Last fall, a friend of my bride's bought a 240D at an estate sale in San Antonio. It had been stored in a carport for about 8-9 years...after looking unsuccessfully for several weeks for an indy willing to bring it back to running condition he contacted me and I consented to work on it conditionally (couldn't start on it until late this spring, it was a 'spare-time' project, etc). And, the shop rate is $65/hr.

He had it towed to BHF from SA (a sordid tale in itself). The little beast turns out to be a Euro with a 4-speed Getrag, rough aftermarket add-on a/c and enough dirt and mold to start Lord knows what. After arrival here in November, it sat in my barn pasture until Sunday morning when I started working on it.

I checked fluids, hooked up a hot battery, pulled the engine through 10+ revolutions with a wrench, no binding, no interference, no horrible noises; got in and hit the switch. She rolled over easily, quickly built some compression and started sounding like a 240D that needed glow plugs. ie: nice crank speed, good oil pressure but no ignition. Out comes the multimeter, flash out the GPs: OK. Flash out the hot wire to the GP relay: OK. Check for voltage at the GPs: not OK. Hmmm...toddled out to a parts car in the pasture, remove GP relay and install on the patient...crank her about 2 revolutions and eureka! She lives!

Nice smooth idle, no smoke. Typical 616. Wow.

I'm convinced that this car got parked because it wouldn't start and it wouldn't start because all it needed was a GP relay. Jeez.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

How many of us have benefited from cars with something amiss in the glow plug system.......

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

Do you have some pictures of thie car?

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

I have.....the 300D in my sig was had for cheap because the guy that owned it thought that the engine was tired/dying due to not starting well in the cold.

Turns out, it had a worn out and malfunctioning glow plug relay and the ORIGINAL glow plugs. Thats right, 22 years....Beru originals with the star on them. Wow. They actually still sorta glowed, but not very well....and the malfunctioning relay (it would only stay on for about 3-4 seconds at a time) only made it worse. New plugs + a junk yard relay and its been instant starts ever since.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Gawd no. It's a white W123 240D that's been USDOTized with sealed beam headlights and ugly bumpers. There are a zillion of them.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

[QUOTE=pawoSD;2220225]I have.....the 300D in my sig was had for cheap because the guy that owned it thought that the engine was tired/dying due to not starting well in the cold.

Many cars I have aquired over the years had minor problems that prevented running. You of course have to exercise judgment or you could buy something with a trashed engine of course.

The nice thing about it thought is it usually affects the price far more than the problem. It is a non runner as far as the average vendor is concerend.

Usually their automotive knowledge is so limited they think something major is wrong. I never do the repair in their presence.

Yep, my $600 300SDL wouldn't run over 40mph. Why? The throttle linkage had popped out of the underside of the intake manifold.

Of course, the A/C didn't work, it needed a front end job, it was missing a door panel and spare, none of the windows worked, the inside looked like homeless hooples had lived there and the trunk was full of crap that I took straight to Goodwill.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

homeless hooples!

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.