Whilst I find the milky way observation an interesting occurrence I think you are in danger of flying rather close to the "little d" situation...

...assuming that milky madness will actually combust - I mean there's no real reason to expect it not to unless you've got a Jesus IP that turns water to wine...

...you really need to crack on with trying to get that bloody engine running.



First things first.


Post up those numbers on the IP so we can see what you've got.

Next can you confirm that the engine will not start with out a good spray of WD40 down the air intake?

Did you do the drip test or the bubble up method for timing the IP? (The difference is discussed here Timing adjustment methods among other places)

I think ruling out compression related problems would be a step in the right direction. Can you / will you do a compression test?

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I think the conclusion here is that the injectors are bad. They are probably both flooding the engine and allowing gasses to escape. How many hundred of thousand miles are on the car? Injectors are suppose to be replace around 50k most have 150-200k on them. Probably what happened is either the springs are weak in them or a broken spring or if ran on veggie....gummed up....I read on a previous thread to confirm if this is happening, is to replace the braided line with clear line, as used on fish tanks or from home depot....this will allow you to see which injector is messed up.

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yeah weedwhacker line works - most big box stores don't carry the right size anymore....or they sell some annoying variety pack. I have clear lines on them all and they all look the same (full of milky madness).

This is an '81 240 with 151k on the clock...and I agree in testing the injectors - but not because of age; these are new(er) injectors - less than 3k on them. No veggie either....only a rogue batch of b100 purchased from a local nut; probably about 5-6 gallons added to a reserve light tank of diesel.

So I'll pull them tonight - order new heat shields and get these four tested ASAP....stay tuned!

Yesh - I'll do a compression test; I don't have much else to lose. I did the bubble test and timing was good. The ONLY way I'm able to start the car is on WD40...and even then - it's rough.

Forgot about the IP numbers...but thanks for the tactful reminder. I'd ask my wife (at home) to grab the numbers right now and post them but I'm afraid of the numbers she'll give me

One other thing....once I get it running (I've kept my foot on the pedal for up to 15 minutes....then I start to get impatient) - it smokes like mad the entire time. White smoke. That's unburnt fuel, yes?

I had a fantastic time this AM in my business casual trying to grab these digits without landing the charming scent of diesel on me. I couldn't clean off the plaque real well but I made out WM0022 in the middle - or perhaps that's a palindrome because I was using a mirror? Leading and trailing numbers were indistinguishable.

It tried to pick out the syntax from other IP's to help decipher the code - and it looks precisely like this bad boy, if that's any help?

and much to my surprise - the fuel in the injector return lines DID lose some of it's milky heritage and looked closer to apple juice - but the big gallon jug has not.

I plan on pulling the injectors tonight...

Well let us know about how the injectors behave once you get them out. Are are going to test them aren't you?

Interesting to hear that the milky way doesn't last as long in the pipe as it does in the jug - surface tension? - smaller volume? - different concentration? {Who knows...}

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Have you cracked each steel fuel line to see if the engine slows down.

__________________
85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.

No - I've sequentially cracked each after attempting to start (all were wet) - but not whilst running - as I can't convince my young children or angry wife to stay on the pedal after I pray to Rudolph & get it started. I can use a brick in my absence and try though...

Have you tried turning in the idle speed screw to keep it running while you perform the test.

__________________
85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.

No but that's quite a convicting suggestion after reading it. Why didn't I think of that?!?! Apparently I've lost track of logic.

So crank screw so it stays @ high RPMs - start on wd40....systematically crack each injector to find the troublesome offender, yes? Worth trying before I pull all of them out for testing/cleaning anyway - thanks!

Instead of a brick why not just use your hand on the linkage to give it throttle? Put the keys in and turn it to glow... you can start the car by using a pair of needle nose pliers on the junction block that is on the pass side fender in engine compartment. IIRC it's the two outer most terminals, one is big and the other is a small one. Just touch the pliers to both screw heads and it should activate the starter. You should be able to reach the linkage and the junction block to get it started then once running can hold linkage open and crack the injector lines.

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'98 E300 Turbo "Juliette"
'85 Federal 300TD

Apparently I was typing when mention of the idle screw got posted. You could go that route but if your arms are long enough my option requires less adjusting of the IP

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'98 E300 Turbo "Juliette"
'85 Federal 300TD

Could it be that easy?

Update please!!!!!!

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

haha - I wish I had better news. I adjusted the idle (way high - I don't have a Tach but there's barely any thread left on the screw on the rack) and got it running on Saturday - and left it run for about 20-30 minutes.

Cracked the rear (#1? #4?) injector and it IMMEDIATELY died. I've tried 4 or 5 times to restart (again on WD40) to no avail - so I haven't been able to try the other 3 injectors. I was able to briefly restart on Sunday - but I got cocky and tried to back out of the garage; tempted by the fruit of moving this tank on it's own power...and it died as soon as I hit R.

I presume this means one of the other injectors is down though....correct? If it died immediately - I killed a good one....and it should run (roughly) on three?

I contacted 4 diesel shops in the area for pricing on testing/cleaning. Any ballpark figures on how much this will cost - so I don't get hosed?

If you want to give up that is fine. I don't think you can assume much if you don't test. It doesn't sound like your engine makes much power if you cant engage the transmission without it dying.

__________________
85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.