Well, got it together and all re-sealed. Started it up and got a little grey exhaust smoke for a couple of seconds and a bit of rough idle, but she settled right down and smoothed out. Revved it a bit (not past 2000 rpm just in case) in idle and she seems to be behaving. I'll check the oil level today and take her out on the road to see how she acts.

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2012 Mercedes ML350 Bluetec 102K (hers)
2005 Corvette 55K (fun car)
2002 VW Jetta TDI 238K (mine)
1998 Volvo S70 T5 Turbo 211K (kids)
1994 Ford F150 4WD 246K (firewood hauler)
1983 Mercedes 300D 384K (diesel commuter)

Hah! Reminds me of the old V-series Detroit Diesel engines. We called them "rag eaters" due to their propensity to suck a shop rag right out of your pocket when running.

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“Whatever story you're telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, "and then everything burst into flames.”
― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now

Good luck! Hope that you've fixed it.

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Well after 2 - 10 mile runs it seems to be behaving, however, as I was pulling into my driveway, I saw a trail of oil behind me. Getting out, the whole underside was coated with oil, and the driveway looked like a semi had puked about a gallon of oil.

An hour later, after cleaning up as much of the oil underneath the car with a pressure washer, I found the source of the leak......the tube that connects to the bottom of the air cleaner and goes back to the oil pan had become disconnected at the pan. Bottom line........what a huge mess! I lost about a quart of oil, and most of it ended up all over the bottom of the car and in a trail on my driveway.

The leak at the car is fixed, but my wife is really pissed about our asphalt drive way. We got it sealed last fall, but it is gonna be awhile before the oil trail wears off....

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2012 Mercedes ML350 Bluetec 102K (hers)
2005 Corvette 55K (fun car)
2002 VW Jetta TDI 238K (mine)
1998 Volvo S70 T5 Turbo 211K (kids)
1994 Ford F150 4WD 246K (firewood hauler)
1983 Mercedes 300D 384K (diesel commuter)

Actual Tri Sodium Phosphate...
mixed with Tide...
spray on asphalt...
let sit..
spray off with hot water if available...

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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

Definitely do something about it ASAP, I didn't and our driveway is permanently stained now. Fortunately it was crappy to begin with.

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Well to finish this up, after cleaning up the air cleaner U tube and replacing the two seals, resealing the valve cover gasket so there are no more leaks, and making sure the air cleaner drip tube is seated and the air cleaner is properly attached, things seem to be working properly. Put almost 500 miles on it and all seems well except for the throttle seeming to be more sensitive around 2500-3000 RPM Could be it needed that valve adjustment worse than it appeared. Still scratching my head over what could have caused the original issue but definitely do NOT want to experience it again.

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2012 Mercedes ML350 Bluetec 102K (hers)
2005 Corvette 55K (fun car)
2002 VW Jetta TDI 238K (mine)
1998 Volvo S70 T5 Turbo 211K (kids)
1994 Ford F150 4WD 246K (firewood hauler)
1983 Mercedes 300D 384K (diesel commuter)

Try backing out your Governor Damper/Idle Pin, re-setting to the proper idle speed and then adjusting the Governor Damper/Idle Pin.

If the idle pin is run in to far it can casue similar syptoms to what you are having because it can push you into the zone in the Fuel Injection Pump where the Governor does not control the speed.

Look at the Rubber parts of the throttle linkages and depending on what type you have on the Fire Wall behind where the linkage pivots is a sort of a plastic ball called a bushing. That ball wears and in fact crubles away when it gets old.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel