I just picked up a 78 240d.... I bought it for the engine. Its been sitting a long time. I have it setup to run off a gas can thus by passing the fuel system. I flushed everything with diesel purge and let it sit for a few days... The fuel rack must be stuck open. When it finally did start I was wide open. I prepared for this.... haha! I had the air filter and housing removed and a block of wood in my hand while I was cranking. I shut it down within a second.

My question is... is there a way to free up the rack without removal and disassembly of anything? Its still soaking in diesel purge... is there a way to manual manipulate the rack? Via back cover or alda hole? Preferably with the pump still on the engine. I would love to get this things running and asses the engines health before tearing too deep into it. Hopefully I shut it down before any damage could occur from the runaway.

Here is the car... Its a 78. I paid $300 for it. I have a really nice set of hubcaps with it that were not used on the car. The body is shot but I have plans for the engine. This poor car has sat in a field since 1999. Suposedly the owner had it running in 2006. it has 137k original miles and serviced records back to about 1988. Ive diesel swapped two jeeps so far. One with a 617, and one with a VW TDI. Not sure what i'll do with this one yet, but I couldn't pass it up for that price.







Poor thing.... its first sign of life in the last 14 years was WFO!




Here is a shot of my last diesel swap jeep...



Here is an under hood shot of the 617

Sorry, I don't know about freeing up the rack but...supposedly some of the 78' era 240D's had ring problems. I had one that would not start in mild weather due to low compression. Did a full rebuild and it ran great, you may want to do a compression test early on.

That engine bay swap looks nice!!!

Good luck!!!

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"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

I got it sorted out. It wasn’t indeed the fuel rack I removed the back cover and the ALDA plate. Then I was able to move the rack. A little pressure and it popped closed. Then I sprayed with with some carb cleaner and then marvels oil. I worked it open and closed a few times with my finger. Now it snaps right back closed. Put everything back together and it seems to run pretty good considering how long it’s been sitting. I think the compression must be decent. Starts without the glow plugs and stop quickly when I shut it off.

https://youtu.be/SSDhRc9HEAg