2 more questions about my 83 240D (one about startup one about rattling) - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

charlottenian · #1 10-19-2006, 07:23 AM

Thanks for your help guys, this forum has been a saviour for mercedes freaks like myself (I have a 83 240D, 83 300D, 2001 S430, 2003 Sl500) and my preference is the older two, the newer ones are for my wife but they build those to break and go to the "workshop" but thats a whole other topic.

About the 83 240D here are a couple issues:

startup.... when I try to start it up in the morning or after it has sat for more than 4 hours it takes a long time to get it on. I wait for the light to go off, take my foot off the gas and crank it, it wont start. I have to do this process about 2-3 times before it cranks up then after that its good to go. If I drive it for 10-15 minutes after it warms up, the car cranks right up on the first try. My personal opinion is that the glowplugs are bad, but I am not that experienced to know right off the bat. I put some fuel injector cleaner and that seemed to help the initial startup as it used to need a quick jolt of ether to get it going.

on idle.... the car is tuned good and sounds great, I noticed that when I am at a stop light I feel the car rattle, is it probably motor mount / shocks need to be changed?

Thanks in advance!

barry123400 · #2 10-19-2006, 08:29 AM

There are many threads in the archives especially about dealing with the glow plugs and their circuit. It probably would take half a day to transfer the information down here. Glow plug problems are no doubt the highest questioned item on this site. You can check your motor mounts for being old and soft or disintegrated easily enough and yes that could cause a few rattles and vibrations. Also if you have never done it and have no ideal at all when it was last done. Check and adjust those valve clearances if required. Can induce hard starts or contribute to them to some extent.

charlottenian · #3 10-19-2006, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barry123400

There are many threads in the archives especially about dealing with the glow plugs and their circuit. It probably would take half a day to transfer the information down here. Glow plug problems are no doubt the highest questioned item on this site. You can check your motor mounts for being old and soft or disintegrated easily enough and yes that could cause a few rattles and vibrations. Also if you have never done it and have no ideal at all when it was last done. Check and adjust those valve clearances if required. Can induce hard starts or contribute to them to some extent.

thanks... it appears that glow plugs are probably the culprit here.... Anyway to know if it is the motor mounts being bad before I remove them?

Thanks

Surf-n-Turf · #4 10-19-2006, 08:51 AM

I wasn't aware that you were supposed to hold the accelerator down while warming the plugs. I have never done that and mine starts fine everytime.

charlottenian · #5 10-19-2006, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surf-n-Turf

I wasn't aware that you were supposed to hold the accelerator down while warming the plugs. I have never done that and mine starts fine everytime.

I read it in the owners manual.... I will try not doing that and see if it helps... its 62 degrees today and still took a while to start. I am getting a hunch that I need to change the glowplugs on it, the car has 87K original miles and I don't think the original owner changed them.

arkie · #6 10-19-2006, 09:32 AM

83 has the pencil style glowplugs that are wired in parallel so they are easy to check. The glowplug relay is on the drivers side fender well - you can open it up and pull the plug and test each glow plug through the wires for resistance. Yours sounds like my old 83, only one of the glow plugs was working and the other three tested open when checked for resistance. The change out on the plugs is easy except for the fact that access is limited due to the hard fuel lines in the way. I did mine with a boxend wrench and it took forever - the newer geared style boxends with a swiveling head would make the job much easier.

rebreath · #7 10-19-2006, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlottenian

Thanks for your help guys, this forum has been a saviour for mercedes freaks like myself (I have a 83 240D, 83 300D, 2001 S430, 2003 Sl500) and my preference is the older two, the newer ones are for my wife but they build those to break and go to the "workshop" but thats a whole other topic.

About the 83 240D here are a couple issues:

startup.... when I try to start it up in the morning or after it has sat for more than 4 hours it takes a long time to get it on. I wait for the light to go off, take my foot off the gas and crank it, it wont start. I have to do this process about 2-3 times before it cranks up then after that its good to go. If I drive it for 10-15 minutes after it warms up, the car cranks right up on the first try. My personal opinion is that the glowplugs are bad, but I am not that experienced to know right off the bat. I put some fuel injector cleaner and that seemed to help the initial startup as it used to need a quick jolt of ether to get it going.

on idle.... the car is tuned good and sounds great, I noticed that when I am at a stop light I feel the car rattle, is it probably motor mount / shocks need to be changed?

Thanks in advance!

is it possible that this problem is caused by a failing lift(fuel) pump?

pj67coll · #8 10-19-2006, 09:43 AM

Depressing the accellerator when starting is only for extreme cold starts isn't it? I've never touched the accellerator on mine and I've never had a problem starting yet. Although I also know that the glow plugs on mine were changed by the previous owner and I probably only have about 80K miles on these ones.

- Peter.