I've been helping my friend get her 1979 300d wagon back on the road. Adjusted valves, tested and removed bad glow plugs. My plan was to get it started, run a few gallons of diesel through it, then do a diesel purge. Next, pull the injectors and put in a set that I have cleaned and balanced.

A few problems though. The engine is turning over very slow. I connected my running 240d to it with cables, and still cranked very slow. I even pulled my battery and installed it into the 300d, still very slow crank.

I took a closer look at the compression test (and realized it was taken four years ago! Last time the car ran). I knew it had 2 low compression cylinders, but I learned that they are side by side. Cyl 4 and cyl 5 are really low, right around 200. The first three are all close to 400. Am I right to assume that the head gasket is bad between the 4th and 5th cylinders?

And what about the slow crank?

I am going to pull the first injector today and visually check to see if the 1st glow plug is lighting up. The car still has the old linear loop plugs.

I'm really starting to think it might be a lost project.