You can push start an Automatic MB. I know it's sort of in case of emergency in the manual.

But again, just to shut off when running, Weird.

I'd wonder if the driver heard anything loud and out of the ordinary like the broken timing chain, sheared cam as someone mentioned earlier. Hopefully the Original Poster (JLE222) will give us an update or some feedback.

But pretty much all the diagnostics seem to already have been covered:
-Loosen the injector fuel lines at the injectors; watch for fuel squirts
-If so, remove valve cover and look for a broken chain or camshaft
-If not, check the stop lever on the Injection Pump and make sure it's in the UP position
-Then if not, come back here and ask more questions.

Of course you need a good battery, starter, and solid connections to crank the engine over at the correct speed to start. But a dead battery shouldn't kill the engine, but then again, the Idle on the 603's IP is controlled electronically (well regulated anyways). On some cars if you unplug the Injection Pump idle regulating power it will kill at idle. So since the O.P. said he slowed down to park. This may be a possibility to consider.

__________________
-E300d '99 350k
-Suburban '93 220k
-TDI Jetta '03 350k
Sold
-F250 '96 7.3
-Dodge Ram 12V
-E320 '95 200k
-E320 Wagon 1994 155k
-300d Turbo '87 187k miles
-E320 1994 200k
-300d Turbo '84 245k (sold to Dan62)
-300d Turbo '84 180k
-300sd '80 300k
-7.3 Powerstroke Diesel 15P Van 500k+ miles
-190d '89 Non Turbo 2.5 5cyl 240k (my first MB)
Tom's Imports of Columbia MO Ruined the IP in changing leaky delivery valve O-Rings - Refused to stand behind his work. Mid-MO MB drivers-AVOID Tom's.

Filters?

__________________
RRGrassi


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

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

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Brian,
I don't think he had it started again after it killed. I think you're maybe getting this confused with the other thread where the guy has the IP that starts when it cools down.

This thread is of a guy who had the car kill when running (pulling into a parking lot and slowing down). Then he said it cranks slower now and will NOT Restart.

Also, I disagree respectfully that a dead battery couldn't kill the engine. It could most definitely on a 603 since the Idle speed is regulated electronically. When I first bought my 87 300d, it'd kill when I unplugged the IP wire harness. I've since adjusted it to just drop a hundred RPMs or so. But it's a definite possibility for the car to kill when the driver slowed to idle if the battery were dead... (or not getting a good connection due to corrosion, as other mentioned with the slow cranking)

__________________
-E300d '99 350k
-Suburban '93 220k
-TDI Jetta '03 350k
Sold
-F250 '96 7.3
-Dodge Ram 12V
-E320 '95 200k
-E320 Wagon 1994 155k
-300d Turbo '87 187k miles
-E320 1994 200k
-300d Turbo '84 245k (sold to Dan62)
-300d Turbo '84 180k
-300sd '80 300k
-7.3 Powerstroke Diesel 15P Van 500k+ miles
-190d '89 Non Turbo 2.5 5cyl 240k (my first MB)
Tom's Imports of Columbia MO Ruined the IP in changing leaky delivery valve O-Rings - Refused to stand behind his work. Mid-MO MB drivers-AVOID Tom's.

I'm getting too old for this place.........

Funk777 says that a dead battery could possibly stop a 603. But I would say we shouldn't speculate on that unless we know for sure that a dead battery would cause a 603 to shut down. Secondly, the writer of the thread does not say he had a dead battery. He says that when he tried to crank it up it cranked sloooow. Probably would crank slooooow if he was trying to start it on a half a tank of gas. Just kidding there.

__________________
Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

603 should run without current. For one thing, the alternator would supply anything that needed it. Also, aren't they mechanical diesels? It wouldn't be an ideal idle but it's bound to idle somehow or another even without proper idle control.

Could be wrong, but I've asked the question 'Can a 603 run without a battery' before a couple of times and always got a general "probably".

__________________


~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

Ha ha! You're funny man!

__________________
-E300d '99 350k
-Suburban '93 220k
-TDI Jetta '03 350k
Sold
-F250 '96 7.3
-Dodge Ram 12V
-E320 '95 200k
-E320 Wagon 1994 155k
-300d Turbo '87 187k miles
-E320 1994 200k
-300d Turbo '84 245k (sold to Dan62)
-300d Turbo '84 180k
-300sd '80 300k
-7.3 Powerstroke Diesel 15P Van 500k+ miles
-190d '89 Non Turbo 2.5 5cyl 240k (my first MB)
Tom's Imports of Columbia MO Ruined the IP in changing leaky delivery valve O-Rings - Refused to stand behind his work. Mid-MO MB drivers-AVOID Tom's.

as far as the dead battery/poor connection, it's not the first thing I'm recommending he checks. But I would make sure there's a good connection. Really the IP draws very little current I'm sure. The starter on the other hand... you could measure 12Volts at the starter and still not be able to start the vehicle if the connection is not solid. This is what I'd think if a jump did not help. The reason is a poor connection would limit the current. So... assuming he had just a bad connection, the IP would still probably work.

Now... not to argue, I feel like I'm saying this almost to no point since it's probably not helping the poster, but to disagree with the 2 guys who think the IP would not shut down if the battery was disconected, it depends... But if your IP throttle adjustment (the 8mm --I think that's the size -- bolt and locknut near the plug harness on the IP) is out of spec, the car will kill when you pull the plug on the IP at idle. That is a fact. How do I know? Because my IP manual idle adjustment was out of spec when I bought the vehicle.

But back to the guy who's trying to get his car running... that's one make sure of with the battery. Clean your connections etc.

