After a few weeks of chugging starts and belching black smoke, I got a great price on a pre-glow relay timer from the Diesel Giant and wow what a difference in starting.
With what seems like just a tickle of the ignition switch, she roars to life without a puff of dark smoke.
I followed a lot of suggestions I found on this forum to properly diagnose my problem and ruled out new glow plugs or bad wiring.

I bought the part for $126 including Ga. tax and put it in on a chilly morning in five minutes. The trickiest part of the whole job was attaching the relay to the wheel well on the driver's side.

Glow lights on the dash came on right away and when it went out, a tickle of the key and she was roaring. Before it took a few tries and I could always hear the battery weaken as the starter chugged away.

This forum sure is a great play for exchanging information and solutions.

Thanks to all you guys and gals.


G.R.

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'85 300SD "The Pearl" -- First MB and First Diesel which proves that good things come to those who keep shopping.