My "new" '81 manual 240 is "hesitant" to kick in upon first startup (although never has completely not functioned). Are there signs as to whether this could just be a battery problem? or the starter? Other ideas welcomed. Thanks.

Need more info. Is the starter turning or not. Is the starter just turning slowly? Is it not firing at all, or firing on a few cylinders?

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Hi Jim.


You say "new" so I assume you just bought
the car.
What is the age of the battery?
If you don't know a new battery is in order.
Have the valves been adjusted in the last
year?
Same here if you don't know have it done ASAP.

If all this is OK then you might consider this.
If you can find a used starter from a 300
turbodiesel then have that installed.
It has a higher cranking speed.
Also try switching to synthetic oil.
Less friction=easier starts.

Hope this helps.

Louis.

JimB+,

A starter hesitant to "kick in" is usually caused by the starter solonoid because that is what "kicks in" the starter. It may just be dirty or rusty and possibly a cleaning will fix it. Don't forget to clean all the electrical contacts when you have the solonoid apart.

P E H

Could somebody post the instructions on how to take the solenoid out?

Thank you

Need to pull the starter first. Lots of threads on that. Need a 2 or 3 foot extension, universal and allen socket. Access bolts from back of transmission. Starter comes out over tie rod with wheels turned all the way to right.
I don't know the precise instructions on how to remove solenoid from starter once out.
I'm a little sceptical that this is the cause of your problems. Lots of people report the starter does not activate when the key is turned, or hesitates before acting. There hasn't been a clear explanation on this board of the precise cause of this fairly common problem. It could be the solenoid but it could also be something else such as a bad connection somewhere.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Thanks Mr. Edwards,

Last week I drove the car to work - cold day in the morning and warmed up by the afternoon. When I got into the car, all electrical accessories worked OK but when I turned the key to the starting position nothing happened. No noise, no turn, nothing. I had the battery checked since I had a similar problem with my 1998 E320 that had a dead battery. The battery on the 300D was fine, although it was a little low. I charged it, put it back in the car and still nothing. Two days later it started just fine and it has been running ever since.

What is up? Gremlins?

I recently installed a new stereo and new speakers in the car and I am trying to figure out how to remove a cheap alarm system that was installed by the previous owner. I have not touched any ignition wires yet.

CrisR,

Ignition wires in a Diesel (except an old IH gas start)? Aren't they something like hen's teeth?

P E H

CrisR,

Ignition wires in a diesel (except an old IH gas start)? Are they something like hen's teeth?

P E H

You know those colored wire looking things that come out of the whatchamacallit where you put the key in to start the car.......

CrisR,

The watchamacallit is called a key switch. The wires going to and from it are called connecting wires such as the wire connecting the key switch to the starter solonoid, etc.

Ignition wires are usually thought of as the wires going to the spark plugs or to the coil and are hi-voltage wires. Not too many of them in Diesels.

P E H

OK, I stand corrected. Auto nomenclature is still a foreign subject to me although I can look at it and tell you what it does. Still this does not solve my problem. The car ran great yesterday and it refused to do anything today. So I am still thinking loose connection somewhere or bad solenoid. Any other ideas?


As far as teeth on hens:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/jwz/207233.html

Birds with teeth turn the clock back 70m years

A batch of chicken embryos raised at a French laboratory have been coaxed into growing rudimentary teeth, after researchers managed to re-awaken a gene that has lain dormant in birds for at least 70 million years. [...]

Although no modern birds have teeth, their ancestors once boasted beaks bristling with incisors. The teeth sported 147 million years ago by the Archaeopteryx, the first bird known to science, disappeared from its descendants between 70 and 80 million years ago. The DNA that triggers tooth growth did not disappear completely, but instead lingered uselessly in the avian genetic blueprint.

A team led by Josiane Fontaine-Perus, of the University of Nantes, has managed to switch this genetic signal back on. In the experiment, which also involved Paul Sharpe, Professor of Craniofacial Development at King's College London, and other French researchers, a few mouse cells were transplanted into chicken embryos to create hybrids known as chimeras. Whereas chicken cells are incapable of deciphering genetic messages telling them to turn into teeth, mouse cells are receptive to them. They migrated to the correct place in the jaw, and the chicken embryos, which were otherwise normal, began to develop teeth.

"The tissue transplant produces cells that contribute to tooth formation," Professor Sharpe said. "Basically, this tells you that the bird still has the genetic information required to initiate tooth development, if there are cells capable of responding to it." [...]

His research team has also managed to grow mouse teeth from stem cells in the laboratory, and he hopes to begin human trials of replacement teeth within five years. [...]

CrisR, there is also the possibility that a neutral lockout switch was flaky. I had one stop suddenly on a cross country trip (in the middle of West Texas on Christmas eve!)
If yours is an automatic trans, the switch is on the passenger side. easily bypassed in case it really is bad.
O/W the starter solenoid would be suspect.
DDH

__________________
'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Cris,

Most likely a bad solonoid.

Try connecting another wire to the solonoid where the connecting wire to the key switch is attached. When the starter fails to engage, touch other end of this new wire to the + terminal of the battery. If the starter does not work, the solonoid is bad. If the starter now works, you have a connection problem. Note, if the connection problem was at the solonoid, connecting the wire may fix the problem.

Make sure the transmission is in park or nuetral when you do this.

P E H