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  #16  
Old 01-19-2010, 11:07 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by homeboyjohn_96 View Post
interesting point but no, i mooch off the oil he gets.

You haven't mentioned something that happened on mine: BAD GROUND. The 240D is probably different, but there are two grounds: one goes battery (-) to body, the other is lower body to motor. The lower one gets corroded and you can't see it. I just use a single heavy duty connection from battery to engine and that made the difference. Also: make the engine spin faster by cleaning all electrical connections on starter.

I would pull at least one plug and watch it heat up up RED hot.

I have found that a lot of MB marginal cars with bad grounds become a lot more dependable when the gound issue is fixed. It's the weak point on older cars.

Just my 2 cents, but good luck.

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  #17  
Old 01-19-2010, 11:22 PM
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Originally Posted by nckmsn View Post
Do you remember what order you did these repairs in? It is possible that you may have put in new plugs but had a weak battery, then ruined the plugs with the starting fluid, then put the new battery in. This would leave you with good battery and bad plugs. Also, just out of curiosity, what kind of fuel have you been running in your car? Bad fuel?
not likely as the repair were done in order posted
have check glow plugs both voltage and ohms a second time this morning
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  #18  
Old 01-19-2010, 11:26 PM
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Originally Posted by cgoodwin View Post
Check the glow plugs with an ohm meter to seee if they are good, if more than one is bad, the compression is low, the crank speed low and it is cold, it is not amazing that it is not starting.

Check the power to the glow plugs with a volt meter

When you start it with ether get it warm and pull the valve cover vent, if it smokes like a train then you have serious blowby.

Injectors last only about 100K, bad ones will weep or open late.

Any decent garage can amp test your starter and battery while cranking, could be either one or just a bad ground.
glow plugs checked

will check the smoke

**should i pull the injectors and get them tested? would the car still run normally after warming up if the injectors are bad?

i will call some garages first thing in the morning. just the thought of not messing with those two bolts is making me relax.

also will check my ground connections

thanks to all for suggestion
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  #19  
Old 01-20-2010, 02:27 AM
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A diesel will run on cat poop once you get it started, so yes it will run "OK" once warm even if the injectors are bad. Testing is probably as much as replacement, they sell new ones here and I sell new ones.

Removing the starter is no a big deal but the best way to test it is on the car.

You need to find out if lowcompression is your issue.
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  #20  
Old 01-20-2010, 01:45 PM
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how hot are the glow plugs supposed to get? should they be litterally "red" hot?

i pulled out my #1 injector and fired up the glow plugs for a full cycle(~30 sec till i herd the relay click off) , stuck my finger down there. seemed warm. so i fired them up for another full cycle.
it definately wasn't "red" hot but i was dumb enough to stick my pinky down there and get burnt, it definately got hot.

so should it have turned red after 1-2 full cycles?

called my repair shop they wont/cant test the starter, guess i'll head over to the "good MB shops" forum to try and find someone in d.c. metro area.
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  #21  
Old 01-20-2010, 02:22 PM
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Good glow plugs glow bright red when they are powered. Even a dull red glow is not good.
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  #22  
Old 01-20-2010, 02:23 PM
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Good glow plugs glow bright red when they are powered. Even a dull red glow is not good.

Removing the starter is not a big deal.
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1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
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  #23  
Old 01-20-2010, 08:40 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by homeboyjohn_96 View Post
how hot are the glow plugs supposed to get? should they be litterally "red" hot?

i pulled out my #1 injector and fired up the glow plugs for a full cycle(~30 sec till i herd the relay click off) , stuck my finger down there. seemed warm. so i fired them up for another full cycle.
it definately wasn't "red" hot but i was dumb enough to stick my pinky down there and get burnt, it definately got hot.

so should it have turned red after 1-2 full cycles?

called my repair shop they wont/cant test the starter, guess i'll head over to the "good MB shops" forum to try and find someone in d.c. metro area.

