yesterday morning i went to crank my 85 300sd and had a little trouble getting it to fire up....on cold mornings, below 60 degrees or so, i usually let the glow plugs warm up a couple of times before actually trying to crank it....after i did that, it took a good ten seconds of turning over before it ever fired up.....now today, at like 1 in the afternoon, i went to crank it and it will not fire up at all....the engine is turning over and over, but nothing else....i need some help here guys....i have to get this beast going before work tomorrow, and i dont have a clue what could be wrong with it...

i can tell you that the valves havent been adjusted in quite some time, and about 2 days ago i had to drive on the interstate for about 50 miles one way....i noticed something else too, while on the interstate.....i was doing about 85 or 90mph, and went to pass someone, and put the pedal on the floor and the car downshifted....this car isnt supposed to downshift past 80mph, and it never has until the other night....i immediately let off the gas and let it go back into 4th gear for fear that it would blow my engine, knowing it should never downshift going that fast....im not sure if this is related to the cranking problem, but figured i would say something about it since these problems happened within 2 days of each other.....

now i drive this car mainly to work and back...about 30-40 miles a day, stop and go traffic....havent had any problems with it until today...im all ears, and thanks in advance for the help...this site hasnt let me down yet

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1985 300SD 192,000miles...Astral silver/ Grey MbTex

1983 300D 194,000miles...White/Tan MbTex...my newest addiction