__________________
-E300d '99 350k
-Suburban '93 220k
-TDI Jetta '03 350k
Sold
-F250 '96 7.3
-Dodge Ram 12V
-E320 '95 200k
-E320 Wagon 1994 155k
-300d Turbo '87 187k miles
-E320 1994 200k
-300d Turbo '84 245k (sold to Dan62)
-300d Turbo '84 180k
-300sd '80 300k
-7.3 Powerstroke Diesel 15P Van 500k+ miles
-190d '89 Non Turbo 2.5 5cyl 240k (my first MB)
Tom's Imports of Columbia MO Ruined the IP in changing leaky delivery valve O-Rings - Refused to stand behind his work. Mid-MO MB drivers-AVOID Tom's.

Also... I noticed no one answered his powder in the GP relay box question. I don't know what the powder is but I'd guess it's corrosion like you'd see on battery terminals. I think if I were you... just to make sure the Glow Plug circuit is not pulling the current down in some way, I'd take out the metal strip fuse so the GP circuit has NO power and can't sag the current you're providing, jump your car with a known strong vehicle (you're cranking over a diesel-some gasoline car batteries won't phase our high compression) and crank again.

The powder in the relay is strange. I don't know what that is. but you did wash the engine compartment I think, right?

Water and electronics don't work together. Any water that somehow could get into the GP relay (sealed or not, I've had water in mine) could do some weird things. There are Timer IC's, transistors, etc., and of course a relay in that box. They don't like water.

__________________
-E300d '99 350k
-Suburban '93 220k
-TDI Jetta '03 350k
Sold
-F250 '96 7.3
-Dodge Ram 12V
-E320 '95 200k
-E320 Wagon 1994 155k
-300d Turbo '87 187k miles
-E320 1994 200k
-300d Turbo '84 245k (sold to Dan62)
-300d Turbo '84 180k
-300sd '80 300k
-7.3 Powerstroke Diesel 15P Van 500k+ miles
-190d '89 Non Turbo 2.5 5cyl 240k (my first MB)
Tom's Imports of Columbia MO Ruined the IP in changing leaky delivery valve O-Rings - Refused to stand behind his work. Mid-MO MB drivers-AVOID Tom's.

Thanks for all the ideas. Just some history, I drove this car down from philadelphia about a month ago. It was well maintained (I have a huge stack of receipts). The car drove well throughout the trip (30-33 miles per gallon), although I suspect it might have some power issues. It's now in El Paso, TX (much higher elevation)

I agree that a new starter doesn't sound like the best idea. The shop says they might have one that would fit "from a E-class" car they have. But I called again today and they said they ordered one (never asked me 1st, I found a remanufactored one on ebay for $99, they ordered a new one for $250, yikes!)

Yes, the tank was just below half full, and the fuel gauge has been accurate. I like the idea about checking th battery and ground. I did try to jump the car (as did the shop) with huge jumpter cables... made no difference whatsoever in spin speed. They shop says that there is fuel getting to the car... I need to clarify exactly what this means.

Here is an idea... I read in another post (I have no idea where) that screwey relays (glow plug) could cause power being diverted in a wrong way. Also that little relay box above the passenger side tire well... when I removed the cover I noticed that powder like residue. Is that normal? It almost looked like an electrical blowout residue. Once cranking, is there anything electrical that could keep it from starting... the glow plug light comes on, then goes off as it has in the past.

The spin on filter in this car looks really old. Should I suggest that they bypass (use the 2 containers with gas trick) the filters / tank?

There was armor all all over anything plastic in the engine compartment, so I'm wondering if someone broke something while doing the armor all treatment. I didn't see anything obvious.

Oh yeah... the engine compartment was washed, they said "three times because it was so dirty" with hot / high pressure (1000psi) The poder is on the box's cover, just above where the two brass screws are that have a metal link between them. What is this box called? I wonder if I could find a working one to replace / test.

Regarding the first post, there weren't any loud noises when it stopped running. It simply lost power. I did notice (now that I think about it) some white smoke coming from the driver side, I attributed this to steam from water hitting the now hot engine. When I picked it up, the engine still had some water on it from the cleaning.

I hesitate to raise the possibility, but if the engine ingested water, it would come to an abrupt halt and probably have difficulty starting in the future.

__________________
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

I don't like mechanics. Well let me rephrase that... I don't like mechanics who fire away without knowing what they're talking about.

Just because a mechanic says something, that doesn't mean it's right. I always ask them to verify. Have the mechanic loosen the injector line AT THE INJECTOR and crank the car. If there is no fuel it cannot run.

I wouldn't take him/her at their word in saying that the car is getting fuel. Ask them to do what I said and visually show you that fuel is coming from the 6 injector lines (or if they're lazy, just loosen One). But that is the place to start.

I had a 'mechanic' tell me when I asked how to use a fuel injector cleaning product to dump it in the air intake. Just because a person has the title mechanic, means very little sometimes.

__________________
-E300d '99 350k
-Suburban '93 220k
-TDI Jetta '03 350k
Sold
-F250 '96 7.3
-Dodge Ram 12V
-E320 '95 200k
-E320 Wagon 1994 155k
-300d Turbo '87 187k miles
-E320 1994 200k
-300d Turbo '84 245k (sold to Dan62)
-300d Turbo '84 180k
-300sd '80 300k
-7.3 Powerstroke Diesel 15P Van 500k+ miles
-190d '89 Non Turbo 2.5 5cyl 240k (my first MB)
Tom's Imports of Columbia MO Ruined the IP in changing leaky delivery valve O-Rings - Refused to stand behind his work. Mid-MO MB drivers-AVOID Tom's.

What is the position of your emergency shut off lever? Is it standing straight up as it should. My 87 wouldn't start last week because of a stuck piston in the lift pump that let fuel back out past the check valve and loose prime.