I have an 82 240 d. This is my first car.When I aquired the poor girl she was in a terrible state.She wouldnt go over twenty.I knew it had problems but I saw the potential.So I bought it for $1000. The woman I received it from knew nothing about diesels , and at the time neither did I. So I got myself a Book. After familiarizing myself with the characteristics of a diesel.I decided to get a little dirty. I like to think of myself as a sensible mechanically minded individual ,and I dont trust mech. shops. So I began my analysis and repairs imediatley.The problems that I encountered are as follows.
1.The Racor filter had been completley bypassed.
2.The glowplugs did not give heat .It would do 15 revs. before starting ,replaced those now its 1 rev.
3.the fuel intake line was smashed nearly flat do to someone bottoming out.Replaced that metal section with rubber line.
4.Every rubber fuel line had a leak even the 5mm. injection lines.
5.The gas tank I drained and removed from the vehicle.Then I removed about 3 cups of solid algae chunks.Then I powerwashed the tank and dried it with a shop-vac duck taped to it.
6.Multiple bad fuses made it necessary to change every one.
7.Power steering pump drained constantly.Rebuilt it , good as new.
8.Hazard swich failure, replaced it.
9.Broken grill, replaced it.
10.Numerous scratches. Rubbing compounded the whole car. It looks great even looks like a super high polish.The interior was in really good shape to begin with.
11.scratches on the hubcaps. I noticed that the metal beneath was polished crome so I used paint remover on them and now I have crome mbz caps.
12.All new filters of course.

13. HERES A GREAT ONE. during my time under the hood I presented myself with the dynamics of the fuel primer. I got A universal fuel pump hooked it up to a toggle switch next to the engine. Now when I replace the filters or the incjectior lines I dont even have to crack the lines. I just did my injector lines so when I did I just put the lines on flipped my toggle switch waited a minute turned the switch off then she started up like I had just driven her.
14.Radio didnt work, inserted cd player, equalizer, amp.,replaced broken antenna, and two 8in bazooka tubes.

Now my last remaining problem is that I noticed that the block was wet so I turned it on and watched the engine. I found that the fluid was coming up out of the injectors at a very lite rate. The car now runs great she goes 75 with the best of them and still hides a little more behind that. My book didnt have many answers for me Ive gotton this far myself but I would appreciate any proposed solutions and or ant other tips on improvments I could do to allow my vehicle to be all that it can be.