no power 300td - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

oso · #1 07-31-2008, 12:32 AM

I have a working A/C in my'87 300TD-that's the good news. Bad news is the absolute lack of power! It was not all that good before, but now it is just pitiful! It does not take off- it crawls forward.... Once you get going on the highway it is OK but street driving makes me feel like I want to leave it in a ditch! Where do I look first?

Diesel911 · #2 07-31-2008, 01:50 AM

Since you said on the Highway it is OK I do not think you have a fuel supply problem.

When I first bought my car I had a similar but not as bad problem and it turned out to be an extremely sloppy throttle linkage problem. Maybe something is worn out or loose and when you step on the pedal it is not moving the IP throttle lever as much as it should. When I adjusted mine my power returned.
The other guess would be late/retarded timing (maybe due to timing chain stretch). After you get the engine going the IP Timer is advancing the timing and you then you get more power.
Are you having any type of smoke while you are idling or driving?

Also there has been several "lack of power" threads in the last 2 weeks.

elkman · #3 07-31-2008, 07:57 AM

I recently retrofitted my AC with R-12 and when the compressor kicks in I have a loss of power as well. You could check your AC belt tension. Buy a kirket for 10 bucks at napa. AV tension should be about 80 pounds. I have an 81 300TD and after timing chain, tensioner, rail, valve stems, valve adjust, injector cleaning this is one of the fastest vehciles I have ever driven. After actually looking at my injectors I can tell you injector cleaner additive will do little to nothing for dirty injectors. It may be is good maintenance, there is debate on this. I bet my car will do 120 and acceleration is awesome once turbo kicks in. Are you running oil, this also changes things? Don't be afraid of these jobs, take it one step at a time, you won't believe the difference. Ohh I have 240,000 on mine.

vstech · #4 07-31-2008, 08:36 AM

an 87 wagon hmm? oh, just leave it in a ditch. It's not worth fixing...
what is the address of your ditch? Just mail the keys to me in NC, and I will go get it!

seriously though, give us some more info on what kind of "no power" we are dealing with. can you do a 0 - 60 time? should be around 10 seconds. sitting in park, can you rev the motor to 3000RPM? 4000? higher? Try very short bursts of fuel and see what it does. you could easily be just dealing with a plugged fuel filter, or you could have turbo problems.

Bio300TDTdriver · #5 07-31-2008, 10:48 AM

It sounds like no turbo boost to me. The first place to look is for a vacuum line that was knocked loose. How was the performance before the A/C repair work? How is the shifting? Do you have a wagon 300TD or a sedan 300D? 10 seconds 0-60 is for the sedan and that is with everything in perfect order.

oso · #6 07-31-2008, 01:39 PM

Thanks- I will check the 0-60 after the car is off the stands : broken bracket on the center bar....

oso · #7 07-31-2008, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vstech

an 87 wagon hmm? oh, just leave it in a ditch. It's not worth fixing...
what is the address of your ditch? Just mail the keys to me in NC, and I will go get it!

seriously though, give us some more info on what kind of "no power" we are dealing with. can you do a 0 - 60 time? should be around 10 seconds. sitting in park, can you rev the motor to 3000RPM? 4000? higher? Try very short bursts of fuel and see what it does. you could easily be just dealing with a plugged fuel filter, or you could have turbo problems.

It's the love-hate thing... I'll get over it.