When I start the Car in the morning, my 300D moves like a Cargo Ship--I replaced the injectors, the fuel filters, retimed the pump and cleared up my Turbo issues... I can almost feel the Fuel moving like Molasses--am I correct in thinking that the problem is in my Fuel Tank strainer--algae in the Tank? The car has 300K miles and I noticed it 50K miles ago...

You can pull the fuel line off before the IP and see if fuel runs freely. Easier than pulling the strainer. That is a messy job.

I see no reason why an engine pump would run differently the first few minutes vice a few hours, but I have never disassembled one ..

It moves like a cargo ship?!?!

Are you using your car to haul freight on the ocean?

Well, first, put a low-decibel air horn on the roof (it's gotta be BIG, but not quite big enough to crush the roof ), and then when someone comes up behind you, give it 5 short blasts. If the person behind you knows anything about marine horn signals, they'll realize that you're having difficulty maneuvering.



Seriously, the fuel strainer's a thought, but it seems to me that you'd have low acceleartion regardless of engine temp, and from the way you describe it, it sounds like she accelerates normally once she's warmed up.

Are you certain that you're getting full throttle? I had a similar complaint, and found one day that when the pedal was pushed all the way down, the lever at the IP had a good 1/8" of travel before hitting the stop. It SHOULD be just barely contacting the stop at WOT. I adjusted the linkage, and it's a completely different car now.

That said, the car will ALWAYS accelerate a bit more slowly when cold. This is just the nature of the beast; diesels don't like to be cold.

Just some thoughts good luck!!

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2001 VW Jetta TDI, 5 speed, daily driver
1991 Ford F-350, work in progress
1984 Ford F-250 4x4, 6.9l turbo diesel, 5 speed manual
Previous oilburners: 1980 IH Scout, 1984 E-350, 1985 M-B 300D, 1979 M-B 300SD, 1983 M-B 300D
Spark-free since 1999

But these days of Aggressive drivers, 200 hp cars being the norm and middle aged ladies who give you the finger, a car that starts out like a Cargo Ship can give you High Blood pressure or get u into an accident..I mean if I lived in Ohio or Delaware or Texas like I wished, its not a problem, but here in NJ the drivers can be very very nasty and every new car has 200 hp minimum...I am serious, the drivers here will take your head off at first opportunity..

Besides liking to Fix things, i would like to solve this for personal safety

two of my turbos acelerate very slowly when cold going up my driveway. my drive way has a pretty good slope. once in the street, things are fine.

They will accelerate a LITTLE more slowly when cold, but not drastically. What is your 0-60 time with the engine hot (checked with stopwatch)? That's the only way to know if your power is normal at operating temp...

is your transmission in good repair?
engine wise, do you drive your last few miles
home real slow & easy?

for the 200hp people with sorry attitude--a 300d has serious bumpers

don

I agree with the Warden. The power isn't quite as good (well, not nearly as good actually) when the engine is cold, and you add that to a fuel injection pump not going full stroke, and that could be your problem (and not as noticeable possibly when warmed up), so I'd recommend checking to see if the arm on the fuel injection pump is going all the way to the full throttle stop with a helper mashing the accelerator to the floor from inside the car. OH, you can do this with the engine not running if you want .

Gilly

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yep yep....... what they say about linkage..... "been there done that"! Not sure what you mean by "turbo issues" but not wanting to assume I'll ask you; have you cleaned out the booste line from intake to valve and valve to Alda?

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by JerryBro

The Glow Plug Wait: This waiting period is a moment of silence to pay honor to Rudolph Diesel. The longer you own your diesel the more honor you will give him". by SD Blue

My normal daily life; either SNAFUed- Situation Normal... All Fouled Up, or FUBARed- Fouled Up Beyond All Repair

62 UNIMOG Camper w/617 Turbo, 85 300SD daily driver- both powered by blended UCO fuels

trying to do a Poor Man's tune up. That of course is after I had her well warmed up. Boy is she fast.. When she's warm she is a Demon, but tomorrow morning I swear the Queen Elizabeth would be faster getting underway--It will take me a minute to
pass three normal sized house, she wont do more than 5 mph for the first 2 minutes and no mor than 30 or 40 for the first ten minutes..
So that pretty much rules out linkage and alda and turbo banjo fitting problems which all of you have been very helpful in telling me about, thats why i fixed them.

What is wierd is you can feel her "ungum" up after about ten minutes, and she becomes a true 5 cylinder turbo diesel. I can almost swear I can feel the fuel delivery is being held up somewhere, like its coming in like sludgy peanut butter at a trickle and then suddenly some bottle neck breaks loose...

Will it idle when cold? I ask as some of my injectors work better than others and the engine will die on me until all of the injectors start working.

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'83 240D with 617.952 and 2.88
'01 VW Beetle TDI
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD
'89 Toyota 4x4, needs 2L-T
'78 280Z with L28ET - 12.86@110
Oil Burner Kartel #35

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I really don't think it's algae. All of them I've seen act just the OPPOSITE of what your is doing. Algae problems I've seen don't cause a cold problem. Algae causes the car to slowly starve of fuel at highway speeds, then you have to shut it down. wait 15 to 30 minutes, then it'll start and run fine again, for maybe 30 minutes if you're lucky. Unless you drive at a lower rpm/speed. You could always run the fuel tank to say below 1/4 tank, then remove the sender unit and use a good small bright flashlight, unspect the inside of the tank for black slimey crud.

Other avenues to explore would be a bad glow plug (check amperage draw, the only "real" test), and valve timing. I'd be curious to know if the compression is OK also, maybe still starting OK, but poor power output when cold due to a worn engine......

Gilly

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When was the last valve lash adjustment? That is required every 15kmi. Also have you checked timing chain stretch? If it gets far off, that will affect power. And it will also retard injection timing as well (which is another item to check - retarded IP timing will reduce power.)

Glow plugs turn off when the engine starts - that is not the cause of low power afer starting. It would be a cause of hard starting though.