My 300d just died....
 

The other night my wife and a friend of mine went to a movie and after not driving my benz much in the past 3 months I thought it would be good to take it for a spin.

The car started right up and ran great. It was about a 20 minute drive with most of it on the freeway. When we got out of the movie, about 2 hours later the car would not start. It would crank but not fire. It was getting fuel as I could smell it coming out of the tail pipe and I am pretty sure that the glow plug warmers were working because I could feel heat on the engine.

Any ideas what is going on? I tried it today but still nothing. I am really shocked that she left me stranded. The car was running great the whole drive and was not making any bad noises before I shut it off.

The car is a euro 77' 300d with a turbo engine and 4 speed manual trans with manual windows and locks.

Thanks in advance,

Reed

are you sure it was getting fuel? :confused: i mean, 2 hours isn't THAT long of a time for an engine to cool down. if you felt heat off the engine and the engine would turn over, wouldn't that be enough to start the engine? glow plugs or not? seattle isn't that cold of a place...wet, but not super cold.

should have tried a push start. :D

History? Mileage?
Fuel filters replaced when?
Plenty of fuel in the tank?

Check your glowplugs.
Neither a 77 nor a Euro would have an OE turbo engine so it must be a retrofit. Original engine would have had loop plugs and the loop plug relay.

I am not sure about the mileage, but the engine was replaced a few years ago. There is a little more than a 1/2 a tank of diesel. I don't know when the fuel filters were last replaced.

The reason that I think that the engine was getting fuel is because the I could smell diesel from the tail pipe when I was cranking the engine.

How should I check the glow plugs?

Thanks,

Reed

Ohmmeter...
 

You'll need an ohmmeter to do the check or by removing them from the block and plugging them into the battery... Either way, it's best to do that in your own garage and not in the parking lot... Make sure you give it a full glow cycle - I mean, glow it for at least 30-35 seconds before you crank.

How about air filter - how clean is that part?! Have you tried taking it out all together and trying to start?

It might be helpful to know what type of Enigne Replaced the Old one. If it was replaced by a newer Trubo Diesel Enigne and has Pencil type Glow Plugs. You can go to the Diesel Giant web site where he has a pictorial on how to check the Glow Plugs with the Ohm Meter.

Diesel Giant also has some pics on how to find the Engine Number and other Numbers on the car.
The Engine Number is located about the Middle of the upper part of the Engine Block right under where the Head Gasket would go on a flat area on the Fue Injection Pump side of the Block. You will need someting to clean it off and a strong light to see it.

Also look under the rear for dripping Fuel or wet Fuel Hoses.
Maybe you can smell Diesel by the Tail Pipe because the Fuel Hose from the Fuel Tank is cracked and seeping Fuel.
Maybe that same Fuel Hose is allowing Air to get into the Fuel System and keeping the Car from Starting.

If it has the newer pencil style glow plugs, it should have the glow plug relay mounted on the front of the driver's side fender. Pull the cover off and make sure the strip fuse you see is not blown or cracked. Best way to test glow plugs is to take them out and wire them to a battery.

Rick

Take off the fuel filler cap to see if perhaps it has created a vacuum? Cranking it may be bringing in a small amount of fuel, but not enough to run on. Another possibility is the shutoff on the back of the IP. Just guesses from the symptoms.

My guess would be he has a leak in the fuel system which caused it to lose its prime while it was parked. This could be made worse if he parked nose-up and then was trying to re-prime it in the position. Of course it could also be a faulty shutoff on the IP. The fact that it ran 2 hours prior would tend to support fuel rather than GPs since the engine would still be "warm" after 2 hours in most climates to start without GPs after some cranking. But without fuel no amount of cranking will start it.

Well, I got it running today. I took a look at the fuel lines and everything looked ok. I gave it a prime and tried to start it but it would not fire, all it would do is crank. I gave it another look and a shot of starting fluid and it fired right up and ran. I drove it around and it ran great. When I got home I let it sit for 5 minutes and again it fired right up. However, I let it sit for about an hour and it would not fire. Again I gave it a little shot of starting fluid and it fired right up.

It seems like it's loosing fuel pressure. I looked around and I can't find anything obvious. What do you think I should check? Is there any way to check that the injector pump is providing and holding pressure?

Thanks for all the help so far,

Reed

I don't think the glowplugs are working, have you checked them?

See post # 4.

See posts #4 and #6.

Check for proper glow plug function, and if that checks out, then start looking at fuel system issues.