98 300TD won't start
 

Guys I am new to this forum. Here is the story. I purchased my 98 E300TD last year with 80K miles on it. It was a dealer maintained vehicle. It ran perfect for few months until low sulpher diesel was introduced in Oct last year. There was a noticeable diesel smell coming from the front of the car; however, it had no problem starting and ran fine. The smell grew stronger within next few months and the car had trouble starting. I noticed diesel leak from the shut-off valve as well as lot of diesel fuel collected in the plastic shield/tray under the engine. I took it to the dealer who confirmed that it was the shut-off valve seal.

I did my research on this forum printed out the instructions for seal replacement and replaced the seal, but the car won’t start. There is no fuel coming to the injectors. So far I have done the following:

Filled the diesel filter with new diesel

Followed the self priming procedures (crank 20 seconds rest 30 seconds); repeated 40 times

Checked for any leaks around the shutoff valve (none found)

Checked shut-off valve solenoid. It clicks each time I turn the ignition on.

3 quarters diesel in the tank

Still not a drop of diesel at the injectors.

I think there is still air in the fuel system. I have worked with older MB diesels in the past with manual prime pumps. This is my first time dealing with a self priming system. Is there a better way to prime other than the cranking procedure? I am afraid I will burn the starter if I continued. Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Is the car on level ground?

Have you cracked open an injector line to confirm fuel is not flowing?

Is the shut off valve vacuum connected to the engine's system or the locking system's supply?

I would suspect the o-ring at the prefilter is now leaking badly enough that you are unable to draw fuel from the tank. It is leaking air and not pulling fuel. Pick up the o-ring at the dealer and replace it. Takes a minute to replace it and costs about $1.

You may want to consider replacement of all of the o-rings on the ends of the clear fuel lines too if they have not been done recently but it is the prefilter o-ring which causes the most heartache, by far.

Are you sure the fuel lines are installed properly? One area that can be messed up is the connection from the shut-off valve to the lift pump installed backwards. Also, did you mess with the pre-filter? There is an O-ring underneath that has to be in perfect condition.

Another thing: Your leak is probably not confined to a bad shut-off valve O-ring. I think most of us 606'ers had to replace the delivery valve O-rings after the ULSD switchover happened.

You would not be the first person who got one of the fuel lines installed in the wrong location.

Review the attached and confirm yours matches the 2nd detail.

http://detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.asp?TP=1&F=210025&M=606%2E962&GA=722%2E608&CT=M&cat=19T&SID=07&SGR=120&SGN=04

Are you seeing bubbles or smelling fuel now?