Problem with my 1998 E300 Turbodiesel *video - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

1964coupe · #1 12-23-2009, 12:09 PM

I hate for my first post to be one asking for help, but I just recently found this forum and it seems like its full of very knowledgeable people. I’m having a bit of trouble with my 1998 E300 and I was hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction.

About two weeks ago I went to start the car in the morning and after letting the glow plugs prime I turned the ignition over. The car started like normal, but immediately began to idle horribly and vibrate the car. At that time the glow plug light lit back up and the Check Engine light came on. I had the glow plugs and relay replaced with OEM parts.

After getting the car back I started it again and it’s still running awful and there is a faint white smoke that comes from the exhaust. There is no check engine light and no glow plug light on. After 5-10 minutes of driving the vehicle runs and idles fine. There is still a little black smoke under acceleration and it may be my imagination, but I feel like I'm down on power. I’ve done a lot of reading and my research has pointed me to two possible problems:

1) Air in the fuel lines
2) A bad injector (or two, LoL)

I’ve posted a link to a video of the vehicle on startup for anyone that doesn’t mind to watch it. I’m sorry for the horrible quality; I had to shoot it on my phone because my wife misplaced the charger for our digital camera. Also, I took a picture of my clear fuel lines and have that posted below as well because there appeared to be some air in it:

Vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QjU97WVBu8

Pic:

Thanks for any help! I just hate to start throwing money at the car and potentially still have an issue.

Andrew