car is a 77 240d with 200k mile new to me this week. paid $350
car is very hard to start .70degree day fresh battery( just off a full charge over night). battery was dead so pull started to drive it home yesterday( the car started while being pulled with in a very short distance). took full 5 minutes of cranking on & offf to get it to start today.

i talked to the previous owner & she had never adjusted the valves said that it was hard to start below 40 degrees. appears to have new glow plugs. has a 6month old battery. the air filter was extremelly oily with a puddle of oil in the houseing.
car starts well after it is warm. runs rough at idle smoth at speed with no power and very slow. car wont turn off with key nor will it turn off with the stop switch. it will run slower but not stop. i kill it in gear with brake.
2 questions
1 where do i start to get the stop switch to stop it ? seems like this should be an adjustment in the linkage right? if so what?
2 hard start may be bad compression or a combination of things like valve adjustment, fuel delivery, glow plugs. should i start with a compression test? if so how much do they tipacilly cost? & would the valves being out of adjustment affect the compression test? THANKS FOR YOUR HELP JOHN M

Congrats on the new car. You got it for a really low price so smaller problems like these are to be expected. It's a great car, though it's not for those who want lots of acceleration.

Did you try pressing the stop lever really hard all the way? On my 240D I have to press it quite hard if I want to stop the engine this way. I'm not sure if this is adjustable. Check the vacuum line going to the back of the injection pump. That's what controls engine shutoff with the key.

As far as starting is concerned, how long are you letting the glow plugs glow before starting the engine? A good 15 second glow is what it sometimes takes to get a smooth start and idle (ignore the glow light). You can also check the glow plug resistance with an ohm-meter (do a search on this board). I would also do the fuel & air filters, and valve adjustment. Don't do any compression testing until then, otherwise you'll get inaccurate results.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

You stole the car.... these are minor problems to fix compared to what it would take to earn the money for any newer car... which would never look as elegant as yours..
Your oil in the air cleaner is a busted diaphram on the vacuum pump..diesels have to make vacuum instead of just tapping to the engine's vacuum due to physics of the situation...
Approx 30 to 60 dollars plus labor... but you can do it.. following the instructions on this board.... plus you should be looking to find at least the Haynes manual for your car.
The factory shop manual says that the glowplugs continue to heat for up to a minute after you turn on the cycle ( assuming it is working ) .... so just leave it on 40 seconds after the light goes out typically.... to check to see if it just needs that extra glowplug heat to start better.
The fact that it started quickly and ran ok is a great sign overall. A good battery is only as strong as the connections to the cables.. put new cables and wire brush where they connect... remember how little you paid for the car and just go new on a few items like this... old battery wires can corrode INSIDE the rubber covering... so they can look good at the terminals and still be working against you.
There are several " tweaking" deals .... but you need the vacuum fixed and the valves set right from the start... sorry she did not do that on a regular basis... that should be your first priority just on principle....
With you in Montana and having stole the car maybe you should just put a new starter on there right up front... it WILL be getting colder ... I sure would if you need this car as primary transportation this winter...
Does it have a block heater ? If yes, be sure it is working if you have a place to plug it in. A block heater plugged in overnight makes all the difference in the world on starting a diesel in cold weather. If it does not have one put a good one in the standard place on the block.. OR find a generic aftermarket one and install per instructions on the package.... some need to be mounted vertically and low down on the engine relative to the coolant cavity to help movement by convection.. others pump themselves and are not as critical for placement.
After you get this other stuff replaced... check on your dash to see if you have an " unidentified button".... wait till you find correct instructions for adjusting it.... and your idle may be fine with just that tweaking ( plus the valve setting ).
As soon as you set your valves... run a can or two of Diesel Purge through the system... instructions are on the board and on the side of the can... it goes direct into the ip and the overflow goes into a jar... so you are using it full strength on the injectors and do not run it out of fluid in the jar... so as to not introduce air into the ip..
Good luck... let us know how things progress...

Obviously the vacuum shutoff is not functioning at the key and this may be due to multiple vacuum leaks in your systems. The brown vacuum lines are the ones that control the shutoff function, one to the key ignition switch and one back to the back of the IP.
If you get a small vacuum tester it will pay for itself indiagnosing lots of stuff on these cars.
You can try disconnecting and plugging off vacuum lines but as leathermang stated if the vacuum pump is blown then your source is at fault and you have no vacuum to use for shutoff...

The manual shutoff problem could just be casued by a bad or worn idle adjuster. This is on the engine block side of the IP and has a spring loaded tip that sits on the idle control arm. You adjust the idle by loosening the locknut and then turning the bolt with a screwdriver. That is assuming that the idle knob cable from the dash is adjusted correctly.
Anyway, on my 1980 the spring in the adjuster was weak and partially compressed. This meant that I couldn't compress it enough to kill the motor just slow it way down. I replaced this part with a used one for a buck and it works great now...

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'99 S420 - Mommies
'72 280SE 4.5 - looking to breathe life into it
'84 300SD Grey - Sold
'85 300SD Silver - Sold
'78 Ski Nautique

THANKS FOR THE QUICK REPLYS
I GLOWED FOR A LONG TIME

I WILL CHECK GLOW PLUGS AND ORDER A KIT FOR FIXING THE VACUUM PUMP AND FIX BATTERY CABLES.
THIS IS MY TOY I HAVE A 300TDT THAT WORKS FINE
WILL KEEP YOU UP TO DATE.
I DO NEED A PICTURE OF THE MOTOR IF ANY ONE HAS ONE SO THAT I CAN FIGURE OUT THE VACUUM HOSE SITUATION, I HAVE ONE WITH A CHECK VALVE THAT GOES NO WHERE( OPEN)& 1
WITH A 4 WAY THAT HAS A SCREW IN IT SO I KNOW THE HOSES ARE MESSED UP
THE STOP BUTTON DID NOT WORK EVEN WITH FULL PREASURE FROM BOTH HANDS. ANY IDEAS?
THANKS JOHN M

got a new glow plug & put on new battery cables . it will now start after 5 minutes of glowing & cranking oh i also adjusted the valves ( went fine after i got the wrenches bent. 0
SO HERE IS THE PROBLEM THE GLOW PLUGS CONTINUE TO CYCLE WHILE RUNNING. I KNOW THIS BECAUSE THE RESISTER WIRES GLOW RED THEN SHUT DOWN THEN GLOW RED .
question is this the key switch or the glow relay?
HELP!!!!!

JOHN M