An infirm '80 240D

I am the worried new owner and am pleased to have found this forum! Here are the symptoms of the car (I bought it at auction and didn't have a chance to drive it):

Loud knocking on startup,
Almost no power whatsoever,
Car crawls away from a stop and is noisy,
Battery seems to die if I use the car for a few minutes.

A search on the Net found a note posted by a mechanic that suggested these symptoms can be brought on by the introduction of gasoline into the fuel tank. None of the manuals I've got (Haynes and Chilton's) make it clear how you empty a fuel tank, short of running it down. Since the car has 1/2 a tank full and it runs rough, I'd rather not do that.

Is there a drain plug on the fuel tank? I can't find one from under the car. Would I do almost as well to siphon the fuel out? Should I just siphon a cupful and see if it seems like gas (I don't know what diesel should look/smell like)?

Following suggestions on this forum, I'm going to change the air and fuel filters (and pump up the fuel), change the oil (using Delo 400 15w40) and coolant. Testing the glowplugs and injectors are beyond my humble talents, but I have a feeling that someday I'll be doing these things, too.

Thanks for any help and advice you can give!

Marc,
Welcome to the world of diesels. If you are not familiar with these engines it may be prudent to get together with someone you know that is familiar with them and have them take a look and listen. Someone not familiar might think the acceleration, or lack there of, and noise is an indication of a problem when it may just be a diesel noodling along. Non turbocharged diesel's acceleration , 0-60 mph, is usually measured in minutes not seconds. A diesel's acceleration and quiet running are not it's strong suits. So again I suggest you hook up with someone familiar with these engines, you may find the engine is fine.

As for the battery; a diesel consumes little if any current during the running of the engine, car accessories are really the only draw on the system while engine is running. The engines do, however, use large amounts of a battery in the starting process between the draw by the glow plugs and the load put on the starter. I'm not sure what the details, or circumstances, of your battery drain down but if you post more details regarding your battery problem I suspect the list can offer you some advice. Good luck.

Rick

Thanks, guys for taking the time to reply!

[BTW, I apparently have a European car, which explains why the Vin number sounded odd and doesn't have VIN in front of it. Does the fact that it's greymarket make any difference it how it should be maintained or what can go wrong?]

In reverse order, I'll answer TxBill's question - yes, it appears to have diesel in it. A cup or two was siphoned from the fuel tank and it had a greasy oily look to it (but still largely clear). What came out of the fuel filters when I replaced them was darker - that may not mean anything.

As to Icesailor and his queries:

My ignorance of diesels may be showing, but I'm expecting a chuffing sound from the engine, not a clack and certainly not a metal on metal clacking when I accelerate. [the term is used cautiously because I wouldn't call what the car does acceleration] I'm not expecting any pep, but I don't think the car could hit 30 without sounding like it's going to shatter. The noise and revs seem to cry out for shifting from 1st to second at about 10 miles an hour and the car seems to want to be shifted at 5 mile an hour intervals. I actually end up in 4th at around 20 to 25 miles per hour.

So far, I've changed both fuel filters in the engine compartment (is there one on the fuel tank I need to worry about?), and the airfilter. Tomorrow morning I flush the radiator and put nice orange coolant in and change the oil (using Chevron Delo 400 15w40). A friend has a can of injector cleaners that works by cranking the car while the fuel lines are immersed in the liquid. After those things, I'll try driving the car around the neighborhood. If I can get it running around here at all comfortably, I'll try getting on the highway.

I'm not touching the glo plugs since the car starts quickly.

If the firing order is off, would the engine even try to run?

Sorry for the barrage of questions, but I seem to have jumped into MB dieselhood without even dipping my toes first...

I got my 76 300d after it had sat for a few years. I also had the chuffing sound which I susspect was a stuck valve. When I first got it I could not start it and an old school mechanic told me to pull the injectors and pour a couple of ounces of ATF in each cylinder, replace the injectors, crank it over a little to get the ATF distributed and let it sit for a few days. It fired right up! I heard the chuffing sound on the intake side but it went away after awhile. There is a lot of carbon or gunk build up in diesels that may stick a valve. The rational for the ATF was to disolve the hardened carbon deposits that might be sticking the ring and reducing compression. It worked quite well.

I'm like TXBill, the first three items on your list fit a 240D perfectly.

It's really hard for us to know what your hearing without hearing it ourselves.

As for the battery, put a voltmeter across the battery, it should read about 12 volts. Start the engine and place the voltmeter across the battery, the voltage should go to about 13.5 volts, if it stays at what was measured with engine off, the alternator is the culprit.

Good luck,

[william rogers]

nobody mentioned the all importion valve adjustment sure quieted my 240 at idle also improved pick up if it can be called that on a 240.....
william rogers.........

[william rogers]

TXBill, beg pardon you sure did maybe I can get a refund on my speed reading course......
William Rogers......

Guys, thanks for the info! I have so far:

1. Changed the air and both both fuel filters,
2. Changed the oil and coolant,
3. Done the diesel purge.

No noticeable effect from these - the clacking is so loud that people look up from a block away. The car
still wants to be shifted at 5 mph and frequently thereafter. It really sounds as if it wants to throw a rod,
if that's even possible in diesels.

The last thing I'm capable of, before giving up and having it towed to a repair shop, is siphoning out
the half tank of diesel that was in the car and putting in fresh diesel. Could "stale" diesel be causing
tremendous noise and total lack of power (I'm not just talking about lackadaisical performance which I
understand is a hallmark of the car). Is switching out the diesel merely clutching at straws or could it
be a significant factor?

I'm off to look for Dallas area MB clubs to see if I can locate someone near here who has a 240D and can tell me
what I'm hearing.

BTW, it does have A/C, but I'm not getting to enjoy it yet!

Marc,

Where are you located in the Dallas area? My office is on Central in Richardson near Campbell Road.

Have a great day,
Larry

After running the diesel purge and noting no improvement, I called some shops that work on foreign cars. A couple of them asked me the symptoms and said it sounded like I needed a new engine (one even quoted me 4700 to 6500 dollars!!!). The forlorn receptionist at one shop went totally blank when I said diesel.

I found 3 shops that said they worked on MB diesels. One shop specialized in Mbs, another in foreign cars in general and the third works on all kinds of cars. I had the car towed to the specialist place and it took them no time at all to call me and tell me that the engine had thrown a rod. They gave me an estimate of $2500 to rebuild the engine using a remanufactured engine. (another shop, that diagnosed the problem on the phone, said they could probably find a motor at the salvage yards for 900 and the labor would run about 800 totallin 1700).

Is there any lesser amount of rebuild that could take care of a thrown rod? Should I expect to find any lower bids or are those about par for this kind of problem.

Any chance I'll find someone who has a good motor but needs a great and solid body to put it into and would buy the car off me for 1300 to 1500?