Hey guys,

I purchased an 85 300 D that set under a tree for 10 years. I’ve spent months getting it to run. I know some of you reading this are familiar with this car already.

First of all, I don’t want to junk this car, I’ve spent too much time and money on it, but at the same time it’s becoming a real problem around my house. It’s been in the garage now for four months and it’s created a huge oily mess.

The biggest issue I have at the moment is the turbo is producing zero boost. I have a pressure gauge, it’s hooked up to the test port on the manifold and even driving the car under load produces zero boost pressure. In addition, you do not hear the turbo spool up at all. The blades are spinning and you can freely turn them with your finger.

I had the turbo re-built. When I installed the rebuilt turbo and got the engine to crank, I did hear the turbo spool up and it sounded normal, that was the one and only time I heard the turbo. All seals and gaskets are brand new

Tonight after work I pulled the wastegate cover and checked the rubber diaphragm and it looks perfect. Took me over two hours to get the spring on and off, it was a nightmare.

The pressure gauge I’m using is brand new, I have not tested it and I have no way to test it as far as I know, unless someone can point me in the right direction of what I need to do to test a pressure gauge.

I did hook a vacuum pump up to the pressure gauge to see if by chance it was leaking and there are no leaks it held a vacuum perfectly.

I don’t know if this has to do with the turbo, but when you floor the car, it just seems like it’s not revving like it should, it’s just weak. The car does seem to idle just fine and it starts just fine.

If someone would be so kind as to tell me what I need to do to figure out why the turbo is not working so that I can move onto the other issues that this car has I would greatly appreciate it