Picked up 93 300d a rough running parts car, maybe injection pump timing?
 

So originally i was going to pull a spare head and injection pump from a different car. Decided to make an offer on a car over 100 miles away. Made the trip out there, its 93 300d with 355k on it. Has the Mercedes badges for mileage on the grill. Anyways the car was of course in rougher shape even after i specifically asked some stuff. Took it for a test drive, zero power and running rough until 10mph and then it takes off. Took in a 15 min test drive came back let it idle for another 10. Of course after money exchanges hands it dies and will barely restart. I make it about 3 miles down the road to diesel gas station. dies again will restart but wont stay running. Long story short glad i have AAA.

Looking on places to start, it seems like its flooding. When cold it will idle and stay running. I can put my hand on the throttle and move it and hear the turbo spool. At higher rpm it smooths right out. Once warm it bogs out. Honestly don't care to much, bought it for parts but would like some knowledge. I was planning on pulling an injectors, wondering if they are just peeing fuel.

Three fuel filters
 

1. Fuel sock in the tank
2. inline "Primary" in engine compartment
3. spin on canister type on driver's side of engine.

So... What's the compression like ?

What's the Idle RPM ? (Should be about 750)

How Old and Nasty is the fuel in the Tank ?

Idle is controlled electrically by the EDS Electronic Diesel System AKA
Engine computer.

On the Driver's side engine mount will be a Demonic device that uses
engine coolant to preheat the Fuel (Thermostatically controlled). The
Rubber O-ring inset behind the white(Yellows with age) outlet can
suck air and or leak fuel.

I think if it was the Injectors it would run better when it is hot.

Since a head gasket issue can sometimes show up after an Engine is hot is there evidence of that?

I am not sure from you description if it is not able to start and run now or not? If it is not able to start and run I would be thinking Fuel Filters and Fuel tank Screen plugged.

Next the Fuel Pressure Relief/Overflow Valve has plastic part inside that warps are falls apart.

Also the Fuel Supply/Lift Pumps have disc valves that wear out sooner then the older style pumps with no disc valves did.

So guy I picked it up from, said it ran good when he picked it up in NJ on a random trip. Trailer ed it back to michigan had it about a month. Said once it got back it started running real bad. Took it to a shop, they told him they did not know anything about diesel. When I went to look at it, it start right up idle rough probably around 750? I would have to double check. On the test drive it had no power up 10mph. Once there it ran great shifted fine. Once fully warm, was cold here yesterday it start to idle terribly and run slower and slower. once fully warm will stay running with foot on pedal, will die in gear. Haven't checked compression, has a brand new main fuel filter and secondary filter, not sure about the tank sock.

Sounds like a number of issues but not IP timing. A 602 makes me suspect the head gasket. Diesel gas station?

Sixto
83 300SD
98 E320 wagon

If it was pissing fuel, you'd be burping BIG SMOKE out the tailpipe. Since you didn't mention any smoke, I'd assume you aren't 'flooding'.

Before getting too carried away, take the time to bleed the fuel system, change the filters, and run it off a bottle with fresh fuel. It sounds to me like you're starving for fuel.

Bypass that stupid fuel heater too, send your pickup line straight into the fuel lift pump. The thermostatic element in my fuel heater failed in a fully-on position, and when the fuel gets hot enough, that car runs like ASS. I bypassed it and haven't looked back.

At least by replacing the filters, bleeding the system, and running off a known-good fuel source you'll know if you have a fuel delivery issue, or a mechanical issue.

It has a broke exhaust near the elbow as it rounds the body corner. I don't get black smoke, i get lots of grey smoke. But since i have the cracked exhaust, it coming out the crack. Filled up my garsge in a matter of minutes. No bubbles in the cooling system, no milky oil.

If you're having fuel delivery and combustion problems, grey smoke wouldn't be unexpected.

Checking the timing should be easy enough. Pull the inspection plug out of the side of the IP and pole the engine over until you center a screwdriver-looking tang in the window, then check your crankshaft balancer to see what timing mark you're on.

Considering the car is running, starts relatively easy, and has some power when revved, I'd strongly rule out timing. Having dealt with that extensively, the car is completely gutless when its out of time. We're talking turn the steering wheel and it dies weak, no chance of even driving it without building some serious revs before dropping it in gear, and even then don't expect to go over 5 as your new top speed.

maybe it will be better to take a video of it running. Like i said while cold it will idle and drive, no power under 5mph lots of smoke. But i guess i was expecting black smoke when over fueled like in those rolling coal video on youtube. Once past 5mph it all of sudden surges to life. Once up to temp it has zero power and will die when you turn the wheel or put it into gear.

My car came to me with the injection pump timed 180˚ out (360˚ crankshaft). The car would start and run, but smoked heavily, had a very lopey idle, and required 2-foot driving just to move it. If revved hard in neutral or idle, it would stall instead of returning to idle. Took a LONG time to build RPM, very lethargic and epic smoke. I'm not sure a 5 cylinder would run timed like that since it is not a "balanced" engine like the 6 cylinder is.

If you suspect timing, find the RIV tang and check the timing mark on the crank balancer. If the timing is within a couple degrees, focus on fuel delivery. Start by bypassing that stupid fuel heater, it's a major and common source of air leakage and will eat your lunch in trying to troubleshoot things.

took a video of a cold start

https://youtu.be/BRtSBjORbNU

You have at least one dead cylinder, possibly two. Could be several things causing it, valves, head gasket, injectors, rings, delivery valves, fuel pressure, who knows.

Doesn't look or act like injection timing causing that, more injection issues or fuel delivery problems.

If you have access to a pop tester, see if you have an injector or two stuck. If not, might be worth your time to do a compression test to find out if you have a weak or dead cylinder. If the head has never been redone, valve guides are certainly suspect. If the car sat for a long time, I'd suspect a seized injector or two as well. Mine had a seized (rusted) injector on Cylinder 5.

gotcha, was basically told it had a a few bad injectors but was not sure. Like i said before its a parts car, i will probably just move it to its final resting place. Once there i may work on it, i don't want to tear it down in my garage though.

since this is just a parts car, should i pull the injectors and removes the nozzles and reassemble them? Or is there some internals that are one time use only?

So i decided to take the plunge a few minutes ago and pull the front 4 injectors. I was surprised when i pulled the crossover pipe to not really find it loaded up with tar like my other benz. The fuel steel lines also look new, my hopes when i purchased this with such high miles i would find many new parts. I don't know much about the injectors but i think they look recently rebuilt? I remember seeing a thread on here with some better HD pics of an old vs new but cant seem to find it.

http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...406_203758.jpg

http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...406_203805.jpg

http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...406_210042.jpg

http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/...406_210140.jpg