Hello, and thanks in advance, It is sluggish when I first puch on the accelerator. say I am pulling out in traffic or something. Also, If I am parked in the grass, or on a slight incline at a dead stop, I ahve to push very hard on the throttle to get any response. once moving it is fast, turbo kicks in and the trans downshifts and upshifts fine. Any Ideas or is this normal? thanks

(1985 300SD w/252,000)

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Wilmington, NC. Board member of Cape Fear Biofuels.
www.capefearbiofuels.com
1982 Rabbit on WVO (sold)
1979 300TD on biodiesel
1985 F-350 6.9 on WVO and Biodiesel
1983 Factory Turbo Diesel Rabbit.
1985 300SD 252,000 for sale (sold)

Mine did similar, and it turned out my front caliper was sticking.
apparently this is pretty common on these old vehicles.
John

search on "ALDA"

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

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green 85 300SD 200K miles "Das Schlepper Frog" With a OM603 TBO360 turbo ( To be intercooled someday )( Kalifornistani emissons )
white 79 300SD 200K'ish miles "Farfegnugen" (RIP - cracked crank)
desert storm primer 63 T-bird "The Undead" (long term hibernation)

http://ecomodder.com/forum/fe-graphs/sig692a.png

nobody likes to hear this, but that was how my car used to run before I relaced my injector pump. Its not worth rebuilding, you can get a used one for $150 and put it in about 3 hours

Just wondering how you narrowed down the diagnosis to the IP pump - did you replace everything else first................. ?!

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1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

I'm not 100% percent saying that this guy's problem is the IP pump, but yes, I fooled with my ALDA, changed my chain, retimed my engine, redid my valves, changed my fuel filter, checked my tank filter, checked my tank, put in a fuel preheater...and checked the boost line from the manifold which sometimes gets clogged...

In the end the problem was the IP pump. I'm not a MERCEDES SHOP super star, i would rate myself more of a tenacious hardworker who asks a lot of questions. But the engine finally came to life when I sent my fuel pump in for rebuild. The rebuilder said it was TRASH; and literally dead; he explained that the innards get scored and siezed because modern day diesel fuel lacks the sulfur to properly lubricate them I put a used one from a friend in my car,he sold it to me for 100 $, and it solved all my problems, it was like I had a brand new Car!

Interestingly enough I once had an 87 300D (the six cylinder SUPER DIESEL) and the boost line was clogged when I bought it and the owner sold it to me for $1500--it was worth $4500. He thought it was bad fuel pump. The moment I test drove it I knew the fuel pump was fine ( based on the above experience), because the car was okay from a Dead Start--- I found a clogged boost line the next day after I bought it, and the car went from a high speed of 65 mph to 125 mph.

I'm somwhat okay, check my website, but the sharpest guy I think was GXSR, on these matters..Do a search under poor and sluggish performance..However my personal feeling is that the Fuel Pump on a Diesel is really 75% of a performance issue---..

The brake theory sounds like a good one to me. Or, perhaps it's your rack dampener pin. After I adjusted the rack dampener pin on my car, my low rpm acceleration greatly improved. The pin can hamper your low rpm speed if it's too tight. It's really simple to adjust. Do a search for 'rack dampener pin' or 'idler adjustment screw' (I think that's the other name for it). The process should take 5-10 minutes.

How much vibration does your engine cause at idle? If it's a lot, the pin probably needs to be adjusted. If it's not much, maybe not. But all in all, it's one of the easier things you can do to these cars.

Also, if your car gets 'the shakes' when you're at a stoplight after a highway drive, that's a pretty classic sign that the pin needs to be adjusted.

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Ralph

1985 300D Turbo, CA model
248,650 miles and counting...

I wonder if there is a test that one can do on an IP to determine its condition - rather than just spending the money on it to find out...

My car was VERY sluggish at fist as well and I did what everybody suggested: banjo, lines, switchover valve, adjusted the ALDA at the end - it helped a lot, but it still feels like it's not running right UNTIL the turbo kicks in and then it's all good... Maybe I just need to learn to live with it...

Just curious...

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1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

Don't even bother with looking for IP performance problems until the following basic things are verified:

1) Proper valve lash
2) Proper cam timing
3) Proper IP timing
4) Clean fuel filters


Once all these items are checked and adjusted, then the ALDA can be tweaked for a little more fuel off idle and throughout the range below the maximum fuel setting.

If any of the four items are not precisely known, don't bother with any other items on the vehicle such as the IP or the ALDA. You're wasting your time.

1) Scheduled for early next week (along with a new valve gasket)
2) I plan on measuring the chain stretch - is this what you mean?! I plan on doing at the same time I'm doing the valves
3) Not sure how to do this - can someone point me in the right direction (is this the mili-Volt method?
4) Planned right after the Diesel Purge - following the valve adjustment sometime next week.

How to you check #2 and #3?

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1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

I am not 100% certain, but I was looking under the dash (behind the passengers floor mat, and the there are two plugs under there that were unplugged. I figures it EGR stuff.... could this cause problem? thanks

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Wilmington, NC. Board member of Cape Fear Biofuels.
www.capefearbiofuels.com
1982 Rabbit on WVO (sold)
1979 300TD on biodiesel
1985 F-350 6.9 on WVO and Biodiesel
1983 Factory Turbo Diesel Rabbit.
1985 300SD 252,000 for sale (sold)

These Turbo and being big S body is going to be slow. Best is to test drive somebody's car before u gave him a death sentence.

Brakes dragging, rack.
On my 300D there is a round cap with a lock nut and a small screw, I undo the nut and tighten the screw, a few round gave more power, but too tighten the power fades away, I back off and it worked.
What is it called? I know it has to be some compensation.

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tried to load this pic earlier.

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If you believe your brakes are dragging park it on a hill, put it in Neutral and listen for rubbing noises. Or jack it up and spin the tire by hand. Or look for tons of brake dust. I don't mean to be disrespectful or not not humble but this may be a misnomer.