Greetings, I'm looking for some ideas.... I checked out a '67 200d, 4 on the floor, yesterday. Very original and solid. Engine clean, but won't start. Odometer seems to indicate approx. 124k mi....engine turns over about as fast as my old 76 240d i.e. Not very quickly, I primed the i.p. With the hand pump, then loosened the nut on top of the injector while cranking...saw some air bubbles on a couple of them and they didn't flow very forcefully when loosened. The glow plugs apparently work and I cycled them for about a min. The outside air temp about 78degree f.
I noticed some quite old looking braided fuel line to the in- line filter.(leaking air?). Made several attempts ... But no start, there were a couple of hopeful pulses. Checked out the exhaust pipe and there was no scent of fuel or fumes. So.... I'm thinking there's either poor fuel pressure to the injectors (air in the system), very tight valves, low compression, or very old and stale fuel. The owner states that the car hasn't started for a year, was always difficult to start. He had put some fuel additive in the tank but i'm not so sure that would help out some stale fuel. I won't consider buying without hearing it run, so we may tow it to get it going. Any comments on what to look for that would indicate a low compression situation when the engine is running? Or is there any diagnosis I haven't thought of ..... Any ideas out there? Thanks , mark