I test drove an 85 300 TD with an automatic and 230K. The car accelerated very very slowly, and then came to life after I rammed the pedal to the floor for several seconds and did 85mph-90mph. Obviously I'm not buying this car to drive tommorrow--it will need some work. My feeling is that the lack of acceleration is in the Fuel System--not the engine itself. The turbo seems to kick in. I dont think its a transmission problem.
What would the cause of this initial sluggishness/lack of power? (Its not a plugged exhaust--the cars exhaust is gone.) The car is only $600, and its a project car--will the engine need rebuild?