We're solidly on our way...
 

I recently posted that I bought a car on ebay in San Diego,CA. and would be driving it to my home in SE MN.. Well, we're on our way! We're in a town called Fruita, CO. right now(it's just outside of Grand Juction). So far it's been a fun trip. We've got the highest mountains to tackle today. I think the car really needs a valve adjust bad. It has very little take off power and the overall power is really low. I'm tired of having to put on my flashers and drive in the slow lane!! Maybe it's just me as this is my first one but we'll see after I get it home and do the adjust. I'm also going to purge the injector pump as described on here. I like the car!! It rides great and seems really solid. I think 70 mph. is tops for speed though. I don't like to rev the 30 year old car too much!!
Well, I'll write again when I get home how it went!!

You didn't mention what model - but some have an altitude adjustment on the driver side firewall.

I have a '78 240D with an automatic. I'll take a look for the adjustment. Thanks!

As I recall, your son is with you. Today, you can have him walk up Vail pass ahead of you and wait for you at the top. :D

A slight detour through Colorado National Monument might be worth your time.

As you go up the pass, your son might want to get out and push.:D Don't forget these cars usually have blowby, and as described by another member, means most cars will "blow by" you.

Have fun.

John;)

A non turbo 4 cylinder automatic, your "performance" sounds normal. Those cars were produced as fuel saving people movers. MB's answer to the oil embargo of the early 70's.

The sticks are pretty good and top out at 85mph.

Did you make it over the passes? It's all downhill from there.

I made it over the passes(just barely on the last one!!). I was down to shifting into first gear at the top!! The tunnel, right after, going down was pretty cool though. We went all the way through Colorado and into Nebraska. I got almost to exit 279 just past Kearny and I lost power big time. Drove off the ramp and the car died going towards a gas station. The car was starving for gas so I walked over to the gas station and bought a gas can and some extra diesel and went back to the car. I primed the pump and limped over to the station where I tried, unsuccessfully, to loosen the primary fuel filter. A trucker had a oil filter wrench and I got it loose. There sure are some nice truckers around! When I poured out the diesel in the filter, it was filthy!! I flushed the old, dirty diesel out, and refilled. After priming again, the car started and ran good for 15 minutes so I drove back to Kearny to stay the night. I'll buy a couple of new filters and I'll be off tomorrow. The guy I bought it from replaced the filters(or so he said) so I'm wondering how much crud is in the tank. I sure like the car though. Easy to work on and solidly built. Slow is ok, not running is not! We should be home, in Minnesota, tomorrow. This sure has been an adventure!!

if you have an air hose around, you can blow the crap clogging the tank screen back into the tank and clear it out for abit. dont forget to take off your fill cap... dont want a tank to explode..

Unloosen the bolt on the top of the filter assembly. That filter really isn't a spin on filter like an oil filter. That's the secondary filter, primary is the clear plastic one in line with the fuel hose.
That experience makes me suspect that you've been starved for fuel the whole time. I've never driven those passes in a 240d (another member of the forum did recently on a purchase trip like yours) but I'd have thought you'd be able to pull them in 2nd gear if you didn't have a big load in the car.

Well, we finished out last leg of our journey and made it home to Minnesota, from Nebraska, without any more problems. Now I get to learn how to do things on a 123. I'm thinking about replacing the timing chain asap so I have a baseline of when it was done. The guy I got it from bought it at an auction, so he had no idea on it's history. I'm just happy to have made a, almost, 2100 mile journey with only a minor problem that wasn't too hard to figure out. I think I'll replace the in-line fuel filter too. I'll also do a clean out of the tank screen so I can see what's going on that made me run out of fuel to begin with. I'll be here often to learn, or get advice, on how to do any repair!

Glad you made the trip relatively intact. You will certainly enjoy learning about these cars. There is so much info for you to research. It can keep you busy for quite a long time.

Replacing timing chains is not routine maintenance on 616's. I'd measure the stretch before replacing. Many of these timing chains last the life of the engine.
I'm also of the opinion that if it runs fine with replaced filters, I wouldn't mess with the tank screen.