I've been on this site for a few weeks, finally decided to join up today. anyways, i've owned a 1980 240d that i bought for $1900 since October 05. since then, it has broken down two times, resulting in $1700+ in repairs (all done by a benz diesel expert the next town over - excellent work). recently, after fueling up i noticed a smell of diesel in the cabin. this has never happened before. later on, as i was heading home, i lost power and tried restarting 6 or 7 times before the engine turned over and i was able to make it home (approx. 5 miles from my house). as i turned onto my street, the car began stalling horribly and seemed as if it were losing power. as i parked in front of my house, as soon as i let off the accelerator, the car died. i come out the next morning, and there's a pool of diesel under/next to the car. since then i've driven it into my back yard without problem (i am afraid to take it on the road at this point) does anyone know what's going on?

first you need to determine where the fuel is coming from. also you might tell us what your mechanic did to the car as well.

we'll try to help you figure out the problem.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

he basically got the car acclimated(sp) to a nothern climate (it had been in FL for 25 years) and got the car up to snuff in the ways of compression adjustment, drag link replacement, glow plug replacement, fuel injector replacement, and the installation of a glowplug heater, among other (minor) things. hope this helps. i may add, however, that the car had a run-in with a snowbank in early march, in which the chassis was resting on the snow, and no wheels were touching the ground. it hasn't been a problem and there has been no noticable repercussions other than a noisy tick when the accelerator is pressed to the floor.

now for where the fuel is coming from.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Same symptoms happened to me just last week so i pulled over with the engine idling to investigate. Turned out to be the fuel priming pump knob had rotated loose, was leaking fuel onto the ground. The priming knob just needed to be rotated clockwise to set it tight.

the leak is coming from the notch in the gas tank towards the rear/right of the tank. it feels like something has broken inside the hole.