on the way to Midas to get the brakes checked...as I am likely trading in the 280CE on Friday...provided all my finances are lined up by then.

Here's what I know: The car started leaking diesel on the garage floor and there's quite a bit of it there since parking it about a month ago. The priming pump was quite wet with diesel and I picked up a spare to replace it, but haven't done so as the car hasn't been driven...until this morning.

The car started right up today though, and I let it idle for several minutes to smooth out the rough idle after starting. I made it halfway down the street when it dies. It just slowly stopped as if it ran out of fuel.

I tried cranking but the longer I tried the fewer and further apart the instances where it would almost fire.

I thought maybe my fuel guage was off, so I pulled out the diesel fuel can and got no more than a gallon into it before it was completely topped off. Nope, not it, the guage is good.

I pull off the filter (white, not clear so I couldnt' tell if there was fuel in it) and it started to run out...so I figured I was good up to there.

I started undoing the hardlines at the injectors and the front 4 appeared to have fuel, the back one gave me spit bubbles as I loosened it. I tried cranking the car with all 5 disconnected and I saw nothing coming out.

Any ideas? I will likely have to drive it this weekend and need to fix it ASAP.

__________________
-James

'85 280GE...sold
'96 Impala SS ~ 6-speed 396
'14 Cadillac Vagon. . . . . . . . . . "Life without knowledge is death in disguise." - Hans-Peter Geerdes

My guess, in this order;

- Old style prime pump not screwed down all the way.

- Fuel filters clogged

- Fuel tank strainer clogged

__________________
83 300D 328k mi (623) Light Ivory - daily driver
82 300D 166k mi (881) Thisle Green - fixer upper
82 300D 282k mi (473) Champagne - parts

I'll bring over the proper clear filter tonight for you(I have like 10)..


It ran fine before(when you picked it up)... and it has been sitting before and after you bought it. I wonder what the in tank screen looks like... surely that will not be fun with a full tank of diesel and current diesel prices.

I'll also rummage through my stuff and see if I have a spin on fuel filter as well

Sounds like you are pulling in a lot of air with the leaky primer pump.

Replace it and then check everything.

__________________
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

I'll do that tonite. I had to get to work and didn't have the time to try and fight with the priming pump on the side of the road when I already knew I'd be late for work.

__________________
-James

'85 280GE...sold
'96 Impala SS ~ 6-speed 396
'14 Cadillac Vagon. . . . . . . . . . "Life without knowledge is death in disguise." - Hans-Peter Geerdes

My wagon had a similar issue until I replaced the primer pump. Make sure to upgrade to the new Bosch pump. No unscrewing and leaking.

__________________
Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

I'll have to look for the Bosch part next time. The spare I've got is a (visibly) non-leaking one from a 300SD outta the salvage yard.

__________________
-James

'85 280GE...sold
'96 Impala SS ~ 6-speed 396
'14 Cadillac Vagon. . . . . . . . . . "Life without knowledge is death in disguise." - Hans-Peter Geerdes

I think Ralph has your most likely scenario......

__________________
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

Try this...

pull the vacuum hose off the shut off valve and see it it keeps running. I had an issue in the SD where the vacuum switch in the dash started leaking and allowinng a small bit of vacuum to get to the valve on the IP. It would take 10-15 minutes and then the vacuum built up enough to shut down the car. It would shut down regardless of where the accelerator was. I replaced the switch and fixed the issue. It would run fine for a while then start to slow down as the valve closed off the fuel rack until it would gently shut down.

__________________
"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
'96 Impala SS
'71 Buick GS conv
'67 GTO conv
'63 Corvair conv
'57 Nomad

I'll bring my mity vac as well

Do you still have the 280CE?

__________________
'85 300D Cal 280,000 miles
'14 GLK 350 60000 miles

And what are you asking for it?

__________________
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

last posted add in Tampa craigslist was on the 25th for 3K

__________________

1982 300CD Turbo (Otis, "ups & downs") parts for sale
2003 TJ with Hemi (to go anywhere, quickly) sold
2001 Excursion Powerstroke (to go dependably)
1970 Mustang 428SCJ (to go fast)
1962 Corvette LS1 (to go in style)
2001 Schwinn Grape Krate 10spd (if all else fails)

James- I'll almost gaurantee you if the primer is the spin off style and is leaking that much that its the cause of your problems. Get a new one, they're cheap. Another member did an excellent write up on how to replace it- see it here: Here's my payback! Diesel Primer Pump Replacement

also has the part number listed at that link...

__________________


1980 500SE/AMG Euro
1981 500SEL Euro
1982 380SEL
1983 300TD
1983 500SEC/AMG Euro
1984 500SEC
1984 300TD Euro
1986 190E 2.3-16
1986 190E 2.3
1987 300D
1997 C36 AMG
2003 C320T 4matic

past: 1969 280SE 4.5 | 1978 240D | 1978 300D | 1981 300SD | 1981 300SD | 1982 300CD | 1983 300CD | 1983 300SD | 1983 380SEC | 1984 300D | 1984 300D | 1984 300TD | 1984 500SEL | 1984 300SD | 1985 300D | 1986 300E | 1986 560SEL | 1986 560SEL/Carat | 1987 560SEC | 1991 300D 2.5 | 2006 R350

Thanks Johnhef...I've got TheDon making a call for me today on a new one. My spare from the junkyard was even worse than the one on the car!

Yes, I still have the 280CE...and I'm still asking $3k (what I paid) for it. It's got just over 180k miles and no rust...If I can get the $$ scraped together by Friday, I'm trading it and "some cash" on another car. I'd rather the car stay here in the family...but it's got to go or I'll miss out on the deal I'm about to make.

__________________
-James

'85 280GE...sold
'96 Impala SS ~ 6-speed 396
'14 Cadillac Vagon. . . . . . . . . . "Life without knowledge is death in disguise." - Hans-Peter Geerdes