if my ip timing were off far enough to get terrible fuel mileage would there be other symptoms of incorrect timing, like smoking or rough idle. The reason i ask is because i seem to be getting terrible mileage. Been that way since i owned it, a little less than a year. I mean like maybe 15 - 17 on highway while being mindfull of speed 60 - 65 max. New fuel and air filters, rebuilt injectors, diesel or bio-diesel, - no real difference. I feel like i can watch the fuel gauge go down as I drive. There is no fuel leak. No smoking, idles smooth, maybe has less power than others i have driven. any ideas

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1996 E300 110,000
1985 300TD 212,000
1980 300D 238,000

I suggest that you take your precombustion chambers out and examine / clean them.
See if your pintle balls are in good shape.
It really hurts when they are not.

You have verified the odometer is accurate? They are notorious for slipping. The pump and cam timing will have to be checked in my opinion just to eliminate them.
If timing where badly retarded it could use more fuel. Far enough back to cause this much milage drop I have to wonder if car might start hard or have very little performance at high speeds. I assume you have checked your valve clearances as it just might be a combination of a few things.

valves adjusted 1k to 2k ago. i will look into the pintle balls/prechamber examination.
dont even need to look at the odometer, i can look at the fuel gauge and say man, i didnt drive that far for a quarter tank to be gone.
starts right up but needs a little throttle for a minute to stay running in the winter, fine in summer, and it actually runs best at high speeds. which pump timing method is best for no fancy tools in the driveway type deal ?

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1996 E300 110,000
1985 300TD 212,000
1980 300D 238,000

What happened between when it was running ok...and you feeling that something drastic was wrong and you settled on the idea it was the IP pump timing ?
Is there something that happened that is not in the description so far ?

As long as he has owned the car apparently the fuel milage has lacked. Actually way down compared to normal. By ebay standards he is just throwing the fuel away. I too find it hard for it just to be overall injection pump timing.

EBAY STANDARDS ??? What is That and when did we start using it.. LOLOL

"E-Bay Standards"

The Two words are "Mis-spoken" when combined in a sentence.

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

How many miles on the engine?? Reconnoitre IP timing needed at about 180k miles and new timing chain at roughly 200 - 220k miles.

DIY IP timing is hilarious. You'll see smoke go from blue (too far advanced) to black (too far retarded). Best done by tech with special tools, timing wheel and drip guage etc, though. Did my own IP timing on 240D using common sense approach, then had it professionally done with superior results. Immense performance improvement - worth every penny of $185 it cost me.

There are some people on the forum who can do a good job... I trust... but for everyone else I believe this is a very true statement. I would substitute SCARY for the word 'hilarious'...... Real potential for harm...
Of course, this assumes that you can FIND a trustworthy shop to do it... another time the word SCARY comes to mind ... trusting your baby to someone else....

On your model the drip tube is the best approach if it is a 616 0r 617. If 603 or other you are going to require a timing device. Get an old injector line and make your own if it is the older 617 or 616 model. Hard to go wrong with the proccedure in my opinion. Jus pay attention to instructions listed on site.

I agree with this....but want to point out that whichever site Barry is referring to needs to be describing the " one drip per second " type procedure... the one which comes from the Factory Shop Manual .......

Nah, aint no permanent harm can come from messing around with DIY IP timing paintmarked to original recovery position from the git-go. Haint no mystery just 3x13mm nuts'n bolts and then twisting the IP a few degrees, careful of dealing with injector feed lines...... towards engine = advanced / away from engine = retards.... ye get blue smoke too far advanced, black smoke to far retarded... I tried for medium point where smoke was niether blue nor black following advice of tractor tech at the feed store. Couldnt get it perfect until was professionally done, but improved over what i began with.

Scary to me is fancy white glove "boutique" Mercedes shops that work with 80-90% gassers and rarely have somebody diesel certified on the staff. Reconnoitre yer best diesel techs work at truck stops, most of em gotta be familiar with bosch IP by now with millions of sprinters on the road.

OK... my only experience with this was TCane and TxBill over here at my place when I got my 240... TCane knew how to do this stuff... perhaps a little OCD on it ... but I was sitting in the 240 to use the key to start it only.... and he got a slight ' run away'... high unexpected rpms..... so since then I have tried to avoid that system completely...

I hope is it easy, straight forward, safe to accomplish... but warning people to keep their eyes open and their thinking cap on seems to be prudent...

any reason why this DIY article
http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/OM615OM616InjPumpTiming
for the 615 616 's wouldnt be the same procedure for a 617 ?

I got an accurate mpg reading a couple days ago, 20mpg with myself and 3 passengers, on the highway, 65mph mostly, on b100. I guess thats not too bad.

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1996 E300 110,000
1985 300TD 212,000
1980 300D 238,000