I'm in love...
 

Hi all,

I had posted a couple of times in the past few weeks about a 1981 240D that I won on eBay. Well, I picked the car up today. Woke up at 5am, drove from West Virginia to Akron, got a temporary tag, and was home by 12:30. The car runs like a dream. It's not going to win any races, but it did better than I expected, even up hills. Definitely have to get some momentum going. But I love it.

The car looks great. Interior almost perfect. Exterior has a little more "bubbling" of rust than I had hoped for, but if that's the worst of my worries then I'm okay with that.

Mechanically, it seems very good. Very smooth. The only problem I had, I didn't know about until I was home (Preface: please forgive my clueless terminology, but I don't know jack about cars). After having parked it for a couple of hours I went back out to piddle around under the hood, and noticed that there was a decent sized puddle of diesel under the engine. upon further inspection I noticed a wet part on the engine. Here is a picture of the culprit:

http://picasaweb.google.com/surf.wv/Engine/photo#5115730923292245650

Is this the glow plug? There are four of them, and the one that is leaking is the one farthest from the front of the car. You can see in the picture, what looks like the white "foamy" stuff is where the diesel is leaking out.

Any guidance? Is it as simple as tightening the glow plug (if that's what it is)? and if all i need to do is tighten the glow plug, then what tools will make this job easiest? I have shallow sockets, and a crescent wrench, but I might need to get something else.

Thanks for any guidance. Ian

That is 1 of your 4 injectors. The black return lines connected to them are leaking. The original material was black braided, so it looks like one of them has already been replaced. Go to your local parts store, buy a few feet of hose and replace any that look suspect.

If that is your biggest problem, you are lucky. How much did you pay for it if you don't mind my asking?

Mark

you need to make sure you have the correct hose. i dont think any old hose from the parts store is going to work. you can get them off this website. theyre only a couple bucks each. replace any that are leaking/damp.

I'm pretty sure it's not the lines that are leaking. The lines are wet from the fuel spewing out of the injector, not from leaks in the lines. When the car is running I can clearly see where the valve itself is leaking, like it isn't screwed in all the way. (It's the white-ish part in the picture, which is in the middle of the valve).

Should I try to just screw in the fuel injector?

Thanks. Ian

Oh yeah, I paid $3100 for it.

The return lines are the easiest maint. item I've done on my car so far. Buy a meter or two of the correct hose. ******** has it cheap: https://www.***************/search/product.aspx?sid=lh3gig45htqom155voctjp45&partnumber=605%20078%2005%2081

What I did was simply pull the old lines off, cut the new hoses to size, and put the new hoses in place. Diesel spills out of the lines so wear gloves. No need to bleed the system because the air will go to the tank.

Edit: Nevermind then :) Not sure on the injector, though.

You may want to tighten down on the hard line nutt, too.

I would do the return lines just to be sure. From the picture it does look like the line on the left is leaking. If you need to replace the injector that is not a hard task. Just look it up in the forum to see what parts you need and the proper procedure.

I am glad you got it home with no issues!

Okay. From now on I'm going to just trust you guys. Ends up that the problem WAS with a leaky fuel line. The fuel line was leaking in a way that the fuel was leaking on the injector, which is how I got confused. I replaced the fuel line, and it's bone dry now.

Thanks! Ian

A cheap/easy fix!
 

Glad it worked out for you. Enjoy your new ride!

Mark

Sounds like a nice find!

How 'bout a picture?!...:)

Good luck with the new car! Your post reminded me of the (natural) high I had driving my new W210 home from Louisville; I still love it, too.

The first drive in a new exciting car is like a first date. For us married guys, the new car is as close as we get to some "strange".
-Tom