From what you have said Bodhi, it doesnt sound like a slipping clutch.

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

If your OM616 fires up at 10 degrees without block heater assistance you can be very sure you have excellent compression.

It's very hard to diagnose noises and vibrations over the Internet, one persons 'klunk' is another persons 'rattle' and frequently the direction a noise appears to be coming from is not the actual location of the noise.

This is a case where a quick trip to your independent mechanic might be in order - there is no substitute for experience when it comes to noise diagnosis.

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98 Dodge-Cummins pickup (123k)
13 GLK250 (135k)
06 E320CDI (323K)
16 C300 (62K)
82 300GD Gelaendewagen (54K)

Long overdue update (snow really, really slowed down my repair efforts): I changed the primer pump and both fuel filters yesterday and it made a huge difference, at least from my observations in driving it around for a night. For one thing, it made it up the most wicked hill in town without a problem, which is new. It doesn't seem to be wavering in third and fourth at all anymore, and it seems a bit "faster," too. It looked like the primary fuel filter I took off was absolutely disgusting. So I'm guessing that was the culprit, and hopefully I won't have the issue anymore.

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

Means it is time to begin dosing each fillup with Startron until the clear primary filter remains clear colored fuel...

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

I was thinking it might be a good idea to clean the tank strainer, too. The primary filter, so far, still looks clear. My guess would be the old one hadn't been changed in about 100,000 miles.

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

It never hurts to treat for biological problems even if you dont have them. That way you wont have them starting.

Bodhi,
Your original post was supposed to about a "dumb question". There was nothing "dumb" about what you asked !!! I am sure many on here are much wiser for your asking!!!

__________________
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

You can either work your butt off and remove the tank , send it out for cleaning where they'll dent it and return it with surface rust , or clean it better @ home with a few gallons of Gasoline sloshed 'round inside it to kill the fungus or , follow the easy way and simply dose the fuel each fillup with 3ox. of Startron and the tank WILLbe clean in short order .

The choice is yours , you ignored the simple clutch testing advice so I'll wait to see what turns up .

I agree , this WAS NOT any ' dumb question ' ! .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

I did most of the testing advised and didn't find anything abnormal, and on the advice of several here concluded it wasn't a clutch problem. I'm also missing the part where I said I wasn't going to follow your Startron advice? I just said I should clean the tank strainer, too. I didn't say anything to the effect of "I'm not going to do a damn thing about this."

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

Glad you got this figured out. In a car without a tach seeing a slipping clutch can be troublesome. When I first got my 91 Jetta the rear main seal was leaking oil onto the clutch, and all 60 raging horsepower would make it slip if I "walked the bug" by not being completely off the power until the clutch was fully engaged. This was worse on cold days, I guess because the engine was making a bit more power.

When the clutch did slip it would feel a lot light driving on ice... RPMs would go up, the car wouldn't go faster, I'd lift the go pedal a bit, the motor would "catch up" with how fast I was going, then I could get going again.

I don't know if doing the top gear test would have made the clutch in that car slip. I know that test did fail in my 85 Jetta, but that's because the clutch was so worn there was no friction material left.

-J

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1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

You were told to listen the the RPM's under heavy acceleration or to do a stationary slip test , instead you said you can't hear the engine rev. (impossible , I'm _deaf_ and I can hear it) then you said it doesn't slip when you downshift , not the same as under power testing ,that's why the folks here who know this stuff , didn't tell you to test by down shifting .

You can use pretty much any fungicide , they all work ,only Startron by Starbrite allows you to continue driving , all others shock kill the fungus and you might have clogged filters of black gooey dead fungus .

No worries , just follow the instructions closely and your car will run better & better as the fungus is killed and removed .

You'll need a 46 MM 1/2" drive socket and a l o n g extension to remove the tank screen , it's best to have the back of the car up on ramps or safety stands and drag your oil drain pan under as quite a bit of Diesel Fuel will come roaring out when you remove the tank screen .

Lots of rags too .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Prior to tank screen removal siphon out as much fuel as you can then jack up the passenger side, no mess when you remove the screen. Be sure to check all three tank hoses for "weeping' fuel, if they haven't been replace, they probably need to be. Fuel on the axle boot is not good.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

Glad to hear it wasn't the clutch! I'd keep an eye on the clear filter, and if it doesn't show anything for a couple of weeks I'd skip the tank strainer.

Now, about that van with something burning in it...