I have another posting running "glow plug = knocking???" where I am trying to fix an 83 300SD knocking. Tonight while looking through a parts catalog...I realized a couple of weeks ago the part I found laying within a crevice by the injection pump must have been the IP rack dampening pin.

So.....can they loosen themselves out???

Can they cause more issues than just "smoothing out the idle"? (which is what the parts info sheet said)

And, with the sun light of a new day tomorrow.....can anyone tell me EXACTLY where to look to see if in fact the pin did come out? (re: where to look on the IP for an open hole).

Thanks in advance

Look in front of the oil filter on the IP down slightly below the shutoff valve.

With the bolt adjusted too far one way the car shivers and shakes and too far the other way it starts very hard. There may be other problems also.

__________________
1977 300D Lost coolant while someone else was driving
1983 300D Can't run without oil
1985 300SD (gone but not forgotten)
1990 300TE 4matic Sold
1991 Yamaha Venture
1975 Kawsaki 250 triple
1974 Honda 200CL
1951 8N Ford
2008 Wildfire 650C

It opens to an oiled part of the IP so without it in place oil should be gushing out the back of the IP with the engine running.

__________________
Adam Lumsden
(83) 300D
Vice-President of the MBCA International Stars Section

I checked this morning before I headed to work. There doesn't appear to be any "openings" present and I saw a rather large bolt in front of the oil filter housing on the IP, under the shut off valve.....closer to the driver's outside of the car rather than in the middle of the pump. It is below what I think is the ALDA (which I assume is attached to the IP). Does that sound correct?

The rack dampening pin, when installed, is parallel to the long axis of the car, it's pointing out of the back of the IP towards the rear of the car, from the lower-left (driver-side) corner of the IP. The pin itself has 13mm hex head, but there's also a 14mm lock nut on it. The overall length of the pin is just about the distance between the back of the IP and the oil filter canister. It has spring-loaded tip. I doubt it can loosen itself out though, and then if it does, it'll probably just fall on the ground. When the pin is out, the engine does some serious shaking at idle: it's not so much vibration as it's wide swinging to the sides.