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Old 09-22-2006, 12:47 AM
markg612 markg612 is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: The Bay Area via Phoenix, Chicago and Minnesota.
Posts: 377
Quote:
Originally Posted by sixto View Post
Has anyone put a circuit breaker in place of the fuse?

You should do some forensics on the fuse. Did it break from age (typical failure mode) or did it blow. If it blew, you might want to test the glow plugs before sending another fuse down the drain.

Which brings up another point - don't just give the fuse a cursory look. Unscrew the fuse to see if it comes off in one piece or two pieces. These fuses can develop a hairline crack but look intact.

Sixto
93 300SD
BRILLIANT OBSERVATION AND TROUBLESHOOTING. Excellent point!


Quote:
Glow plugs are important in the winter but as long as its above 50 you don't need them

I got lambasted a while back for discussing theory and design of diesel cycle operation because I bruised a fragile ego, so here goes again.

In my 25 years of personal and professional experience, living in Minnesota, without operational glow plugs in the 60x series aluminum head/iron block engine family, THEY DO NOT START COLD without an operational glow system. Maybe at 50°F and previously run, but not cold. Sorry. My old GM 4.3 would go after several minutes of continuos cranking, the MB's rarely do.

In the 80's when this design was introduced, MB radically altered the pre-chamber design in this family, which resulted in a negative affect of requiring lots of heat to start, and that heat is fully functional glow plugs. At 50°-60°F and with half the plugs failed, the 60x will still start. It will buck and smoke and fart and miss, but it will go. Without any plugs, well, good luck. You might need an aircraft ground power unit to help, but the starter brushes will be toasted first.

Get the ship to a Benz guy! Quick!
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