Crud! 85 300SD was running great overnight not good

[Beastie]

I have been really lucky the 85 300Sd has been running fine all winter with the help from various forum members. 3 days ago the weather was warm and I decided to glue the hood insulation pad back in place. I bought the 3M adhesive advised here and went about my business. I though I would be clever
and place 2 prepacked bags of mulch under the hood ( on top of the engine)
so I could let the hood down without latching and use that to keep the pad in place while it dried.
a. these bags were dry so they were not very heavy
b. I placed them carefully.
c. Damn I wish I knew what a great product this was. Spray allow 4 minutes press together and nothing else need be done. Live and learn
Anyway all appeared to have gone well. The next a.m. I went to start the car
and it started okay temp in the 30's a little rough but was not worried.
Then when I drove I noticed a huge loss of power just trying to get to 30 mph, also the 1-2 $ 3-4 shifts were a heck of a lot longer. Now the fuel level was low and I know I need to clean/replace the strainer but if I keep the tank
just above the reserve line all is well for now. I put 1/4of a tank in and drove it hoping that it was just the strainer clogging but that did not appear to help. It was getting late but I popped the hood and tried to see the filter which looked okay. I also looked at where the bags had been to see if I had snagged something with my stupid move of putting the bags there in the first place but saw nothing glaringly wrong. Tomorrow a.m. I will be looking under the hood give a closer inspection to all vacuum lines etc. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Until this point this car has run better than most of the other W126 I have driven and the tranny shifted flawlessly. I am going to look closely at the bowden cable adjstmnt etc but input would be gratefully accepted.
Thanks
Alan

[kerry]

You broke the brittle plastic boost control line going from the banjo bolt on the intake manifold over to the overboost protection switch.

[Aquaticedge]

or buggered up some other vac line. check them.

[snookwhaler]

STOP!!!! DO NOT ADJUST ANYTHING!!!

I would have to agree with both of the above posts. However, you more than likely broke the boost line as mentioned in Post #2. Lots of other little connections could have been placed in jeopardy as well.

Get a Mighty vac and get to work. Find the leaks and fix them.

[kerry]

I don't see any evidence of a problem with vacuum lines.

[Walrus]

Originally Posted by kerry

I don't see any evidence of a problem with vacuum lines.

Understood... but can you see a vacuum leak? as advised earlier, get the mighty vac out and start checking...

[Palangi]

If the new hood pad is pinching the crankcase vent hose, the engine will run very poorly.

[kerry]

Originally Posted by Walrus

Understood... but can you see a vacuum leak? as advised earlier, get the mighty vac out and start checking...

I don't see anything in his symptoms that is indicative of a vacuum leak. What do you see that suggests it?

[Junkman]

Originally Posted by kerry

I don't see anything in his symptoms that is indicative of a vacuum leak. What do you see that suggests it?

It is too much of a coincidence to believe that poor running is not because something is knocked loose. Don't start randomly adjusting something ie linkage unless you know it is out of adjustment. Sudden poor shifts cold be vacuum related. No boost or enrichment could be vacuum related.

[kerry]

Originally Posted by Junkman

It is too much of a coincidence to believe that poor running is not because something is knocked loose. Don't start randomly adjusting something ie linkage unless you know it is out of adjustment. Sudden poor shifts cold be vacuum related. No boost or enrichment could be vacuum related.

How could no boost or enrichment be vacuum related? There's no connections between those two systems on this car.
Vacuum leaks would show up as harder shifts. Slower shifts could be from reduced power caused by the broken boost control line.
I wouldn't adjust any linkage, just look at the boost control line first.

[vstech]

could have broken the bowden cable adjuster that is on top of the linkage... or popped it off the linkage altogether, and it's not sensing accelerator travel.

easily could be the boost line (many erroneously think this is a vacuum line...) as stated above.

85 has an arv, and I think vacuum controls it and the wastegate as well...

basically, a good well lit inspection of the systems around the location of the bags and the places you put your hands as you lifted the bags is warranted...

[kerry]

Originally Posted by vstech

85 has an arv, and I think vacuum controls it and the wastegate as well...
.

Is that the case on all 85 SD's or just the Calif. version?

[vstech]

Originally Posted by kerry

Is that the case on all 85 SD's or just the Calif. version?

good question. I'll be getting in an 85 soon for restoration... I'll investigate.

[toomany MBZ]

I understand all 85's. I've seen a Federal one with the ARV, not sure it has anything to do with the wastegate.

The pic is courtesy of a member here, sorry I can't give kudos to a specific poster.

[Hounds]

I'm new to MB's as well. Same sort of thing happened to me, but not with a bag of mulch. lol
Was 'fiddling' around under hood and broke/snapped the cable adjuster on the linkage as post #11 mentions.