Hey guys. I just did a diesel purge on my mom's 1986 300SDL. It was going smoothly until I changed the main filter. When i was getting it out, a bunch of the fuel in the filter drained out onto the belt that runs the power steering pump. I wiped it off and put the new filter in and tried to start the engine, heard a loud squeaking noise accompanied by excess vibration, so i turned the engine off, fearing it may destroy something. Last time i tried to start it, it would crank but not start. Does the belt have to come off and be totally wiped down? 'Cause im not sure how to do that or what it would involve.

Edit: Yeah the engine won't start. The starter works fine though. Im thinking it's the belt or it could be that while it was chugging down the diesel purge, it sucked in a bunch of air cause the hose was positioned incorrectly. From what I have read the fuel system purges itself when you crank...perhaps this is what it is doing? Do I have to loosen any bolts for the air to escape, like on the 617?

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

Have you got a can of starting fluid?

I would spray the pulley wheel and belt liberally, let it evaporate, turn the engine over a little just to expose where the starting fluid didn't hit the diesel fuel and spray again.

Starting fluid will not harm anything and it will dry the belt up of diesel oil.

The failure to start has nothing to do with the belt.

If the hose came out of the purge while the engine was running, then you have introduced air into the system. Unlike the 617, this engine does not give you the pleasure of a hand pump.

So, crank away. But, give the poor starter a rest every 30 seconds. Allow it to cool for five minutes or so. You might need a battery charger if you sucked up some serious air.

Even when the secondary is changed on the 603, and the new filter is filled, the engine gives a bit of trouble and stalls a couple of times due to the air introduced.

It can be a PITA if there is serious air in it.

As BB mentioned, you can use ether to clean the oil off the belt. It takes quite a bit of it due to the very volatile nature of the ether. I'm sure you could use alcohol and get similar results because you have much more liquid to work with.

All right. Thanks for the help guys. I just needed to crank it for a while. I was kinda scared i'd run outta battery juice, but it worked out. Idles nice and smoothly with no black smoke like it used to.

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

Excellent. Glad you got it started without too much trouble.

BTW, I never do a diesel purge on the 603. I've been running 12 oz. of Power Service per tankful and the engine remains clean as a whistle even after 10K miles.

Pardon my ignorance, but what is a diesel purge? And what is Power Service? I hav an 86 SDL with 135k miles and no problems that I know of. Is this a maintenance item that I need to do? Thanks for the info.

Diesel Purge is an injector cleaner that you run directly through them (i.e. not pour in down the fuel tank). Generally the results are smoother starting, quieter engine, more higher-end power...not bad for $10 a can. Do a search, you will find pages of info on what it is and how to do it.

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

Excellent diagnosis Brian. I ran out of Diesel Fuel in my '86 SDL. on the way to get it filled up one day...trying to stretch it a bit.. and I had to walk about a mile and get some fuel...came back and had to turn over the engine a few times until It started. I think it's important that when you notice that your car is running out of fuel, make sure you pull over in a safe place, if possible and kill the engine to keep from sucking in air. On the 617's you have a hand pump to aid u in starting it back up unfortunatley, but for the 603's it's not like that and added advantage to cranking up a diesel.

The first time I changed the main filter on my 603 I made the mistake of putting it on dry. Holly crap if you ever run one of these dry you are in trouble. I had to put a charger on the battery and crank and crank and crank.

The moral of this story is don't run a 603 dry and fill the spin on filter.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Heh...Just the other day I changed a main filter on one. Drove it for 10 miles, got out of the car after shutting it off, took off the main filter, transferred fuel over to the new main filter I was installing, put everything in it's intended place, and fired it up. My foot pushed to the floor(red hot engine of course), raced to 4K before fuel ran out.

Just before it stalled, it caught the fuel from the tank. No extra cranking or charger required. I also got an "A" on my C++ concepts, methods, and applications midterm. Good day that day!

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1987 300SDL (324000)

1986 Porsche 951 (944 Turbo) (166000)

1978 Porsche 924 (99000)

1996 Nissan Pathfinder R50 (201000)

Actually i didn't fill it with any fuel Took about 45 seconds of cranking i think, in 10 second intervals. Does anyone know what that lever-looking thing atop the main fuel filter housing that is holding a hose is? Is it just to hold that hose up?

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

yep.

If not stuck on the side of the road, I prefered to mitivac the fuel in and air out of the system. Happened frequently enough when I was getting the veggie conversion right on my sdl (sold).

I really liked that engine. Now I've got to learn the m103!?!

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Cannondale ST600 XL
Redline Monocog 29er
2011 Mini Cooper Clubman
2005 Honda Element EX

www.djugurba.com
www.waldenwellness.com

OK, Kevin, the details please. This sounds like an excellent plan.

Well.... I learned that trick by cranking the battery dead a couple times. Upon reflection, it might not be quite as useful for an un-modified car, but I'm sure there is a way to make it work.

I had a two tank veggie-oil system installed of my own fabrication. It had a pollack valve on it for switching between fuels. The outflow from the pollack valve made its way to the injection pump. So, I attached a small length of fuel line to the pollack valve outflow barb in place of the line to the inj pump (plugged with golf tee) and connected that to the mitivac so I could suck the fuel from either tank, depending on the position of the pollack valve. I'd then have a purged system on both sides, but a tiny air bubble just before the injection pump. That was easy to purge without frying my poor starter or battery...

If you've got non-stock fuel lines, (not the shrink wrap brownish ones), you should be able to find a place close to the inj. pump to suck away all that air. I usually kept the mitivac in the trunk out of clogged filter worry, though that didn't happen. The biggest problem I had was air, which entered through tiny invisible cracks in some older hoses I'd retained. When I replaced them, it ran like a champ.

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Cannondale ST600 XL
Redline Monocog 29er
2011 Mini Cooper Clubman
2005 Honda Element EX

www.djugurba.com
www.waldenwellness.com

Also, if you are replacing your fuel filters do it with a warm engine. It's a whole lot easier to get it started as the air clears out of the line.

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LRG
1987 300D Turbo 175K
2006 Toyota Prius, efficent but no soul
1985 300 TDT(130K miles of trouble free motoring)now sold