You won't know if the rings are suspect until you do a leak down test .

Adding oil to the combustion chambers to get it started seems like a somewhat goofy thing to do in my opinion. It makes no sense that adding oil to the combustion chamber could have a 3 wk effect on the car. I think someone's giving you a $300 line of BS.
Before I added oil to the combustion chambers, I'd simply put a tow strap on it and tow it far enough to start it. If it turns over long enough, the cylinders should heat up enough to fire off a cylinder with poor compression. Alternatively, I'd also use a squirt of ether.

In any case, I'd definitely add oil to bring it up near to the full mark.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Towing is extremely dangerous most of the time... concentrate on warming the engine block, getting the most speed out of the starter, and having something which will ignite at the cold temperatures.. like Starting Fluid in an aerosol can.
And be sure to let your glow plugs glow for one minute.. don't turn them on and off.. just leave them on while you time them.. this is straight from the FSM...

Greg, the relay will drop the voltage to the plugs after approx. 35 seconds. Therefore, for the remaining 25 seconds, the prechamber will be getting colder.

Far better to glow the plugs for 30 seconds, cycle the key, and glow it for another 30 seconds. Then, you'll get the resulst you are looking for.

The MB FSM says that the glow plugs will continue to get hotter up to one minute.

Care to explain how that might work without voltage applied?

Care to explain why the MB FSM would say that if it were not true ?

First lets talk about chances...

It is about a 2,000,000 to one chance that it is carbon stuck rings causing this as compared to worn out rings.

For the record, the WAY in which rings wear out is they lose their ability to expand to follow the difference in the diameter of the bore . It is metal fatigue from billions of strokes up and down that cylinder wall.

Using steam to break up carbon buildup INSIDE the combustion chamber on a gas engine is very different from thinking you can reach the rings on a MB diesel engine.....

on the other hand... if you put some liquid into the bore which would act as a solvent for the carbon .. then take it out of the engine before it was run ( ie, not contaminate the oil )... that might have a chance of working IF the carbon stuck rings are the problem.

The idea of proposing to a lay person ( as compared to an automotive testing department) that they take a chance on putting water into the intake.... still crazy in my book.
And warning them not to stall the engine... WHAT method do they have for knowing they are close to stalling it ?
They are taking a chance on breaking a piston or bending a rod trying this on a system as closed and high in compression as a diesel engine.

You watch your RPM and if it drops too much, quit pouring in the water! If you stall the engine, then you may have to remove the glow plugs to pump the water out. If you use a bottle with a restriction at the neck, like a dishwashing detergent bottle, you should be able to control how much water you put in!! NOTE- This was only to find out if stuck rings are the problem! I've come across this more than once! It works on gas engines, yes, but it will work on diesels too providing you have the engine at normal operating temperature before starting this procedure!! Dino Diesel will form carbon in the pre-combustion chamber, AND in the rings! If there is a noticeable improvement in compression, then you found one problem. As he stated, a valve adjustment has been made already. Holding the engine between 2500 and 3500 RPM should suffice to keep it from stalling. Remove the air cleaner, Don't worry about the turbo for now, you will not put enough water into it to do any damage! Start the engine, let it warm up to normal, and take your squirt bottle and feed in the water at the recommended RPM and watch your tailpipe. It will begin to puke out soot and carbon! Leathermang, I've had many diesels apart to inspect for wear and damage while in the development stage, most of which were available for Dodge! Cummins, NV, Detroit, NHC, and International Harvester to name a few. If you follow my instructions, your engine will be fine! This method was used often and with success and would facilitate the dissassembly process and give us a clue as to what was going on inside there. I agree that dissassembly is the best and only way to correct a worn out and mechanically defective engine, but if the compression has ANY significant rise, it is getting clogged with carbon. This could be from a overly rich fuel condition and/or worn parts! It's worth the test to find out. I've done this many times to Freightliners and Peterbilts with high mileage as well as others with no damage. Let us know what happens!

In all actuality, piston rings are pressed against the cylinder wall by the gasses of combustion......the spring in the ring is there to initially hold it against the cylinder wall.....but in piston and ring design....the gasses of the combustion process are directed behind the piston ring and due to minute differences in area.....they exert a force that presses the ring against the cylinder wall.....

I really don't feel like looking this up and typing a whole paragraph on the exact design principles.....but I will if I must...!!!

So, if carbon is allowed to build up in piston ring groves, it inhibits the ability of the piston ring to seal the combustion chamber.......

carbon deposits in ring groves cause several other problems....like stuck rings....but also eventually deform the ring groves, and over time actually change the amount of force available (from the combustion gasses working against the inner side of the piston ring) to press the ring against the cylinder wall......

SB

__________________

Diesels:
'85 300D, "Max, Blue Benz", 155K, 27.0 MPG
'84 190D 2.2, "Eva, Brown Benz", 142K, 40.2 MPG
'77 240D (parts car)
'67 Eicher ES 202 Tractor "Otto" (2cyl, Air Cooled, 30HP)
Gassers:
'94 Ford F-150, "Henry", 170K (300 Six) 17.5 MPG
'85 190E 2.3, 148K....Parts Car
'58 Dodge W300M Powerwagon (Flat Fenders) Less than 10 MPG

My experience has been to do a compression test first. One "dry" the other "wet" if you have a low reading. You then add some engine oil to the cylinder, and re run the test. If the compression numbers come up, then the rings are suspect. If the numbers do not come up, some thing else is wrong, like burned or poorly adjusted valves, bad head gasket, etc., so then you do the leak down test.

__________________
RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

99 W210 E300 Turbo Diesel, chipped, DPF/Converter Delete. Still needs EGR Delete, 232K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Gone and still missed...1982 w123 300D, 1991 w124 300D

You sure make that sound easy. Which route do you use for adding the oil ? And , are you using the injector hole or the glow plug hole for your compression guage ?

No, not easy, a real PITA on diesels and gassers, not to mention time consuming, but better than paying some shop to do the same testing, and better than tearing into the wrong part of the engine.

On diesel I prefer to add oil through the GP hole. Gassers is always the spark plug hole. I also use the GP hole for the compression testing. I use an old metal oil can with the small flexible spout to add oil for compression testing. I only add oil if the initial test results in one or two cylinders with lower reading than the others.

__________________
RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

99 W210 E300 Turbo Diesel, chipped, DPF/Converter Delete. Still needs EGR Delete, 232K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Gone and still missed...1982 w123 300D, 1991 w124 300D

I have no problem with the concept of using oil to check the sealing capacity ( or lack of it ).
But you could to the SAME thing while attaching a Leak Down Tester to your engine... AND not have the potential of the (diesel ) engine starting up on you when you hit the starter... not that kind of problem with a gas engine.. but getting that much oil down into the bore through the glow plug hole.. or even the injector hole... through those TINY RADIALLY drilled holes in the precombustion chamber... seems to be more in keeping with the leak down machinery... since that would actually work to force the oil through those tiny holes... whatever oil is in the precombustion chamber when trying a compression test could be a problem.

SeaFoam top end cleaner does the same thing as the water. I have been told by mechanics that using water to free carbon deposits like described on gas motors works. Just my $.02.

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'83 300DT
'04 Forester XT--modified
'61 Beetle EFI Turbo
Burley recumbant