I agree and that is why I am not pursuing that as a potential problem at this time. If the valve adjustment is needed when I get her going I will do it then. Too many other things on my plate now to worry about that one.

No, it did not run with it looped. There is no way it could have.

I will check lift pump volume both with the bleed pump and with it cranking once I get the oil pan/sump/oil back in.

Thanks

I am pretty confident it is an air lock issue. Hopefully with the new parts (including the check valve and the two clear fuel lines) this will help in diagnosis of where the air is trapped and/or coming from. I am crossing my fingers on that.

If compression/rings are an issue (and I don't think they are) I will address that once I get the fuel system straightened out. I don't think that will be needed though, knowing what I know about this car.

It cranks strong and I have a good battery as well as a set of 02 gauge jumper cables connected to my Ford F-350 diesel with the dual batteries and the engine running. I think there are enough electrons there to do the work necessary.

Besides, I am a one-man three-ring circus at this point. I don't want to attempt pull-starting it just yet. Not quite that desperate.... yet. If I do I will take video and post it here first, you can rest assured. I will, of course, have ample beer on hand for the occasion.

Why did he loop the lift pump? I thought he may have been trying to run WVO with an electric pump.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

A common point of air entry in the W123 is a rusty pin hole in the metal fuel supply line under the car, always under the clamp, which often does not drip but lets in a lot of air because the line is under suction. Take a clamp off and have a look. It should not be damp.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

God I hope you are right!

OK, I got the new sump pickup, pan and oil installed (intermittent rain- didn't get much farther than that) but I did replace the rubber O-rings on the oil filter bolt because they were both deteriorated and no longer round. Pumped the heck out of the hand pump and got a lot of air. It is coming from somewhere and I be darned if I can find where. .

Where are you getting air bubbles?

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Don`t remember everything I read, but think it was mentioned to have a separate fuel source.

I have a 82 240 I have been working on. ($440 $ one in Sig) I made a separate fuel container from a 1 gallon oil bottle.
Drill 2 5/16" holes in the cap, ( might have to file them out a bit for the hose)
Run one hose to the return nipple, ( remove the Cigar Hose) and place in bottle.
Run a second hose to the Lift Pump. ( where the Pre Filter connects)
Be sure bottle if full of Fuel.

This will by pass all the fuel lines from the fuel tank and you can at least get the engine started.
Then if you get it to run, then work back towards the tank.

Here is a good thread on Fuel pressure.

fuel pressure

It was mentioned about the valves in the Lift Pump. Part # 000-090-02-10 for the repair kit.

OM617.951 and .952 Lift pump Repair kit W126.120 300SD W123.133 300D

Rebuild those lift pumps! OM616 OM617

Looks like a price drop. Use to be $10. Now $6.75

VALVE. INJECTION PUMP made by Mercedes Benz. #0000900210



Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

The bubbles are showing up in the return line to the tank (where the cigar hose goes?) where I have placed a clear fuel line to see what is going on.

It will be a couple of days before I can do anything more so hold tight for any updates.

I might try the fuel bottle idea in a couple of days.

Been hacking away at this slowly over the past few months. Good news is that I did finally get it to start. Here is a brief rundown of things I found:

1) Air getting into the system through a small hole in the #5 injector bleed port that is plugged (the other one loops to the other injectors and back to the filter housing). I was surprised at how much air was getting into the system this way bat there was absolutely no fuel leaking out. In any case, I replaced this block-off hose and the air in the system seems to be eliminated.

2) replaced the glow plugs. Not sure if this was actually necessary, but I got a set of new glow plugs for free... so what the hell. Also I think I mentioned earlier that the relay fuse had been replaced with a copper wire, so I figured that there is a possibility of the glow plugs getting damaged. That happened with my old for truck where the new glow plugs got fried by a bad relay or something (can't remember exactly). While I had the glow plugs out I did crank it over without compression and purged the fuel system thoroughly. Also got excellent oil pressure and squirted a little engine oil into the cylinders for extra measure (cranking it afterwards with the glowplugs out to make sure I don't hydro the engine)

3) Got it started and it ran OK, but then when I went to drive it up the hill it overheated pretty badly and was seriously lacking power. Couldn't climb the hill. I replaced the thermostat and coolant and then I did a chemical block check just to make sure the headgasket was not blown (it passed).

4) Tried back-flushing the fuel lines as I have heard the pickup screen in the tank will cause a low-power problem. No joy there.

5) Now I am strongly suspecting that the previous hack has screwed with the injector pump timing, so now I am trying to figure out how to check and adjust that without too much expense. I did call around to a couple of shops in the area but nobody works on these and none of them have the special tools anymore. I am sure I can find a place in Santa Cruz that can do it, but I can't afford to pay somebody to do it. I did pick up a spare fuel line from the wrecker that I am going to make into a drip tube, but I need to find a good video on how to do the procedure.

It sounds like you're nearly there. Kudos. The site has several examples of timing the ip.

You DO know why divorce is so expensive, right?

Because its worth it.

__________________
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!

OM617 engines do not run well with low fuel pressures and will not run with zero fuel pressure. If you did not take internal IP fuel pressure measurements, it may pay just to take apart the fuel pressure regulator to inspect and make sure the spring is not broken and stretch it to 27 mm.

85 and some 84's have a RIV port on the IP which makes timing visually possible and is much easier than drip timing and requires no special tool other than a mirror. Check if your IP was swapped to one that has a RIV port. If not, drip or a Diesel Pulse Adapter are the only other options. If you have a Diesel Pulse Adapter, PM me on how to interpret the reading.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

I probably should check the lift pump pressure and volume.

Is the fuel pressure regulator you are talking about that banjo bolt on the outlet side of the IP? The one that is impossible to find and they stopped making replacements??

Also, this is an '83 that was purchased in Germany and then grey-market imported here later that year. All components are original to the best of my knowledge, including the injection pump. Is there a way to decode the ID badge so I can be sure?

Can you direct me to some of these instructions? Keep in mind I am unable to (cognitively) read a written set of instructions and be able to perform the procedure. It pretty much has to be a video for it to be of use to me. (I know this may sound strange, but it is one of the many, many strange symptoms I can identify from my Lyme Disease).

Right? And in my case it is an added value for me because my wife has been ordered to pay all of the bills including 100% of my attorney fees, or at least she was until she completely depleted all of her resources to the tune of over $375,000.

I guess there is something to be said for being flat-ass broke!

If it overheated that easily, then there's probably an air bubble in the coolant system. Those can be very difficult to bleed.

For mine, I finally resorted to putting the system under a few PSI of pressure with a cooling system pressure tester, then cracking the lines at the heater core (high point of system) until coolant came out. Not perfect, but better than anything else I had tried.

When you get a chance, you'll want to check that the cooling system and cap holds pressure (~10 PSI). It won't overheat very fast even if it doesn't hold pressure. Seems like I'm fixing mine every few years.

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'83 300DTurbo http://badges.fuelly.com/images/smallsig-us/318559.png

Broadband: more lies faster.