Why can my 85 300D climb the Shenandoahs but not cross the street...
 

when I release my foot from the accelerator, and then pump it again as econd time, the power is all there and the car will really accelearte up the mountains like it did when it was very young...

July 4 weekend found me with only one car with AC--that was my 85 300D with an engine that clanks and clunks and which once I ran down to 1 quart of oil because of a plugged breather hose. Miraculously, it doesnt consume a drop of oil now, though it did for a month after the breather tube mishap...
So I took my 300D to the Shenandoah Valley. i had long given up the engine for dead and was waiting for time to identify its fate.
What I found was that the Car has plenty of power to climb the mountains, but sometimes it can barely go 5 mph. It is very sluggish when cold and also at other times, like going fresh up another 35 degree incline from Stop. It will literally crawl. But when I release my foot from the accelerator, and then pump it gain, the power is all there and the car will really Move like it did when it was very young..The other thing is the car is nisy as all Hell and has compression thats okay. Sometimes I think is all it needs is to have the cylinder head redone...but the fuel/power problem has me curious..

Also the car is Very loud...
 

its very loud, but I dont think its the bearings..

Carra,

I don't believe there is a 35 degree slope anyplace onroad. That would probably be past the slip point.

P E H

uh I took some poetic license...
 

Here are some other licenses I take:
..
I. To my Daughter when she wants a ride: Like the 12 miles a day I used to walk to School up a mountain and then I walked 12 miles a day up another mountain to get home..

II. To my Daughter's boyfriend when he is disrespectful: Like the 5th degree Black belt I have and the time I sparred Mike Tyson

III. To my Supervisor: I usually get in at 6:00 AM but the building is quiet so I go out after a few hours of work and come in at 9:30 AM

Baldwin Street in Dunedin lays claim to being to the steepest street in the world at about a 38% grade.

There's one section of a windy mountain road here where on the inner part of the curve the road seems to just drop at almost 45% for about five feet... scared the $*&@ out of my friends and I when we went down it, looked like the car was trying to dive right into the asphalt :D. I'll have to go out and take a real measurement sometime.

81Wagon,

But a 38% grade is exactly 19* slope. Some people think a 100% grade is straight up but its not. A 100% grade is 45*, grade= rise over run, Tangent of 45* is 1 = 100% grade.

P E H

Ah, you're right. I didn't think about the distinction between the two despite having come across that info in my search for the world's steepest street. D'oh!

This could only happen to me..
 

I am glad to host this digression about slopes. I have been on the Street in San Francisco. Sure makes you wonder about tightening your parking Brake cable.

Carra,

Yes Lombard Street: Speed limit 5 MPH and a continuous "S".

P E H

To be really accurate..
 

This is still a big planet. I am sure there is some road with a 40 degree incline somewhere on Mount Kiliminjaro or in the Alps...

I want to praise you for spelling "Shenandoahs" correctly. You must be a local who cares about spelling. Like when I lived in Tuolumne County and it pissed me off when people always spelled that wrong.

The people who post here...
 

all seem to be pretty intelligent and there certainly are a lot of good writers and people who have insight into things other than diesel engines. I know myself to be a simple minded 44 year old kid, but sometimes I do sense a lot more than diesel wisdom in the writings of others......

I was a plank owner on the USS Shenandoah AD 44 and spent about 5 years on board. Use to go to the valley to hunt with a buddy who was from the valley. :cool:

Spent last ten years of career homeported in NORVA. :D

Carra,

I doubt there is a road anywhere with slope of 40* How could it possibly have been built? And no car would be able to go up it or stop coming down.

Thats why the build cog railways on steep slopes. The don't depend on friction for traction.

P E H

man I've never seen a thread go so far off topic and so quick in my life. Not that the thread is not interesting.

Carrameow looks like you need to start your questions over in a new thread. I would supsect you have a air leak into your fuel lines orrrr?