Hi,
Something strange has been happening lately.. First off, it's cold, like less than 40F overnight. But now it seems that I can't get my '87 300SDL to start in the AM without purging the injection pump (loosen all fuel lines, crank, tighten as they bubble up with fuel). While I'm at work and the car sits and gets cold (8-10 hrs easy), I get back to it and it starts right up. I'm wondering if it has something to do with parking on a 10-15 degree angle uphill?

This has also only started happening since I've had some work done on the car (new fuel filters, timing chain, front-end suspension), when I lived in NY I parked it facing uphill and left it for days at a time, and it would start with little effort.

TIA,
- Matt

It's possible you have a small air leak someplace in the fuel lines that allows the system to lose it's "prime" when parked up hill. Try parking downhill one night and see if it makes any difference.

That's what I'm thinking too, I just wanted to check the Wizards to see if there was anything I could do about it.. I don't really have the confidence to go poking around underneath the car, so I think it can wait until I have it serviced (oil/coolant/atf change is due shortly).

ISTR parking it pointing downhill cures ths problem, I'll do that until I have it in the shop.

Thanks!

I had a similar problem- my car ran great except going up steep hills and idling in my driveway (steep angle). I thought fuel filters but they were not the problem. Small hills didn't do it, just big ones (big angle) and regular idling didn't do it either. As it turned out, the fuel tank screen was clogged 1/2 way up. When I would go up hills, the fuel (1/2 tank) would slosh back and not be able to get into the screen any more.

Sure enough, took it out, cleaned it, and the car ran great.

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Andrew

1989 Volvo 745- 202K

I have also had a similar problem. I park in a garage with a gentle slope to it and with half a tank or less the car will not start if it has been parked overnight with the nose up. I had it diagnosed and the injection pump was leaking which I gather caused the fuel system to become depressurized and allow fuel to drain out overnight. It is not yet resolved (see my posts for the ongoing story) so I have yet to find out if that will fix the problem.

Mine did that (not starting in the morning) because of leaking distribution seals in the lines that come out of the top of the pump and go to the injectors. Mine were visibly leaking fuel from some of the dist. lines. I replaced the seals and all is well with that.

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Steve Ayscue
'83 300D
'87 300SDL
'98 Dodge Ram Diesel
22' Hydrasport

BTW to update, there was in fact a fuel leak and new seals on the injection rail has cured that (along with a diesel smell in the cabin which I thought was just the aftereffect of a purge, but it did linger for a few weeks).

However, now I have an interesting issue, if I park the car overnight uphill or downhill, and crank the motor, it won't start. But if I crank it for about 5 to 10 seconds, then crank it a second time, it starts right up. The glow plug light comes up, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were a faulty or recalcitrant plug in there, particularly with the change in seasons. Not to mention that I had to replace the strip fuse awhile back, which would lead me to believe there's extra resistance in there somewhere (though to be honest the thing was as bendable as solder when I took it out, old age..).

Check all your plugs to make sure they are working. And check the relay to make sure they are getting juice.

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Done and done (per DieselGiant's illustrated manual), all looked good (no more than 0.9 ohms resistance on the plug wires and 12v on the relay and the powered plug lines test).

I noticed this morning that I cranked the motor for like 15s, then stop, then cranked again for like 10s, after which the motor started very strong (no sputtering or anything). There doesn't seem to be any leaking under the car, perhaps there's an air leak elsewhere? Is there any fluorescent dye that's usable for this car that would help find out where any pinholes or loose fittings in the system are?

(to update: the thermometer registered 27 degrees this AM, car parked uphill,and the start was the same as always: glow for 20s, crank for 10s, then crank again and she starts right up, maybe 5s of roughness then a smooth idle.)

(see title)

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1987 300SDL 411k mi and counting
2001 BMW 1150GS 29k mi and wintering