Holy ****! I just had a nice little runaway of my own. Ive been working on my 300SD '79, and just got it started. Suddenly, it went ROAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!

Good thing I read up in this forum beforehand - I had the air cleaner/ducting away from the turbo and I used my Chiltons to choke out the motor. Truthfully, thats been about the only thing that the Chiltons is good for!

I just had the pump out BEFORE this happened, so I removed the shutoff solenoid and ensured that it was latched appropriately. I threaded the hook portion through the eye of the lever inside and re-installed it. Also, before I re-installed it, I applied vacuum to the switch and it seemed to move like it should..... I dont really know why it ran away

To update, I removed the shut-off switch from the back of the injector pump and made sure that the latch WAS NOT in the eyelet that it is "supposed" to connect to. Now, it wont start at all.

To recap:

Latch in eyelet = Runaway engine

Latch behind lever = engine not starting

Latch(hook) on the shut-off solenoid to the front of the lever in the IP.

Check out post #28 in the "Run away diesel, why does it happen?" thread.

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79 240D (no name yet) 203K Miles Maple Yellow
98 2500 4x4 HD Dodge 24 Valve Cummins TD
83 Chevy Van (Dead-Trans. shot)

Man you were lucky! Many an engine has come apart from that. I have to replace the shutoff valve this week on the 83 and will do it with the pump in the car, but I will remove the ALDA and plate atachment and work from the top.

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1981 300D 147k
1998 VW Jetta Tdi 320k
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 141k
1979 300D 234k (sold)
1984 300D "Astor" 262k(sold)
Mercedes How-To and Repair Pictorials
I love the smell of diesel smoke in my hair