I've already done the diesel purge. Didn't use Kent's bottle but the same method. Ran 2 cans straight from a bottle. It idled through a bit of it but then I ran it up and down in rpm for a good bit until it was through all of the container. Before that, I had ran the car on a 50/50 mix of ATF and diesel fuel.. shut it down and let it sit for 2 days with the pump full of that mixture.

I've already got a pop tester on the way with new nozzles and shims from Kent @ MS. Also have a compression tester on the way. Going to test compression first. If compression is low, I'll use the nozzles on my '75 240d as I know they are overdue. If compression is OK, I've already found a 150k mile pump that is somewhat local that I'll pick up.

Both the injector parts and the compression tester are supposed to be here early next week from the looks of it. The kreen will be here before the weekend so I can let the pistons soak all weekend prior to doing the compression test.

I'll know more here in a few days.

I have a serious need for an affordable pop tester. Is this Kent @ MS selling them, and how do I get in touch with him?

__________________
'75 John Deere 450C (times 2)
'83 240D plus parts car
'87 F350, 6.9L IDI
'89 F350 crewcab, 7.3L IDI
'89 F-Superduty, 7.3L IDI
'91 F-250, 7.3L IDI
'91 F-350, 7.3L IDI
'94 F-350 Crewcab, 7.3L IDI
'94 E-350 Ambulance, 7.3L IDI

I'll pm you the link

So most everything came in... waiting on the compression tester still but it's supposed to be here tomorrow.

So working on the soak for now...





This is some potent stuff.


Injector rebuild kit and pop tester


Monark nozzles


Pop tester (not assembled)




My motor mounts, trans mount, shifter bushings, and vc gasket from pelican showed up today as well.

I added ~an oz or so of Kreen to each cylinder and rotated the engine slightly. Will go out again tonight and add a bit more to each and let it sit overnight. I'll add a bit more in the morning and rotate it over... and then again in the afternoon and possibly the evening. I'm adding very little to the cylinders. I'll run the compression test either tomorrow evening or sometime sunday afternoon. I'll leave the Kreen that makes it to the pan in the oil until I get it sorted out... then do a change/filter again.

We'll see what happens. If the test comes back good, will rebuild the injectors and swap them in. Hopefully that fixes the issue.

Well the compression tester didn't show up today so I'm going to continue the Kreen soak until it does. Every 8-10hrs, I'm spinning the engine over by hand one full revolution and adding an ounce or so to each cylinder.

So far, I've put ~1/2qt down the holes. By the time the tester shows up, I'll likely have the entire quart in the pan.

Considering its winter and its got 15w40 in the crankcase, I'd say it'll be fine to start it and let it run for a bit to see if my issues are gone once I get everything buttoned up.

Then I'll change the oil and filter.

More to come.

How much was the pop tester ? .

I ask because I bought a very nice one from India that's a carbon copy of the original BOSCH ones, so far (several years now) it's been perfect, unlike the bottle jack pop tester I bought from a Diesel Head here .

Don't run the new nozzles or replacement injection pump until the clear plastic intake screen remains 100 % clear of debris for at least 300 miles .

The KREEN works, good that you're allowing it to soak longer, this will guarantee it works the best it can .

Remember to clear the cylinders by cranking with the injectors OUT before you try compression testing ! .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

With new nozzles, shims, heat shields, a manual, and the tester... it was ~$350.

I'm going to be pulling the fuel tank and manually cleaning the tank and lines. I've got 2.5 gallons of purple power degreaser that I'll dump in the empty tank and let it soak for a few days... then 2 gallons of evaporust just in case I find corrosion. Clean and blow out the lines. Anything left should be caught by the filters. In the mean time, I'm still running on a little 2 gallon fuel can.

I pulled my injectors apart today and I THINK I found the issue. All of them had the needles seized in the nozzles. The ends of the nozzles were all bowl shaped instead of flat. 2 of them were chucked full of sludge and crud.

I've got them cleaned up. I'll be lapping them and installing new nozzles in the next day or so then balance them.

If weather cooperates, I'll compression test it tonight. The tester showed up today.

I'll post up pictures tonight of the injector mess. No idea how it ran at all.

So... ran the compression test and I'm somewhat confused by the numbers.

Keeping in mind that the engine hasn't been ran in over a week and it is currently 29F outside... Cyl #1 (which was the one that appeared to be dead).. had the highest compression reading.

The numbers were low across the board.... but the numbers don't account for the single cylinder misfire.

