Hello everyone. I have an 81 300D,Suddenly engine developed a very rough idle, and a lot of stinking diesel smoke. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.Thanks

What color is the smoke and when does it appear?

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Seth

1984 300D 225K
1985 300D Donor body
1985 300D Turbo 165K. Totaled. Donor Engine. It runs!!!
1980 300SD 311K My New Baby.
1979 BMW 633csi 62K+++? Dead odo

zbys,

This can be caused by an bad injector.

Loosen the injector fuel line nuts one at a time and see if U can trace it to a single cylinder.

P E H

I didn't have any luck with the symptoms you describe. I had an '80 wagon, which was a non-turbo 617, just like you. You might do a search on "smoke", and type in threads with my user name. Tons of ideas were offered, but alas, none ever worked.
You can tell my solution to the problem in my signature.....
I loved that old wagon.......

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

I am pretty sure ALL of the injectors are bad on our 83, when idling it rattles your brain. Motor mounts are good, but boy is it rough, less so when really warmed up. We might send the injectors in to be rebuilt/balanced before officially putting it back on the road. It smokes a ton in general compared to my engine as well, but according to the oil analysis on it, its an extremely healthy engine. Mine is like silk in comparison to how they run though. The engine has great power and loves to go, its just that idling, and more-smoke output. My dad likes it that way however....so maybe its not an issue. He says my car is "weird" for being so smooth.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

color is whitish gray,stinks like diesel fuel,after a few minutes ideling with the door open my clothes smelled.....My daughter filled the tank and the next day it started,could it be the fuel?

Did she fill it with gas or diesel?

open the cap and smell
~Nate

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95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

I hope it is diesel......it wasn't her first time...I will smell when I get home.Would the car have these type of symptoms?

gas mixed with diesel and then trying to combust can probably get screwy if their is enough diesel to combust the gas mixed in it.. what does the exhaust smell like

smells like diesel and oil......like an old diesel bus.....

what color is the smoke? .. check the oil too i belive if its milky you might.. .... might have coolant in the oil.. which isnt a good thing.. i could be wrong about my guess

smoke is gray....it is diesel fuel in the tank...Where should I start?Injectors ?

grey smoke means to much fuel i belive.. if your getting to much fuel the air to fuel ratio is off..

make sure the engine is cold.. remove the u-tube from the turbo.. make sure the car is off unless you want to loose that hand your going to jam into the turbo intake and check for shaft play by gently pulling and pushing in the nut.. then give the compressor wheel a spin to see how freely it spins. if the turbo has shaft play and doesnt spin freely your not getting boost or enough boost to eual the F/A ration making a nice fog.. also .. the ALDA was it adjusted.. the ALDA is a sheetmetal thing on the engine by the injection pump with a clear plastic line going to it from the intake .. you can tell if its been adjusted by the plastic cap and sheet metal cylinder missing ..

one problem...no turbo plain old diesel

i need to learn how to read better