For a couple weeks I've been having to crank a little bit and apply the accelerator to get my 1995 E300D to start. There would be times where going from a stop it would be a little sluggish as well.

It got progressively worse until one day it stalled out at a stop light. I was able to crank it right back up. Well the next day it stalled out and I couldn't get it going again. I had just under a 1/4 tank of diesel at this point. I had to get it towed back to my house.

Thinking maybe it was a clogged tank strainer or bad fuel I went and bought 5 gallons of diesel and some Power Service Clear-Diesel to try and deal with any contaminants or water. Gave it a day or so, my battery was dead at this point, jumped it and tried to get it going again. It will crank but not turn over.

I had changed the main filter about a month ago and didn't suspect that it would be clogged. I pulled the pre-filter and didn't see any build-up. Cleaned it out and made sure it was topped off with diesel. Still won't get going.

There are no air bubbles I can see in the lines, but I do have all new fuel lines, pre-filter, main filter, and Liqui-Moly. The symptoms seem to indicate a clogged fuel strainer but I would think that would go away with 7+ gallons of fuel.

I'm trying to figure out where to go from here. I considered siphoning the tank and replacing the tank strainer but with the 7+ gallons I would think it would still be able to start up.

Also haven't seen any problems with the glow plugs but do have a ground issue somewhere because my headlights are dimmer than they should be.

Any recommendations?

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1995 Mercedes E300 Diesel