Another no start issue
 

Okay, about a week ago the car took a bit of cranking to get it going. Before that, it was always a 5-10 and boom, it was cranked and ready to go. At that time my glow plug light started to flash. It would flash for at least a minute. The temps were around 55-70 at that time.

Now, it won't start at all. I checked the gp relay. The #3 wasn't working. I turned the gp's on. Checked the plug and #3 wasn't working...okay, I figured I need to change the plug. I go and get a bosch gp and install it today. I let it go through two cycles of warming up and let it crank for 15 to 30 seconds. Nothing doing...the car won't start. I tried letting it crank for 45 seconds and still nothing. I don't have a block heater on this one and I am going to go and get a kit from Diesel Giant.

When I crank I can see white smoke coming out of the exhaust. I think my injector is fine and my timing chain is fine. I need to do a valve adjustment.

ANY IDEAS?

Are all the other glow plugs working?

yes
 

as of yesterday all of the other gp's were working and all of the gp wires were tight against the gp's.

I also forgot to mention that I have zero blowby. The compression is good.

When you say cycles, do you mean you leave them on as long as the dash light is on or you leave them on until you hear the relay click off? My light stays on for 6 seconds. My glowplugs heat for 36 seconds as long as I do not try to start the car.

-Jim

I usually leave them on for about 30 seconds per cycle.

Well, there goes my easy fix!

-Jim

Valve adjustment will definitely cause a no start.
Been there.:cool:

valves?
 

i got this car about two months ago and a valve job is on the list. I have a slight leak at the valve cover gasket so i was planning on adjusting the valves when I changed that out. That still wouldn't explain why it was starting perfect then not starting unless the temps were in the 70. I can't figure it out. There has to be another gp that is not working. I am going to check them again this afternoon. I can't figure out anything else that would effect it.

I thought that I might have let some air into the fuel line so I also primed the fuel and have virtually no air in the system. THe prefilter looks completely full. The prefilter looks clean. I did a diesel purge after getting the car. Perhaps it needs another spin on? Would the spin on cause it to not be able to start?

Please describe the tests that you performed to verify that the other GP's are working correctly.

A couple weeks ago I couldn't go faster than 40mph on the highway with the petal on the floor. I changed the prefilter, cause I could see it was plugged, but not the spin on filter. I still had the problem. Once I changed the spin on filter, the problem was gone. So it wouldn't hurt to change it. If its super clogged after the diesel purge it's probably not helping the cause. It's probably due for a change since you did a diesel purge, and this was it's ruled out as a problem.

have you tried the block heater? When it starts getting a little colder (40's ish) and you need a block heater to start the car, well then you probably need a VALVE ADJUSTMENT. And the no-blow-by could also indicate you need a valve adjustment (if hardly any air is getting in there to compress, hardly any blowby.

good luck

I followed the diesel giant pictorial on his site for checking the gp/gp relay/ gp wires.

I am about to do it again and see if I just didn't screw something up.

After completing the DP i did change the spin on becuase I figured it would need it. I haven't even driving 600 miles since I changed it. It doesn't cost much so I might do it anyway. The car was siting for about a year before I purchased it. The po would drive it once a month and before that the po wife (her car) drove it for about 10 years = no italian tune up.

I don't have a block heater on the 300sd. I have one on my wagon but not on the sd. I thinking about getting the one from diesel giant that fits on the lower radiator hose. I am sure it would help the starting issue.

The car was driving great. It was shifting perfect and would cruise at 95. I know the valves need adjusting but the car is in great shape anyway. I plan on getting the wrenches to do the valve job this week and hopefully by the weekend I will be able to check the valves.

Your condition could be caused by burned valves if you have not done a valve adjustment in a while! :( This is probably the most important step in keeping your Benz healthy and I forgot how many times I've seen burnt valves because of neglect! This would definitely cause a no start in lower temps and my Benz was blowing white smoke out the tailpipe when I got it because of this. My cure was to use my block heater temporarily and do a valve adjustment immediately and pull the head for a total rebuild and 3 angle valve job as soon as possible. while your at it, this would be a good time to check your timing chain for stretch too.:o