300TD way down on power--

[allenjdmb]

273k. Has been running very well, but now will barely even pull the hill up my driveway. With the accelerator to the floor, it will just barely crawl up hills. Turbo seems to be working; if you can get it up in the rev band to make the turbo work, the full throttle doesn't seem that bad. It's so bad that it wants to downshift going down hills! Timing? Vaccuum? Injection pump? Help this is out household road warrior! Thanks in advance for suggestions...allen.

[Ron Johnstone]

Had the same problem with my 240 a few times, changed the main fuel filter and it cured it. Also worth checking your air filter and, obviously, your in-line fuel filter. If you are having problems with alge in your fuel, the filters can clog up over time and simply starve the engine of its power. Don't forget there is a filter in the bottom of your fuel tank too, but that is mainly for rock sized particles, but if your in-line is badly clogged it might be worth pulling the tank filter.

my 300 is the same way currently have to manualy shift the gears to get up hill same with take off. once it gets going it drives great. cant tell if my turbo is working though i think my kick down switch is bad. nothing seems to happen when i push it to the floor. but thats another story. but if the fuel filters were clogged would'nt that make the car hard to start?

[Ron Johnstone]

A clogged fuel filter(s) will permit enough fuel to get through to let you drive almost normally around town (depending on the degree of clogging), but not enough fuel can get to the cylinders to give you the power to climb hills, freeway driving, etc. Change all your filters when the car gets sluggish and you will immediately notice the difference.

wasnt there some sort of a rule with changing filters? i just bought some new ones and i heard that after changing them the car might be hard to start again. that can be fixed by puttin fuel in one of the filters. how much fuel should i place in the filter before putting it back on and which filter should i fill?

thanks

[Ron Johnstone]

Filling the filters with clean fuel is a good idea, only the big filter is feasible to do this to as the little one will leak out when you are installing it. You must use your hand pump to thoroughly prime the filters and get rid of any air before attempting to start the car. Pump until you feel some good resistance, then continue for a few more strokes.