Two days ago, on my way home from work, the car lost power. Had to pull to the shoulder and try to restart it. Well it would restart but it cut back off, this happened several times. When it would finally stay started I tried to get back on the road. To no avail, the car just would die, get upto about 20mph and die again, tried this for over an hour, nothing. Finally got to a place to leave it, came back 2 days later to see if it would run and it did, got it home yesterday and it now sits wondering what is wrong with it. Any help would be appreciated.


FYI, Changed both fuel filters about a month ago and it has over 300,000 miles on it. Also replaced fuel return lines and changed oil last week.

Sounds like an air in fuel or another clogged fuel filter to me. How's the pre-filter look? Algae would clog fuel fast if you're unlucky enough to get it... but that should go away soon if you are up north at all.

Maybe pickup a fuel pressure gauge and run it to your dash just for testing purposes?

Bill

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'87 300SDL, intensely modified Greasecar setup, with nickle plated heat exchanger, 3 valve setup, 312,000 miles
'95 Suburban diesel, Greasecar basics, 16 plate heat exchanger, mercedes fuel lines, Racor filter
'85 Renault Alliance converted full electric vehicle

just a quick test is to squeeze off the fuel return line with a clamp or plieres and see if the thing will keep running,some times the ip pressure relief valve will not hold the correct pressure and cause the same symptoms.
larry perkins

So should I go ahead and change the filters again?

check your inline filter first to see if it is dirty. If your tank is over 1/4 full, you may want to flip your supply and return lines to eliminate a clogged tank screen too.

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81 Mercedes 300SD 289k.......SOLD
82 Mercedes 300CD 252k......slow ride

82 mercedes 300 SD...mi Unknown
83 Mercedes 300D ????ksniff..gone too
84 Mercedes 300D 148k........SOLD
85 Mercedes 300TD 386k and holding some one elses project

had this happen to my brother's 300SD but it was a small leak under the car in the fuel line. it would suck air causing the engine to quit, but a little later it would start with no problem, run for awhile and then sometimes (but not always) quit again.

found the leak by noticing a small stain on concrete at the rear of the car after sitting.

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Rev. Dr. G. Church of the SubGenius
It doesn't take a genius

no leaks under car

It's most likely a fuel delivery problem of some kind.

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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

did u try my idea?
larry

To rule out the possibility of a clogged tank screen, pre-filter and main filter, do the following (similar to diesel purge procedure on www.dieselgiant.com) :

1. Disconnect the rubber inbound and return fuel line hoses, and immerse them in a large plastic container filled with diesel fuel (empty Ocean Spray Juice bottle, etc).

2. Start the car and see if it runs well with this mini fuel tank you've set up. If so, the problem is somewhere in the lines between the fuel tank and the injection pump.

This is good info, and a good procedure to start with. Give it a try and see what happens.....

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

Not a bad idea to check the tank vent also, remove the fuel cap to see if the tank has a vacuum inside.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

was thinking of draining the fuel tank. this car sat for about a year before we bought it.

someone have a diagram of the hoses? want to make sure i'm doing it to the right hoses.

here are pics of engine

Attached Thumbnails

       

Don't forget to check for a clogged catalyst. I can see from the photos that your car had the trap replaced with the oxidation cat, which is located under the car. That can also cause the engine to die as you describe. It's a pain to disconnect the pipe from the turbo to go for a (noisy) test drive, but that would tell you if it's the problem or not...

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Dave
Boise, ID
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