Hello everyone and thanks in advance for your time and knowledge.

Last night, while attempting to drive home at moderate speeds the accelerator on my 1972 220D just stopped working. I was in 3rd gear, not shifting, and with no sound or warning at all, my 'gas' pedal became totally unresponsive, yet the car would not stall out and would creep along at a very slow pace (enough for me to get to a side road and park) when I tried putting the car into 2nd it seemed to lug in this state.

any help or advice would be much appreciated. this is a new car to me and has been problem free up until now. Im thinking clutch or transmission? The transmission seemed decent to me (but i'm a newbie) it only made a slight noise if you weren't careful trying to go into 3rd gear. I guess I'm just trying to get a heads up as to what to expect after I get the car towed..

thank you!


Adrian Olsen

it sounds like your accelerator linkage popped off. have someone step on the "gas" and watch what moves.
your injection pump should have a lever on it that moves, and a stop lever with a screw on it to limit travel, and the lever should hit the stop when the pedal is pressed all the way down.
another possibility is the fuel filters are clogged up, and limiting fuel volume to pass.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

X2. Sounds like a relatively simple linkage failure.

__________________
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

a similar thing happened to me when I got my 79 wagon... the bolts holding the linkage to the valve cover loosened up and the plate just moved instead of the linkage! two bolts later, and I was on my way!

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

so far ya'll have both made my day a little better with these diagnoses. Just called a friendly mechanic and what he said lined up with what yall have said.

How difficult would it be to fix myself? It would save some $$$ for sure and be a good lesson. Could anyone point me in the direction of how to fix it?

If it's a linkage problem--on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being most difficult, it would be a 1.

__________________
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

You should be able to reconnect the parts of the accelerator linkage that came apart. If they don't stay together, you may need to replace the connecting parts, may be a worn out ball joint on one of the links.

__________________
CC: NSA

All things are burning, know this and be released.

82 Benz 240 D, Kuan Yin
12 Ford Escape 4wd

You're four times

It's hard to

more likely to

concentrate on

have an accident

two things

when you're on

at the same time.

a cell phone.

www.kiva.org It's not like there's anything wrong with feeling good, is there?

If you can take a photograph of your engine bay and post it - I'm sure someone will be able to see where it has gone wrong.

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

If you run to paid for service on something this minor the car may break you financially over time. These are a learn as you go type of car purchase. You can learn a lot over time with this site as a general guide.

Went and got the benz this afternoon and simply reattached the part per suggestion and voila! Put a C clamp on the part that fell off and I think we're good as new. Thank you again - im sure this wont be the last time you hear from me !


Adrian

A picture would help everyone..





.

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Welcome to the forum Adrian.
By now you will have realized that its a great resource & many very experience people are keen to help.
It would be great if you could post a pic of the problem linkage on here so that when the next guy has a similar problem & he goes looking for answers, he will find it.
Good Luck with your car !!

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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

Because the throttle linkage can be a safety issue. Check and replace all parts that are excessivly worn. You need the linkage in good reliable condition.

Should be cheap and easy enough to accomplish yourself. Even better parts from a salvage yard may do. The linkage just should not be falling apart.

Vibration over the years takes it's toll is the predominate cause. Combined with owners never cleaning and lubricating the swivels etc.

Also if you have a friend push the throttle pedal to the floor you can examine the lever on the injection pump. Is it being advanced to it's stop? If not acceleration and top end will be comprimised.

This type of issue is very common on the newer 123 cars at least. There I at last got the statement out that the 123s are newer cars.