I have an '82 380 SEC that has just started to smoke black smoke from the tail pile whenever the car is started after setting for a short time. This does not occur when the car has sat for a long time or over night. After I get going the smoking stops altogether. What needs to be done in order to get it to stop smoking on start up?

You have something that leaks fuel into the intake, bad injector (or several), a bad cold start valve, or a defective fuel distributor. You need a pressure testing setup to check all of these,

You should also check the air flow meter flap to make sure it's not binding in the venturi -- it's visible under the air filter. The plate must be clean, centered so there is a tiny gap all round, and move smoothy under light finger pressure down, and rise up to the original position by itself when released. If you push it down while the engine is running, it will stall from flooding, though.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Peter,

Thanks for the reply! I'm going to start with the cold starter since I've noticed that it's sometimes hard to start when the car is already warm. I never have any problems in the mornings with starting or smoking.