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  #16  
Old 01-26-2016, 03:13 PM
vstech's Avatar
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Location: Mount Holly, NC
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12.3 is NOT 90%


12.55 would be 90... 12.3 is 25% charge.

I think the issue is battery cable end corrosion though...

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  #17  
Old 01-26-2016, 05:20 PM
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I reread all this and picked up something that I missed the first go round. That was that the solenoid did indeed click the first time. Do the voltage drop across the connections particularly the battery cable to battery post while the someone is turning the key. You should read very close to 0 volts on all connections while under load. Wherever you find a voltage drop, clean and tighten that connection and try again.
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  #18  
Old 01-26-2016, 10:20 PM
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Before you go spend any money on any parts. Please do as some of the others have suggested and clean your negative battery cable clamp and post with a wire brush. I have seen this happen multiple time on various cars I have owned and worked on. An invisible layer of corrosion forms on the surface of the clamping area. This layer blocks most of the current. For some reason this phenomenon usually occurs out of the blue, in cold damp weather. Like after a snow storm or after some rainy foggy days. Don't just rely on looking at the clamps. You must remove and physically clean them. Give it a try . I think you will be happily surprised. Good luck!
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  #19  
Old 01-27-2016, 01:09 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vstech View Post
12.3 is NOT 90%


12.55 would be 90... 12.3 is 25% charge.

I think the issue is battery cable end corrosion though...
I was also thinking the battery was somewhat low as well. He might have a charging issue or stuck on glow plug relay is also a possibility. One bad cell in a newish battery is not that uncommon either. I put charger on them for a respectable time. If a cell is shorted end voltage will be lower than it should be after sitting for an hour.

Anyways the cable connections deserve cleaning before going any further if that becomes required. Also as soon as you get this car up and running. Check the voltage at the battery with the engine running. It has to be better than 13 volts. An hour after shutting off the engine after a decent run to make sure the battery is fully charged. Voltage should be around 12.7 volts. Maybe a little lower in colder weather.

I have had dismal luck with batteries not kept in constant service incidentally.. Was not nearly as much of an issue in the old days. Really discharging them too much seems also to be a battery killer now more than ever.

Last edited by barry12345; 01-27-2016 at 01:26 PM.
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  #20  
Old 01-28-2016, 09:25 AM
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Location: Charleston, SC
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Maxbumpo was kind enough to meet me during lunch yesterday, and we checked all the battery connections with his multimeter. It seemed that everything was fine. I jiggled both the pos and neg battery connections to make sure they were snug and we visually checked the connections to the starter.

After that I tried it again and it started right up. No problem.

Upon further and closer inspection to the battery connections, Max noticed the pos cable had some corrosion and even a few of the thread within the cable were broken. He suspects that was the issue. I am inclined to believe him, but am a little hesitant to fully trust the starter, since I'm not sure how old it is. He seemed to think it wasn't the original, but I don't have any records showing when it was replaced.

For now though, she's starting right up as usual and running smooth. Going to replace both battery cables asap.
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  #21  
Old 01-28-2016, 09:29 AM
Diesel Preferred
 
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Location: Charleston SC
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Eric,

If you can read that sticker on the side of the starter, should give you a clue as to originality or not. Sounded healthy enough to me.

If the problem crops up again after new batter cables, a few gentle taps on the starter would be in order to see if weak brushes are keeping the starter from turning. This assumes you don't have total loss of pre-glow light and other dash lights when you turn the key.

Let me know when you get your filter and oil together, and we'll tackle that oil change.
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'95 124.131 (E300) "Sapphire", 380k miles
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  #22  
Old 01-28-2016, 09:41 AM
t walgamuth's Avatar
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eric.e View Post
Maxbumpo was kind enough to meet me during lunch yesterday, and we checked all the battery connections with his multimeter. It seemed that everything was fine. I jiggled both the pos and neg battery connections to make sure they were snug and we visually checked the connections to the starter.

After that I tried it again and it started right up. No problem.

Upon further and closer inspection to the battery connections, Max noticed the pos cable had some corrosion and even a few of the thread within the cable were broken. He suspects that was the issue. I am inclined to believe him, but am a little hesitant to fully trust the starter, since I'm not sure how old it is. He seemed to think it wasn't the original, but I don't have any records showing when it was replaced.

For now though, she's starting right up as usual and running smooth. Going to replace both battery cables asap.
The starters are tough to wear out. I have at least five good ones lying about and never need any.
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  #23  
Old 01-28-2016, 01:01 PM
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You should still remove the terminals from the battery. Clean them and the battery posts. You may or may not have found the problem area but did nothing about it.

Basically what you should not be trusting is not the starter but perhaps those connections. Now if the terminals where loose enough to get some wiggle movement on them without really excess force. It points to them.

After cleaning connections putting a small amount of something like vasoline on them before assembly keeps any new corrosion from forming longer.

It was really nice to see you had a forum member come by as well.

The younger you are and the more you learn about cars the more money will remain in your pocket. Especially over a lot of years.
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  #24  
Old 01-29-2016, 02:22 AM
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Once the battery terminals are clean, I've had good luck using those red and green felt pieces that fit over the posts under the cable clamps. Plus they are pretty inexpensive and last a long while.
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  #25  
Old 01-29-2016, 09:10 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lycoming-8 View Post
Once the battery terminals are clean, I've had good luck using those red and green felt pieces that fit over the posts under the cable clamps. Plus they are pretty inexpensive and last a long while.
Link? Picture? What do these do?
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/s/
M. Dillon
'87 124.193 (300TD) "White Whale", ~392k miles, 3.5l IP fitted
'95 124.131 (E300) "Sapphire", 380k miles
'73 Balboa 20 "Sanctification"
Charleston SC
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  #26  
Old 01-29-2016, 05:44 PM
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In Canada we used to use a few copper pennies as sacrificial metal for the surface acids etc. I cannot remember if the American penny is copper or just copper plated.
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  #27  
Old 01-30-2016, 11:07 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 26
Well here's something new today.

This morning I tried starting the car, but am getting no glow plug light. So I wait about 30 seconds, what should be more than enough time for the plugs to warm, then turn. Engine is cranking but no start. The glow plugs were replaced this August after one failed (they are the original series style).

What is going on? Before it was glow plug lights functioning normally, then no crank.
Now it's no glow plug lights, but strong cranking.

???
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  #28  
Old 01-30-2016, 08:17 PM
Smitty
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Central CA
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Get new battery with PROPER CRANKING AMPS CCA's cold cranking amps less than 800 will not start diesels adequately.We purchased Bosch 800CCA battery cost more $ but starts my high electric diesel fuel injection and all my electrical components every time
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  #29  
Old 01-31-2016, 01:14 PM
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Not certain but one possibility might be the electrical portion of the ignition switch. This problem now overall sounds like it may take a little troubleshooting.

If not just coincidental failure of the glow plug system. Things like that can happen.
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  #30  
Old 02-06-2016, 05:32 PM
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Here's where I'm at. Today Max came over again and we checked all the GPs with the multimeter and they all checked out OK. I even pulled them all out and checked for excess carbon, it was looking good.

Checked the battery, fully charged and he fixed the bad positive cable. Multimeter checked out OK.

We also replaced the little 80 amp GP relay fuse. And here's where it gets weird, testing the fuse connections with the multimeter produced no reading.

What do I do now? Is there another relay under the dash? It's a manual transmission, so the possibly of a bad neutral safety switch is ruled out.

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