'82 300 sedan turbo diesel won't start cold,needs starting fluid to start cold. WHY?
 

Hello,
my name is charan, I am 17yrs.old
I am thinking about buy a 1982 5 cylinder sedan 300 Turbo Diesel with 100,000 miles for $1,200 obo. The owner say it runs good, but it won't start cold, that he sprays a little bit of starting fluid where the air filter is and it starts right up, and it will start no problem after that until it gets cold. he says he replaced the glow plugs the Battery and the fuel filter. Does anyone know what it could be and if that sounds like a good deal? Please let me know,. Also, I was going to convert it to run on Veggie Oil , can anybody tell me the steps on doing that myself?!
Thanks
Charan

Weak battery

Weak starter

Bad glow plugs (yes, still)

Bad GP relay

IP/Cam timing off



If it won't start under its own power, I'd pay maybe $500 for it.

If it is only 100,000 miles- that car is not even broken in yet- if they are indeed actual miles.

Does the car finally run after the initial starting fluid, or does it stall back out?
I noticed you said it is fine until cold. How does it run when it is warm? Smoothly?


Good luck!

i would be very careful
 

of this car. starting a diesel with ether is not a good idea. if too much is used the head gasket can blow very easily. anything more than a whiff is very dangerous. i would recommend having a mb specialist do a check of the motor.

also i would be very cautious of accepting the 100k as real mileage unless backed up by extensive service records.

good luck

tom w

I cringe at the thought of starting fluid..Errrrrr :(
I've seen headgaskets blow, I've seen Glow plug elements weld themselves to cylinderwalls and pistons..ugh...

Its currently around 10 degrees outside in our small "valley" we live in, and I didn't plug in my block heater last night, not realizing it'd get that cold. I guess this morning will be a test on the o'l engine... :eek: I've successfully started w/out heater down to -7 last year.....so I should be fine....we'll see.

Edit: Took 5 "heat buildup" rotations of the engine, I touched the pedal, on 6th crank it roared to life. :D Less than 2-3 seconds to start at 9-10 degrees, not bad.