I have a 1980 300sd.. I drove it on a road trip to Mexico. It was around 2,500 mile's. Got back the car sat for three weeks. Was hard to start had to jump it. Now the car has to be jump every morning to start.. The battery I believe has gone to crap.. The car used to start fairly well before the trip. Would take about 10-15 seconds of cranking and it would fire up.. Now takes a jump and seems like 4 mins of cranking.. Any ideas?

Thanks for your help..

Even 15 seconds is too long. Check the glow plugs, and also chekc the alternator for proper output and the battery. Whan was the last valve adjustment and fuel filter replacement?

Does the starter spin the engine fast enough?

__________________
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

First I would check your glow plugs. The only way to really confirm that they are operating correctly is to remove them and connect them directly to the battery and wait for them to get red hot. An ohm reading doesn't guarantee performance, I found this out myself.

That would account for the 15 seconds of creanking. Now for the jump start and 4 minute part.... Your going to go through a starter doing this. I would suspect you have an air leak somewhere in your fuel supply line and it now takes 4 minutes of cranking to get fuel to the IP by turning the engine over to get the primary fuel pump to pick up the fuel and send it on.

This isn't even considering what you could have picked up from crap fuel in Mexico.

try standing on the gas , it should self prime faster and stare with much less cranking if you in fact have an air leak

So I got a new battery.. (Wasn't cheap) I put a new alternator in about 2 months ago. It was only able to start with starting fluid. That stuff is no good for nothing. Sounds like its murdering the motor. The car starts great when warm half a crank and fires right up.. Only when it sits over night doesnt like to start. Well I'm going to go out and change both fuel filters and look for any kind of air leakage in the lines..

Thanks for all the feed back..

Look for "weeping" fuel lines, as well as loose clamps....

Jim

__________________
2005 C240 4matic wagon (daily driver)
87 190D - 225K (on loan)
85 190D - 312K (on loan)
2011 Subaru Legacy AWD (Wife's)

yeah dont use starter fluid, it really is murdering your engine. I believe it can blow prechambers apart

__________________
1981 300SD 512k OM603

Guys on the forum say to use either ether or even WD-40 as starter fluid on the diesels. the stuff they make for gas engines cant be good for it. I think the best option is to get the engine to the point where it will start on diesel!

__________________
1991 300 D 2.5 Turbo, 220k
also in the family:
1981 240 D 185k
1991 350 SD 185k
2006 S 500
2005 SLK 350

Ether and gas engine starting fluid refers to the same product (to 90% of us, anyway)

__________________


~Michael S.~
Past cars:

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


Current:

1987 300SDL

I think you should check your glow plugs before chasing fuel or air leaks.

__________________
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

yeah, glows first.
Is the car sitting nose up on an incline?
If so try backing in so nose is down. If there is air in the system
nose down should keep the IP primed so the IP doesnt have to fill
up while cranking.

__________________
Ginny in Denver-ish
78 300SD, 265K (mine)

WHOA!!!! Do not use starting fluid!! It can do an incredible amount of damage to a diesel engine! If you have to use a starter type fluid, use WD-40. Yes I know how this sounds but trust me on this!! It's much better for the engine and believe it or not, it does ignite EASIER than starting fluid.

the only time to use starting fluid on a diesel that is not SPECIFICALLY designed for ether injection... (tractors, loaders etc...) is if you have no fuel and you are just testing the motor for start... and you must use WD 40, not ETHER... WD40 is a fuel, Ether is an explosion waiting to happen...
if you have fuel, and your injectors are working, then wd40 is not going to help you.

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Thanks for the tips. The car was parked nose down for three weeks. I'll be using wd-40 for now on.. Whats the best way to test glow plugs? When the glow plug light goes out after 8-10 seconds, If I wait longer does the plug continue to heat up still? At what point would it be waiting to long?

Thanks

The Glow Plugs will stay on somewhere around 30 seconds total time even though the light has gone off already.
Go to the Diesel Gaint internet site he has an excellent pictorial on how to check the glow plugs and the relay.

__________________
84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel