I just bought a 79 300D with 116,000 miles on it from an older gentleman. The car had been sitting for about 6mo and so I towed it home thinking it needed a battery charge or at the most new glow plugs.

Well here is what I have done....

replaced glow plugs
replaced glow plug relay
charged battery to 100%
primed fuel pump (cracked injectors til fuel came out)
bypassed the fuel filters by running fuel line into fresh diesel in a gatorade bottle


...Still nothing

I am only getting a reading of 8 voltz at the glow plug fuse, the car cranks well but just won't fire. I am out of ideas....any thoughts?http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/images/new_smilies/dizzy2.gif

Sometimes it takes much cranking to start after a period of non operating time, or even when I remove the fuel "rack". When I do a purge, using a temporary tank, as you described, I use the line just prior to the primary, clear, filter, when done replace all. What fuel line did you use in the Gatorade bottle?

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83 SD

84 CD

what glow plugs are you using in the car?
8 volts at the fuse... sounds low to me.
you may have another issue there. also, you may want to pull all the gp's and crank the motor over a bit with no compression on it. to let the rings wake up. I would also spray a tiny bit of oil in each cylinder prior to cranking over.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

If you are only reading 8 volts at you GPs try checking the GP strip fuse. Inspect it and also check the resistnace acrossed it. It should be 0 if it's anything else replace it.

There is no way to bypass both the primary and secondary fuel filters. You could remove the primary (plastic one), but you can't do anything about the secondary(spin on one), unless you removed the hard nylon line going from the fuel filter to the IP.

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Thank you all for the tips. I bypassed the primary filter and was running the hose directly into the main filter.

I was just out working on it and I got one of the cyls to fire, but still no start.


After cranking a few times I have to stop to recharge the battery again. I am going to try to pick up that strip fuse online (though its hard to wait for parts!) and see if that will make any difference.

Some people have found that pull starting when a car has been sitting for a while has worked when other methods haven't. I hope you didn't tow it too far to get it home or you disconnected the driveshaft.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I know this will sound dumb, but how do you "pull start" a car???

Thanks for your help!!!

Hook it to another car and pull it. With an MB automatic you'll have to get going about 35-40mph before the engine will turn over I believe. Simpler with a standard shift but still possible with an auto.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Everyone thanks for all the advice so far. My car STILL isn't starting so I thought I would post one more time to see if anyone had any ideas.

since my last post:

After charging the battery and doing ALOT of cranking...finally it seems like one cylinder is hitting...I think just one though and still no start.

I took the injectors out and put a little oil into the holes and then let it settle in for about 10 minutes. Then I bumped the engine a few times to get the excess oil out. Put eveything back together, primed the hand pump. Same thing car cranks, maybe a little popping on a cylinder no start.

Someone gave me a tip that made me think I had not bled the fuel system enough, so I pumped it until it was VERY hard to push down...got a little better response to the crank after this but still no start.

I am in the middle of charging the battery (again) so I can try again...I can't think of what else it could be. I am going to adjust the valves, I don't know when they were last adjusted, but none of my local auto places has a gasket so I had to order one that I probably wont get until Monday. ARG!

Anyone have any ideas? I really don't want to have her towed to the shop... thanks!

With the air filter lid off, have a friend crank it while you spray WD 40 into the intake. Assuming the glow plug light comes on and cycles off, it should start, run rough then smooth out.

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81 300CD (sold) 1972 280 SEL 4.5 (sold) 1966 250 S 4 spd (sold) 1974 450 SL (sold) 86 BMW 325ES (sold), 1973 280C (sold) 1988 300 SE.

Try pulling out the glow plugs and squirting a little motor oil in. This will help the rings hold compression. my 79 300sd did not want to start this spring and this worked. If it has a block heater plug it in, even if its hot out.

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1959 Gravely LI, 1963 Gravely L8, 1973 Gravely C12
1982 380SL
1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing
1987 300 D
2005 CDI European Delivery
2006 CDI Handed down to daughter
2007 GL CDI. Wifes

id say fuel lines are a little pooped up mabey after sitting, thats what happen to mine.

I've tried this, but it didn't help...how much WD40 did you spray? I gave it about a 3 sec shot...

I did a version of this, but from the injectors...should I try it from the glow plugs too?

So did you just replace the lines? which ones? Thanks!