I met forum member Smile123 this afternoon and had a look at her 1991 350 SD Turbo.
The car has had an OM617 Turbo stuck in, in place of the old 6 cyl engine.
The story is after the work, the car ran well for less than a month then had some issues then died.

When I found it today, the glow plug relay was unplugged from the harness (so that explains some difficult starting.)
The negative terminal on the battery was both cracked and the battery was dead as a stone. Wouldn't take a charge at all.
A replacement battery with a very good charge was found and the engine cranked. Not strong, but it cranked.
Glow plugs are working. The relay light comes on and the relay doesn't stick. Also the fuel is being heated up and pushed out the exhaust cause there is smoldering smoke coming from the car.

I bled the injector lines a few times so fuel is definitely getting there.

No matter what we did today, the car would turn over but not fire up.

I only had a few hours with the car today but next time I want to get it started then do a diesel purge.

Should I adjust the valves before we attempt to start it again? I know it can't hurt but I'm itching to get the car started and get it back on the road. Speaking of, I really should pull the valve cover to check the status of the timing chain and camshaft (in case of any catastrophic issues but there was nothing like that to speak of that I know of.)

So, to the forum, what else should I be looking at and for just to get this started?

Thanks all.
Phil Forrest

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson

AFAIK, diesels love to be cranked as fast as they can! Cranking speed helps to really compress and heat the air so combustion can occur. Glow plugs help out with cool/cold engine.

Have a good look over the battery, terminals (both ends of the cables) etc. in the starting circuit to get it cranking as strong as possible.

i'd do a compression test before wasting more time.

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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

It doesn't matter what you do to the engine if you can't provide a fast enough cranking action for it to start.

My Ford 7.3 PSD will not start on a weak set of batteries, any more than my 3.0 liter MB turbodiesel will.

Would suggest you put a new battery in.

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

Battery is a brand new Bosch from pepboys.

Remove the overboost switch and administer some WD 40. It will act as a fuel, and as a liquid, will raise compression enough for a start so you can see what you have.

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'83 300D, 126K miles.

I had a hard time starting my car this winter. I would imagine with the GP relay unplugged and the "difficult" starting has put additional strain on an aging starter.
As others have suggested check the starter circuit for loose wires and corrosion but my bet is you need to:
A: Test each GP to ensure it is working
B: Test the Starter

wow, a 350SD with the 617 in there. nice. when the 617 was installed, was the ground strap hooked up properly? Try adding a ground from the ground cable connection point to the intake manifold to get good ground to the engine.

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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 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

oh... if the stock diff is in there, you've got a REALLY tall ratio most likely. around 2.65 or less, so let us know how it accelerates once you've got it running.

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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 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Next time I work on it, I'm driving my car over there (last time I took public transit) and we'll charge the battery with my car for a while then give it a good cranking.

Phil Forrest

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson

Drove out to Smile123's place today and tried charging the battery more then starting the car. No joy. The starter wouldn't turn over quickly so we figured it was a bad starter.

Went and picked up a starter from Autozone, swapped it into the car and after a few minutes of charging with jumper cables, the car roared to sputtering, shaking life. I figured the injectors were a bit clogged or after months of sitting it was just angry.

After a minute or so, it calmed down and was running but still running a bit rough. I revved it some and spooled the turbo to let out a huge cloud of smoke. Did that again and kept it on for a bit.

The car got driven around the neighborhood for maybe 10 minutes then parked back in the driveway. It started up immediately after shutting off so I'm pretty confident the alternator, voltage regulator and battery are good. Were one of them bad, I figure it wouldn't start and we'd have seen the effects of a bad alternator with the lights, etc not working after a few minutes.

The car needs to get really opened up out on the freeway to get some good flow going as well as to get it warm. There are still more issues with that car but it's running now and that is fantastic.

Next time I head out, we're going to do a diesel purge, change the filters and adjust the valves. Actually, I'll do the valves first since it will be easier with a dead cold car.

In the end it was just that starter no cranking enough no matter how much of a jump or charge we gave it. The Duralast from AZ fired it right up.

Thanks all for your help and advice!

Phil Forrest

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson

Nice work! I, for one, am very curious as to how well the 617 hauls this thing around.

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-Louis

'87 300D Anthracite

Since I just saw an S500 that has a bad engine; too many projects already.

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daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
No longer selling Cluster Needles Paint
No longer selling New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

The car could use a diesel purge and valve adjustment but I think the 5cyl turbo engine has plenty of power to get around.

Phil Forrest

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson

The 350SD/L has a 2.82:1 rear axle. The only taller rear gear is the one on the 560.

-J

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1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.