I would put 12 volts directly to the glow plug and see if the result differs from when they are wired through the normal electrical system.
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  #24  
Old 01-20-2010, 09:59 PM
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To eliminate ground issues for the weak glowing glow plugs. Take a jumper cable from the negative terminal of the battery to a good connection on the engine and watch that glow plug again.

Or if the injector is already back in read the plug voltage with the jumper and without it. A weak ground will be indicated by a higher voltage at the glow plugs with the temporary additional ground.

At the same time try your starter with the temporary additional ground. Is it noticeably faster turning? Make sure your connections with a temporary jumper are really sound at both ends.
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  #25  
Old 01-22-2010, 01:47 PM
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removed all of my ground straps and cleaned/sanded the connections. Removed the braided engine to frame strap and cleaned it out.
tried starting the car. no dice.

ok so i decided to test my OLD glow plugs

(i should have looked up this info, tested my glow plugs and THEN order new ones if i needed them but instead i just figured i would throw money at it and everything would be fine. of course that didn't work)

all of the old glow plugs ohmed fine and then i decided to hook them up with some wire straight to my battery and sure enough each one of them turned bright red at the tips. (guess i didn't need new glow plugs)

with the #1 injector out i removed the new glow plug that wasnt heating up bright red and put in one of the old ones i had just tested. sure enough it turned bright red. so i pulled all of the new glow plugs and put the old ones that i know are working correctly back in.

i tried to start the car but it cranked over slower then i have ever heard before, but i figured that after all of this glowing and cranking with out ever getting the car running to charge the battery the battery was probably way low. voltmeter put the battery at 11.6 V so i put my battery charger on it.

~6-8 hours later the battery charger said the battery was charged. volt meter said 13.3 V.

moment of truth: charged battery and the car had been sitting cold for most of the day. Sure enough she started up with no problems! shut her down and check the battery 12.87 V.

Next morning woke up checked the battery again thinking i might have a fault somewhere draining my battery overnight. 12.96 no fault i guess. Started up the car with no trouble at all!

At this point i intend to run it around town for a couple days making sure nothing else presents it's self but then it's the open road for us!

(by the way i tested the glow plug that was in #1 and wouldnt heat up enoguh. when i did, the base (not the tip) started glowing bright red for a second then it BURST IN FLAMES!!! not joking. wtf is up with that?!?!?)

thanks for all the help everyone wish me luck/tell me what you think
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  #26  
Old 01-22-2010, 10:03 PM
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Homeboyjohn,

Glad you got her running. And I learned something from this thread as well. Ground straps. I'll be checking those on my car.
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  #27  
Old 01-22-2010, 10:07 PM
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I learned something else. New glow plugs can be crap.
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1985 300TD 185k+
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1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
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  #28  
Old 01-22-2010, 11:32 PM
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Originally Posted by homeboyjohn_96 View Post
thanks for all the help everyone wish me luck/tell me what you think
Don't look back. You got it figured out!!

What was the brand of your new GPs that were supposedly bad?
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  #29  
Old 01-23-2010, 09:00 AM
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Now that you've gotten the battery fully charged, it might be time to check your charging system - so you keep that battery charged!

The glow plug burst into flames? Wow...was it an autolite?
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  #30  
Old 01-24-2010, 12:24 PM
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glow plugs were bosch. only tested 2 of them so far. (1 burst into flame the other was good )

checked my voltage with the car running 14.3~14.5. seems good. been checking my battery after shut down at night and again in the morning before i start her back up. two nights ago it was 13 at night then 12.87 in the morning. last night it was 12.85 and 12.81 this morning. i was doing alot of short runs these last 2 days so alot of starting not alot of miles. seems to be good. planning on not starting her today to see how she acts after sitting for 2 days.

new problem (but not as major) the latch i pull to relase the hood. (latch inside the car) has snapped off. looks like it could be replaceable (with out welding) from looking at it but has anyone else had experience with this?

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