (front section made of several pieces clamped together as temporary) it wouldn't be hard to disconnect it under the driver floorboard, worth a try anyway. It's not a turbo, but that shouldn't make a difference with plugging exhaust.

I'm not too sure what you mean by sending unit on the oil, the only thing I have on this one is a black plastic tube coming from the filter housing going into the rear of the dash cluster, was the same setup on the old engine as well. Is there some kind of sensor built into the cluster? I just assumed it went directly into a bourdon tube type gauge.

I'll try the exhaust first, and then I'll try swapping the lift pump assy out with the one that came off the car on the old engine. (they look to be identical, old style with white knob). This one spews fuel out all around the knob when you pump it anyway, I don't think it's supposed to do that.
-Chris

Chris, Sorry about the oil pressure sender statement. I forgot that your car would have a tube going to the guage. Only thing I can think to do is hook up a known good mechanical guage and see what it says. Both of my cars will stay at 3 until the engine has been run for 5 min or more at hiway speed. On cold days it may take longer, then they will read 1.0 for the 300D and 1.5 for the 500SEL at idle and go back to 3 with just a slight increase in engine speed. I wouldn't worry about it until you get the other bugs worked out and if it still says at 3 after a hyway run of 60 MPH or more for 5 or 10 min then I would you can investigate more.

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84 500 SEL (307,xxx miles)

That may be part of your problem, if you have an air leak at the hand pump you could be starving the IP. If swapping the pumps helps, I would also suggest upgrading to the new type pump.

The exhaust sounds worth checking too, let us know.

I took a look at the old lift pump this afternoon, it appears to be in the same if not worse shape, so I nixed the idea of swapping it, I did however put the front up on service ramps, and could see & feel definite pulsations in the fuel line and clear primary filter. I tried pinching the line with it running and it sucked the filter right down, let go and it gushed in. Held it at a good (but safe) rev and watched, the fuel never went lower in the filter, actually appeared to increase. After that I took a break and decided to get caught up on some yardwork (been diligently working on it for a month now daily).

On the oil pressure, I havent run it on the freeway yet, maybe that's why the gauge stays high, engine feels hot but maybe just not heating other stuff up enough yet, gotta put some useable tires on it first though, scary enough taking these yard rollers on the road @ 35-40......(still waiting for the good tires& rims the P.O. promised would come with the car)
-Chris

That sounds like an air leak to me. If it "sucked the filter down" the air had to come from someplace. Anyone?