I have an 85 300sd turbo diesel, I accidentally ran it out of fuel due to the fuel guage being broken. I cracked the lines going to the injectors, I was ably to get it to start it was running really loud, almost as if the exhaust was off. I'm thinking it was because i didn't get all of the air out of the system. it died again and i bled the lined again just to make sure. I was able to start it again, still with the rough sound while running then it made a louder bang and stopped instantly. now I am not able to start it at all. It sounds like the starter is grinding. I tried turning the engine by hand with a 1-1/16 socket and breaker bar and it is completely stuck. I removed the injectors and tried again to no avail. after reading a bunch in the forums I thought it might be the starter locked up. so I pulled the starter and tried to turn it again. No luck, still stuck. the car ran really good with no problems at all before I ran it out of fuel. I don't know why it would choose that exact time to fail considering it was a strong running vehicle before hand. I checked the oil as well and it wasn't low at all. any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks - Randy

Pull the valve cover and check the chain.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

forgot to say i checked the timing chain as well thanks though

Sorry, but I'd suggest that your chain jumped a tooth or two and bent a valve. If you can't turn the engine and the camshaft looks ok that's probably a bent valve. The exhaust sounding loud may be from the cylinder firing and a premature opening of an exhaust valve. Usually, a piston won't stop the first time it hits a valve but the second ping brings the entire rotation of the engine to an abrupt halt.

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84 300SD
85 380SE
83 528e
95 318ic

also, what size socket is needed to remove the injector pump? a mechanic friend told me to check to see if it will turn with ip off to see if ip locked up.

Last time I encountered a car that I couldn't turn by hand, it turned out that one of the piston rod broke and blocked the crank, thus stopping it from turning.

Take off the oil pan and look at the crank, see the conditions.

A borescope might come in handy about now. I don't know of mine (Harbor Freight) will go thru the glow plug holes or not but it might. Anyhow, that will let you see what's going on between the piston top and the cylinder head. You could look in thru the injector hole but I think you would have to pull the prechambers - a job I've never done so no help from me on that front.

You can also drain the oil (gonna have to do that anyhow) and poke the borescope in the bottom end to see what's going on down there. Modern technology is a wonderful thing.

With the price of our engines these days it's cheaper and easier to swap in a used engine if it's anything serious. I just paid $250 for a back-up engine for the race truck which is truly a bargain.

Dan

Is it possible that the engine did not run out of fuel, but had a mechanical breakdown that stopped it dead in its tracks?? There really is no reason that a perfectly running engine that runs out of fuel would suddenly start running loud, and then seize up when being restarted. The fact that you got it restarted may have aggravated the original issue. Good luck.

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96 E300d

With a "locked" starter you will still get some free play in each direction. Even if the starter stuck engaged, the engine will still turn.

Even with a jumped chain and bent valves, the engine still should turn. Pull the valve cover and have a look for loose - displaced cam followers / rocker arms. This would be a symptom of a jumped chain.

A stuck injector pump won't cause this as you will still have free play.

Remove the valve cover and look for damage.

Remove the vacuum pump and look for damage.

It sounds like something is stuck in the timing chain.

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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!

The glow plug holes just extend to the side of the precombustion chamber.
The injectors just sit on top of the precombustion chamber and look at the pintel and the radial holes... very small holes... which go to the top of the pistons...
ONLY pulling the precombustion chambers allows you to see the top of the pistons... other than pulling the head off the engine..

NOTE.... you have to pull the glow plugs out BEFORE REMOVING the precombustion chambers or you will mess up everything... the glow plugs are like a locating pin in a wood joint. not permanent but if you FORCE the joint apart without pulling the pin you will cause all sorts of damage...

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1980 240d ,

chain elongation, cam marks reference:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/10414-help-i-need-check-stretch.html

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/305365-9-degrees-chain-stretch.html

evap fin cleaning:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/156207-photo-step-step-post-showing-w123-evaporator-removal-1983-240d-1982-300td.html?highlight=evaporator

A/C thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/297462-c-recommendations-mb-vehicles.html

I haven't read of a case where running out of fuel, or air in the fuel tubing, could damage the engine. I concur that likely something else mechanical happened and perhaps at the time you were low on fuel, but only by coincidence.

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1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans

x2.

I suspect it happened when the engine was running rough, may be on 4 cyl or less, and damaged the engine. OM603 engine could NOT jump a teeth, it is restricted mechanically. I would expect it is the same for OM617 but don't know. If you cannot turn the engine with all the injector removed then the engine may be done for, something very mechanically wrong internally. Taking off the valve cover and look at the cam would be the first step. Good luck.

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Not MBZ nor A/C trained professional but a die-hard DIY and green engineer. Use the info at your own peril. Picked up 2 Infractions because of disagreements. NOW reversed.

W124 Keyless remote, PM for details. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-used-parts-sale-wanted/334620-fs-w124-chasis-keyless-remote-%2450-shipped.html

1 X 2006 CDI
1 x 87 300SDL
1 x 87 300D
1 x 87 300TDT wagon
1 x 83 300D
1 x 84 190D ( 5 sp ) - All R134 converted + keyless entry.

Thanks, 'Mang - great info. As I said, I haven't been that far into mine but the concept of using a borescope is still a good one. Now that I think about it it makes sense that the glow plug would be in the prechamber. I'm used to Mexican hat chambers and I'm still getting used to the Mercedes design.

I suspect the OP is at a point that pulling the prechamber is NOT the biggest job he has to face and it might be a good diagnostic step.

Dan

I figured out what the problem was. I threw a rod.

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