With 394,000 miles and as far as I know the tank has never been drained, who knows what is in there.

I put the starter back in today and the engine spins pretty good now. I ordered new glow plugs and will reassemble when they get here, drain the tank and purge all the lines, replace the primary and secondary filters and put in fresh diesel. Is there anything else anyone can think of I should do before I fire it up?

Crank the engine with the starter to see if oil pressure builds. Something or other caused the episode on the highway.

Four hundred thousand if the engine has not been rebuilt or changed is getting up there.

CB,

What a Relief!

__________________
'84 300SD sold
124.128

"Crank the engine with the starter to see if oil pressure builds."

Good point -I could've just looked down and seen, if I had only thought of it when I had it spinning -I didn't even look at the tach. I'll try when I get home. I hope I don't regret ordering those GPs because of what I see.

"Four hundred thousand if the engine has not been rebuilt or changed is getting up there."

There is no record of this engine having had anything major done to it, but it has been running very well, with very little oil usage, for the three years I've owned it.

"What a Relief!"

I hope so -sure looks promising. I know from experience though that even if it fires up and runs fine, I'm going to be steering with my fingertips and the radio off for at least the next 6 months.

Well -no oil pressure with starter spinning engine with GPs out, but no tach reading either. Is the engine turning too slow to build pressure or is the oil pressure reading bypassed during starting? I don't remember noticing before. I hope it's not a spun bearing.

You should get oil pressure from cranking, it could take longer to build though because of the slower turning (5 seconds?). If you had drained/refilled the oil it could take a really long time to show.

Should I be getting a tach reading as well? I did not drain and refill the oil.

Well I may have goofed. If the oil sender is electric. When cranking the gauge may stay low because of low available voltage. Or itis electrically locked out when cranking as another member suggested.

Forgot you had a newer model with a serpentine belt. The quickest test i can think of to eliminate that effect. Remove the oil pressure feed wire from the sendor. Hook an ohmeter on the sendor to ground. Cranking the engine should change the ohm reading.

These engines start to make oil pressure as soon as you start cranking. Or a very few seconds later. Or just start the engine and shut it down if no oil pressure is indicated in five seconds.

Tach reading when cranking is subjective at best. Cranking rpm is not all that fast. Or once again low available voltage while cranking may effect it. Or the tach circuit may be electrically disabled as well when cranking. I think your problem is getting narrowed down hopefully.

I do not own a 603 for comparison purposes. At that milage dropping the oil pump drive chain is a real possibility. Few people ever think to check them unless in the area for another issue. They can wear out and break.

I have changed my mind a little. Especially after reading post number twenty nine. You do not want to start the engine if the rod bearings are dry. First the proof or lack of oil pressure must somehow be established when cranking.

Even if it is just loosening off the oil pressure sendor or removimg it and having a stream of oil come out when cranking. Get someone to hold a cup to minumise the mess if it is flowing. The same person of course will inform you it is present. Remember no longer than five seconds probably less in reality the oil output should be present.

If the glow plugs are still out leave them out for the test.

OK -so I have finally been able to get back to work on this car.

I checked oil pressure while cranking using the Ohmmeter method mentioned above. I started with 8 Ohms before cranking, 13 Ohms while cranking and 11 Ohms after cranking. From this I assumed I had oil pressure.

So I reassembled and fueled the engine and put Lubrimoly in the main filter and attempted to fire it up a number of times. No luck -I got some popping and some smoke, but nothing else -and most disturbingly a "bonk,bonk,squeak......bonk,bonk,squeak", and slower-than-normal cranking with a freshly charged battery.

Looks like gunk in the tank was NOT the problem.

Could I have skipped a tooth on the timing chain? Does that make any sense? I am really puzzled.

Sounds like a spun bearing from your description.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Wouldn't a spun bearing result in zero oil pressure?

No, I don't think it would cause a loss of cold engine oil pressure. Of course we had only a very ineffective read on oil pressure. I would follow Barry, use his plan, remove the oil pressure sender switch and see if it blows oil. If it does you have oil pressure, and yes you might have a bad or spun bearing. Seems you are one of those owners who needs help and yet are determined to do it your way. Smell the fuel tank for gas! Oh, OK, it has gone a half million miles, who knows what is in there? There better be only one thing in there, diesel. Take a sniff. Smell any gasoline?

__________________
Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

"Seems you are one of those owners who needs help and yet are determined to do it your way"
Junqueyardjim -I would understand your impatience with me more if this was not the first post you've made with regards to my problem. Others have been very helpful and at least not to my knowlege concerned with the sequence of steps I have chosen to make in the diagnosis of my car's problem -the sequence of which has been at least partly based upon the extreme weather conditions in my area and the fact that the car is out in that weather. I had some indication that the problem was fuel related so I checked that first -nobody else seemed to think it a bad idea.

But thank you very much for the rest of your input. No, the fuel obviously does not smell of gas. Gas would float on diesel, so much of what suggested it was fuel related would not have made sense. High mileage gas cars often have sludge (rust and just random bits that get introduced every time the cap is taken off) that does not show until the tank is below a certain level, that can stop an engine as mine stopped. I have now determined that it is not a fuel problem, so if what you say is true about there not being any reason for there not to be oil pressure with a spun bearing, then that's what I will look at next instead of the other possibilities.

Nope, I drove my 617 with a bad bearing for about 10 miles without losing oil pressure. I new the engine was trashed and it was making a horrible rapping sound, but it still had pressure.

Just to correct your thinking, oil will float on water, but gasoline does not float on fuel oil. Once mixed in by stirring or wave motion, it becomes an inseperatable "homogonized" mixture. Only a refinery could separate it out.

__________________
Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!