My '77 300D would not start in mid december, and it has been sitting ever since. But I want to fix this. So I went and got a battery charger, pulled out my battery from my car (so it could thaw), and I charged the battery up. I also got some starter fluid from the store. But before I did anything I checked on this site for instructions. From what I saw, some people were saying "feel free to use ether" and some people were saying "don't use ether." But the people who saying ether was OK said to disconnect the glow plugs before using ether. Well, after charging my battery, disconnecting the glowplugs, and spraying a slight bit of starter fluid on the intake, the car did not do anything. In fact, I think it is worse. (Just my luck.) When I turned the key, the engine cranked for a bit and then just shut down. There was no explosion, no anything. But now when I put the key in to "glow plug" position, the car does not make any noise and the engine doesn't even crank. What should I check on now? I checked the fuses but those were fine. Any suggestions?

gabriel

You need to order a pencil style glow plug upgrade kit.

http://catalog.worldpac.com/mercedesshop/sophio/wizard.jsp?partner=mercedesshop&clientid=catalog.mercedesshop&baseurl=http://catalog.peachparts.com/&cookieid=27R1AUDQC2AI0WR1D7&year=1977&make=MB&model=240-D-002&category=F&part=Glow+Plug+Kit

Other places have a pretty similar kit and will be cheaper. We're just not allowed to offer that info.
If price is close, please buy from this site as they provide our website free to all of us. If price isn't close, well, then you have a decision to make.

But you do need to upgrade.....

__________________
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

Jimmy:

What's the link for the item?

But before I get that thing, what do I need to check on my motor? The sum' ***** won't even crank now. Did it the starter fluid make it combust too early and did this mess with my engine?

There are several things that can hinder starting. Here is a list of thing I would check.
1. Check the glow plugs and GP system. Make sure everything is getting volts and the GP are getting hot, and the strip fuse is good.
2. Adjust the valves. Valves that are tight will cause low compression, because the valves never fully close when the valve clearences are tight.
3. Is your starter turning the engine over good and fast. You can jumper the starter directly from the battery to see if the ignition switch is bad.
4. Compression test. If your compression is too low no amount of cranking with start the engine.
5. Pull the injectors, have the spray pattern and pop pressure tested. If you aren't getting a good spray pattern it is going to be hard for the car to start.

__________________

I guess I was looking and pasting link as you posted. It is there now.
By not cranking, if you mean the starter doesn't turn then I would suspect dead battery. If it does turn motor and just wont ignite, see my previous post.....

**edit**
Oh, and ad your location to your signature in "user CP" so we know what climate we are talking about.

__________________
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

Something you might have to consider is that it maybe just plain old gone! I had a similar situation with my 79 300D. I had gone out and purchased a brand new battery, drove home and the car never started again. My mechanic came to the house with a can of ether and shot enough of it to send the car to the moon, but all it would do is crank and crank and crank but NEVER hit. A compression check would definitely be in order at this time.

While what you say is true, I wouldn't do a compression test before I made sure the glow plugs are working. Especially on an MB diesel with the old style glow plug systems. So, you look at the compression readings and say "Well, guess I'll get rid of this car"????? Cars with less than stellar compression can still be started with properly working glow plug systems.
Somebody is asking for help getting their car started. Starting FIRST with "Well, it may just be worn out" is bad advise. No offense......

__________________
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

I got the link. thx.

I do mean that it won't crank but it's weird because the battery is good (so the 10amp charger says it is). I pulled the battery out again and I will try it tomorrow. It's weird how that little spray of ether really messed things up. Gosh, I hope I did not ruin the engine.

Shouldn't have anything to do with 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

Sabre: I hope that's not the case.

I barely sprayed any ether on it--and I disconnected the plugs--so I hope nothing to crude occurred. You said yours would crank still?? Mine doesn't even do that.

OH YEAH!!! It would crank until the battery would do no more, but it would NOT hit a tap. No chug, no pop, no NOTHING......just crank for days!!

You don't think I ruined my motor? Well, I hope your right. It's just weird.

Thanks for all the replies.

No, I agree with Jimmy. The ether didn't do anything that wasn't already there.............

After that guy sprayed all the ether in there, did you hear it explode or did the engine do anything violent? Mine was so anti-climatic. It just cranked and then seized. Nothing else.

Nope.....I mean it didn't do **** but crank......no pop....no bang....no nothing.........it just never started again.........