I had a buddy of mine pick up another 83 300TD for me in Vermont. When he got it home and took for a test drive it had no power and a loud knock when reved up. He dont know much about diesel benz's, so got him to take a short video and put it on YouTube. I was going to fly down with the wife and drive it back to Canada the first week in July. Hoping someone will hear knock in vid and can tell me what it might be. Thought it might be a bad injector or Really need a valve adj or something much worse.... I need to find out what it might be before I get there. The wife will hang me if I spend the whole time down there looking for another car to get home....

the link to the vid is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMDWboA10Hc

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83 300TD Sable 402K " Work Truck "
81 300SD Gray 240K " Loner Car "
04 E320 Blue 90K " My Winter rig "
07 BMW X5 4.4 118K " My Summer rig"
04 Jetta TDI Wagon 168K " Wifes "
08 Toyota FJ 109K " Wifes winter rig "
04 Jetta TDI 120K " Daughters Car "

Not a rod. Maybe a valve way out of adjustment. Maybe the vacuum pump. Need to put a stethoscope on it to isolate the sound. I wouldn't fly down to pick it up without knowing what it wasl

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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 put a straight hose on the return fuel line from the top of the fuel filter to the steel line. It made a weird thumping noise and got worse when I revved the engine. It's a little hard to tell in the video, but it kind of sounded like the noise your getting. Its the big hose at the bottom of the screen at the 32 second mark in your video.

Doesn't sound like injector nailing. But don't rule them out. You can isolate injectors but loosening each hard fuel line one at a time and see if the sounds goes away or changes.

Does it go way when the engine warms up.

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sounds like steam engine train. maybe air leak somewhere ?

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2010 ML350 Bluetec
2012 Mustang Convertible

If you want my guess, it has a broken valve spring. Another possibility is a flat exhaust valve lobe, but that would be accompanied by smoke in the exhaust when the engine is loaded.

I am going to get my buddy to try and isolate where the noise is coming from. Check injectors and get him to make a better video. Will get him to pop off valve cover and have a look there too.

Thanks everyone. Jay

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83 300TD Sable 402K " Work Truck "
81 300SD Gray 240K " Loner Car "
04 E320 Blue 90K " My Winter rig "
07 BMW X5 4.4 118K " My Summer rig"
04 Jetta TDI Wagon 168K " Wifes "
08 Toyota FJ 109K " Wifes winter rig "
04 Jetta TDI 120K " Daughters Car "

The rubber mounts on your air cleaner are broken, maybe the bracket as well. Sounds like you have an exhaust leak as well. Look at the down pipe coming from the turbo when you have the air cleaner off.
Anything else is guesswork! Have fun.

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'70 F100 shortbed
'82 Diesel Westy
'83 Euro 300TD
Curtlo Viper
Yeti ARC
Surly long haul trucker

My buddy added a few more vids. Can hear the noise a little better.
He's going to do a few tests for me tomorrow. Hope I can tell what it is.
Thanks everyone.

link to new video's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01J2-ffAVCA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSep3SWXj7A

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83 300TD Sable 402K " Work Truck "
81 300SD Gray 240K " Loner Car "
04 E320 Blue 90K " My Winter rig "
07 BMW X5 4.4 118K " My Summer rig"
04 Jetta TDI Wagon 168K " Wifes "
08 Toyota FJ 109K " Wifes winter rig "
04 Jetta TDI 120K " Daughters Car "

Is it actually misfiring when you rev it or is the sound drowning out the mic? My guess would be something along the valvetrain, almost a stuck open/broken valve but the blowby isn't bad at all, I would expect it to blow the cap right off.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Thats what I thought too. Thats why I got him to take that vid. He's going to pop off valve cover tomorrow and have a look. Getting him to check valve clearance.

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83 300TD Sable 402K " Work Truck "
81 300SD Gray 240K " Loner Car "
04 E320 Blue 90K " My Winter rig "
07 BMW X5 4.4 118K " My Summer rig"
04 Jetta TDI Wagon 168K " Wifes "
08 Toyota FJ 109K " Wifes winter rig "
04 Jetta TDI 120K " Daughters Car "

Can you tell if its misfiring though? That would point more towards a fuel issue rather than valves IMO, although it doesn't rule them out. Misfire will make the engine jolt fairly violently, it does sound like it misfires when you rev it but its tough to tell with the camera mic.

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

This is just opinion mind you...

Sounds like some valve train noise. Also, doesn't sound like the turbo is spooling up properly so there is some issue there. Check to make sure that turbo is not seized and that wastegate is functioning, banjo bolt is not clogged and tube to alda is not defective.

Probably needs a valve adjustment. Injectors are probably in need of service as well given the look of the engine.

As mentioned before, lack of excessive blowby probably means you've got an intact engine. Body doesn't look to bad either.

My best guess is that it's a turbo problem.

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Codifex
1981 240D ChinaBlue (Got her running with a donor engine.)
1983 300DTurbo w/sunroof.
1984 300TD manual sunroof. (Electrical Gremlins)

X2 on the misfire - that's what I thought too

I'd pull the injectors (replace crush seals when you replace them) and have a look at their condition - by this I mean that you can't see if they are worn - but they could be oiled up which might be an indication of what that swooshing noise could be. Ideally I'd do an injector pop test - but I realise that is probably a bit difficult if you don't have the kit. I'd then look at the turbo as suggested and then check the IP timing.

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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!

Make sure to check out the simple things as well. I'd check the exhaust manifold, the pipe, and where they connect, look for smoke coming out while it's running. Also check the air filter. A really nasty air filter could be causing low air flow. Also make sure the U pipe is connected properly to the air cleaner and the turbo. Try cracking the injectors one at a time with the engine running. If one of them doesn't severely changed the sound and idle then you've isolated the cylinder thats causing most of the problem.

How old is the fuel? You could just be running nasty old fuel and need filters and fresh fuel. Stick the supply and return line into a small bottle of fresh diesel. Run it and see what happens. I guess if you're going that route you could run a couple cans of diesel purge through to clear out any build up on all the fuel parts.

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Turbo isn't going to spool up when its not under load. You'd have to test that while driving not at idle.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth