Hey Colorado220D-

My first MB was a '71 220D! TomJ at Colorado Biodiesel is driving it around now . . . I had that car for about 8 years, it was great . . . now I'm rolling around in the 300D.

I always had cold start trouble with the 220D, mostly b/c I was lazy and didn't adjust the valves frequently enough. I did upgrade to the fast glow system . . . it was like $100 and worth every penny. Once you install it, you turn the key to number two and that element in the dash is replaced by a little light bulb, the bulb goes out when the plugs are hot. Not only did they put out a great deal more heat, it was easier to cycle through two or three cycles without having to pull on that knob the whole time. Once the engine was ready to go, you still pull the knob to start. I would order one up.

Eric

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1971 220D {Sold to TomJ}
1981 300D {154,000 when the ODO quit, its on my list}

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1981 300D - {172,000}
1971 220D {Sold to TomJ}

Where do I get one? website/number? Any install pics? Did you ever have GP troubles?

Pencil type? What would I have to mod. to accept some?

Order the kit from Fastlane, or any of the online parts guys. It comes with 4 glow plugs that are the pencil style, but have the wider bodies of the loop style so they'll fit your block. It also comes with all the other stuff you'll need . . . relay, indicator bulb, and most of the wiring. The only wire I had to come up with was a big one to get power to the relay. I mounted it on the driver's side fenderin the engine compartment. It was really pretty simple to do.

I only had issues with my plugs once . . . at which point I figured it made more sense to buy the kit than to replace the old ones with the obsolete plugs.

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1981 300D - {172,000}
1971 220D {Sold to TomJ}

Thinking about it makes me miss the 220D . . . there was so much more room in the engine compartment to perform fixes like this. I just did the glow plugs in the 300D on Sunday and it took me all afternoon, just no room to turn a wrench. Of course, I should have researched a bit more first, I just read Brian's comment about pulling the fuel injector hard lines first, DOH!

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1981 300D - {172,000}
1971 220D {Sold to TomJ}

You dont need the kit. I would order just the GPs and wires that go between them. I made them up using multi strand, #10 wire. You must disconnect the ground wire at the fwd end of the plugs and I went from a 50 amp strip fuse to a 80 amp. This was on a W123 so I'm not sure about the fuse set up on your car. The new plugs will only need to be used for 5 or 7 seconds. Oh, and you can discard those "resistor" wires the go between the GPs

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"