I was in the market for a family car a few months ago and i came across this great site. with your guys help i decided to buy a 1987 300TD with 240k miles. this being my first Diesel, i slowly started to do some maintenance from your suggestions.

here's were the problem started. i was 3/4 of the way of finishing my Diesel Purge when all of a sudden i couldnt keep the car on. i kept hitting the gas pedal but it slowly started to die on me. after that i kept cranking the engine and it sounded like it wanted to start but just wouldnt go. i decided to come back to the forum to find some help. i searched and read some postings and came to the conclusion that it might be the Purge/Fuel Pump. i found one at a mercedes junkyard and installed it but got the same results. i read that the IP is Self-Purgeng system but i still tried pumping the stop lever and cracking the injector line but still no luck. i the installed the new fuel filters and then back to the fuel line and still the same results, just keeps on cranking.

well and totally lost and dont know what to do next, any suggestions? could the Purge done something to the IP? the car was running fine before the Purge and seem fine while i was doing it. any help would great.

p.s. the stop lever is on run

I think you probably have air in the injector lines. You can try to bleed each one at the injector end and it should start. The Purge itself didn't do any harm.
Also, I don't want to sound mean but the Diesel Discussion board would be a better place to post this. Good luck.

Since it's a 1987, it IS self priming. All efforts to start it from here on out should be made with the accelerator firmly floored. The thing delivers the most fuel when the accelerator is completely depressed, and this will be an advantage in the priming process.

Did you fill the new filter with any fuel before screwing it up to the housing? If not, it takes a very long time to fill that thing dribble by dribble before the engine will start. Air in a diesel takes a long time to bleed out.

I recommend putting your foot on the floor, holding the engine in the start position for 15-20 seconds, letting the starter cool for quite a while, and then repeating until you finally get the thing started. A maximum of three or four times through this procedure *should* bear results.

The thing will start, the very first time, in a fairly shuddery way. It will have a few 'False' starts before it finally catches. Stay on the starter until the engine is at least up to idle RPM and trying to rev. You don't want to cook a starter, but backing off of it right before it catches for real is just slowing things down also. Maybe not quite to idle speed, but -- you know what I mean. Don't let the starter go until it's trying to actually run on its own and not just firing occasionally.

__________________


~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

sorry about posting in the wrong section, i guess my mind was somewhere else.

i've been keeping the pedal to the floor, maybe a total of about 10 times for about 20 sec. or so and let it rest while its getting jump charged by my Yukon for a few minutes (don't have a charger). i also put in what was left of the Purge in the filter. after pumping the lever about 50X i get some air bubbles out of some injector lines but not all and not all the time. should i remove the fuel filter and re-charge it with Diesel? get another bottle of diesel and try it again direct at the engine bay?

thanks for the help so far, hopefully tomorrow i get better luck!:

If its the stop leaver you are pumping, dont bother, it wont help. A 87 should have a 60X motor & so no primer pump.
There are several threads about bleeding them.
You need the secondary fuel filter full to the top with diesel or atf or purge before you put it back and try again.

__________________
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

Your IP probably took a gulp of air when something in the purge system went awry. Did you see anything happen in the bottle, such as the purge running out, which would account for this?

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

i filled up the fuel filter with diesel and it sounds like it wants to start but not quite there yet. its been about my 4th crank so far.

i didn't see anything happen in the purge bottle cause i was inside reving the motor. when i started the purge the first time i rev the engine and let go of the pedal it turned off but started up right away. one thing i do remember is that everytime i rev the engine it seemed like the idle got a bit lower and a bit shakier or maybe just me

so is there any other way to purge the system or is the cranking pretty much it?

DO NOT USE ETHER.

x3 that the car is fine, needs no parts, but has some air.

Crankcrankcrank, for up to one minute per cycle (per owner's manual). Or tow start it if you have the means. The procedure for your specific car is in the owner's manual.

__________________
James Marriott
2003 Buick Regal
1983 300D (228k, frau Auto)
1996 Suburban K2500 (192k, 6.5 turbo diesel/4WD towmaster 10,000)
www.engineeringworks.biz
1987 300SDL junker 170k
1982 300SD junker, 265k

i finally have fuel coming out of each injector line. i see diesel all around the injector and a lot of bubbles on top of the nut so i closed them all. i think its a good sign. am letting the battery re-charge and then i'll retry.

good thing the car is in my driveway

How did you set up the purge? Coke bottle with input and return lines going into the bottle right to the bottom? When I purge, I accelerate by pulling on the linkage under the hood so I can see what is going on in the purge bottle. I'm guessing that what was happening was that the input line in the bottle was sucking air instead of fluid.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

SUCCES! I finally got it started. i cant believe how much cranking it took. i still think it was the purge/fuel pump that went bad.

I want to thank this forum and everybody who pitched in cause i was very close to giving up and calling a Mechanic.

am definitely not going to let my car run low on diesel in the future!

Carry a wrench, a set of fuel filters, and a quart (or half) of ATF in the trunk. If you somehow run out of fuel in the future, the ATF is a good well-filtered oil that can be used to fill/prime the fuel filter when you're not near a battery charger or other source for extended cranking.

You can fill the filter with diesel also, but only fill with the outside holes (pre filter) rather than the center hole so that any contamination in the fuel doesn't go directly to your IP. I consider ATF cheating, but it works well.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

just curious, was the car parked on an incline? It takes the self-purging system far to long to clear on an incline, so maybe for future reference of other, park on a flat when doing stuff like this (or even just changing filters).

__________________
-Zack K.

http://www.maj.com/gallery/Boardmong...-Drive/si2.jpg


1983 300d Turbo (Daily Drive) -- 243,000 miles
1979 280ce AMG (Beginning extreme restoration) -- 141,410 miles
1979 Yamaha Chappy LB50 (Awating new points) -- 1411.6 miles

1981 300d Euro 4 speed -- 188,421 km -- SOLD
1979 300d Euro 4 speed (Sold to Brother) -- 257,000 miles

A Collection of w123 AMG Cars and Parts

thanks for the tip, didn't know i could actually use ATF for emergency.

my drive way is short with a very small incline, so the first thing i did was let it roll down and started working on it there.