Cyl 1 - ~220-240 (tested multiple times)
Cyl 2 - ~220
Cyl 3 - ~230
Cyl 4 - ~220
Cyl 5 - ~200

Cylinder 5 made a drastic change in idle when the injector was cracked.. all of them did besides 1 and 2 which made me think I'd find numbers way down on 1 and 2.

Being as they are all somewhat even... although low.. What are the odds that compression would be that low on an engine with 200k on the clock and good maintenance? Could it just be the lack of oil on the rings from the 3 days of solvent soaking and not being ran in over a week? Could it be the below freezing temps? Could the Chinese gauge be inaccurate... or is this engine just clapped out?

Valves were just checked last week and the engine hasn't ran much at all since then.

The injectors were NASTY.



Video of me trying to pull one of the needles out of a nozzle. No idea how they were firing at all.
https://i.imgur.com/e5grSPC.mp4

I think I'm going to continue with the injector rebuild... slap them in and see if it runs smoothly. Get it up and going and put some run time on it then retesting the compression.

Freshened up the injectors today and balanced them.

All new Monark nozzles and running at 2000-2050psi (new nozzles will wear in and drop pressure slightly)







This pop tester is dirt simple to use. Definitely a good investment.


https://i.imgur.com/RWWfYpU.mp4

Hopefully I'll get them put in tonight with new heat shields and glow plugs.

The low compression is even so with the freshly serviced injectors I'm sure you'll find it runs fine and doesn't smoke much if at all .

Give it some time & miles to settle in and see if it leaks, weeps or seeps oil, if not you're good to go, not a worrisome amount of blow by .

I like the pop test video .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Well... if the pump would cooperate, it likely would be running. Lol


Right now, after having the STOP lever locked in the stop position for a few days, something internal to the pump is stuck in the STOP position as it will no longer output fuel. No pressure from any of the injector lines... just a trickle at best after cranking for over an hour off and on. Fuel is flowing to the pump for sure and I've purged all the air from the system.



Was working fine prior to this. So now I've got some tinkering to do this weekend to see if I can get it to cooperate.

O.K., you're in... Il ? .

There's gotta be a junkyard near you with a rusted out OM617 powered Mercedes Diesel in it, the pumps are usually not very expen$ive at all, the LKQ yards I go to get less than $50 .

Many pumps get removed and sold on graigslist as "good used" for $75 ~ $100 the seller rarely knows anything about Diesels but these pumps are hard to kill .

I used to have two spares, I wish I knew where they went as both ran fine when I removed them searching for better fuel economy....

Someone here will have one and sell it to you affordably I'm sure .

There is a Diesel Fuel Injection Shop in the San Fransisco bay area that's well regarded, when I checked some time back they wanted less than $1,000 to rebuild one...

I prefer to remove my own used parts because some of the junked M-B Diesel have horrible fuel contamination and rust in the deliver valves .

Those are not very $ either from the M-B Classic Center and are re designed, you should only replace the in full sets and buy new springs too .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

And it runs again!

Came home from work and tinkered around a bit. Gave it a glow cycle and cranked on it and it sputtered. I snugged up the lines and cranked on it a bit more and it fired up and ran smooth.

I let it warm up. Seems much more responsive.. much less smoke and no injector noise.

I decided to go on and pull the delivery valves and clean them by hand one at a time (they were all nasty and somewhat sticky). I then pumped the injection pump full of Diesel Purge via the hand primer to sit overnight. I want to break down as much of the crud in the pump as possible. I'll pump the injection pump full of fresh fuel tomorrow afternoon and see how much sludge comes out of the pump... then see if I can get it going again.

I have a feeling that if I get it on the road and pull a couple hills near the house, that the haze will clear up.

Anyways.. here is a short clip. Don't mind the obnoxious rattle. The fuel filter heater from the veggie kit was rattling against the core support. Engine is much smoother than before even with completely clapped motor mounts (have new ones). It also let me idle it down without stumbling and stalling.

We're getting somewhere slowly but surely.

It's ALIVE... Again

Wow, that's smoooooooth .

Consider adding a clear plastic fuel filter to the cigar hose, it will catch all the finer debris and crud before it can get back into the fuel tank...

It looks to me like you're nearly there .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

It's certainly getting there.


Still a real PITA to start even warm. Makes me wonder if something is sucking air. I replaced all of the hoses and when pumping the hand primer, I still get almost foam sized air bubbles on the up stroke.



I went on and picked up a rebuild kit for the lift pump since I don't know it's history and I'll be pulling and cleaning the actual fuel tank tomorrow.