Bear in mind Reesa that you are not trying to burn off your finger prints, you are just trying to feel if the GP's are getting warm to the touch. Best of luck getting this resolved. I look forward to seeing a post that all is well.

:) I was just joking. Thank you, I will let everyone know how it goes. The primer pump should be here tomorrow.

Wow, this is a great example of the diesel community stepping up to the plate.

Reesa, if you didn't know, you have some of the best Mercedes mechanics and hobbyists giving you advice. These are people who have seriously helped me in the past. Reading the string names is like reading the Mercedes diesel mechanics hall of fame list.

I'd like to give some advice, but you're already in good hands. I'll be lurking on this thread :)

Subscribed!

Ok, To ride the fence, how about bad primer pump and bad glow plug relay:) I had to change mine as it was letting air in the system and made a mess all over the driveway. Well I also replaced all the fuel lines too and have had no trouble starting since. I am also concerned with the black rings, could these be broken injector heat shields?

Thank you so much to everyone, we really, really appreciate it. It looks like my husband won't be able to change the primer out today, but if all goes well he will change it Saturday and we will know by Sunday if it did the trick.

He did end up having enough time yesterday to change the primer pump. He got it to start last night, but this morning it wouldn't start, even if when he cracked the injectors (which usually did the trick). He said there is white smoke coming from the engine now :(

He won't be able to work on it anymore today, but tomorrow he will have to test relay and plugs. Maybe the white smoke was just from some fuel spilled that he missed while cleaning up?

after he changed the pump, he bled out all the air that got in during the pump change right? if not, he's gotten a HUGE blow of air into the IP, and it'll need to be bled fully with the upper filter bolt loose to be sure all bubbles are out of the supply line, then tighten it up, and pump some more untill you hear the burble of the filter return line flowing. THEN you have to open up all 5 injector nuts, and crank and crank and crank until you have bubble free fuel at each injector. it can take A LOT of cranking to fix that.
once it's clear, the motor will start up. if it still has issues after this. follow the instructions I left waaay at the start of this thread, and hook a shop vac on blow into the fuel filler neck, and then start looking for fuel leaks on the lines all the way from the tank up! you WILL find the problem!

He bled the lines last night like you said and it started on the 3rd cylinder. But this morning no start.

I just want to make sure we do the shop vac test right...The fuel filler neck is where we would fill the gas tank at the gas station? Does it matter if my shop vac hose is larger than the fuel filler neck?

Did you check to see if glow plugs were getting warm before trying to start it?

We blew the shop van through, and he couldn't find any leaks. So he started checking the glow plug relay with a voltmeter and the strip fuse looks bad. It's not the original strip fuse but it looks like it went bad anyway. So I ordered one and it should be here by wednesday. We will let you know how it goes! Thanks again!

In the meantime, you could just jump the fuse terminals with a piece of wire to see if it starts.

We got a universal fusible link, and guess what....

SHE TURNED OVER...WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!! :):):)

Thank you everyone...SO MUCH!

. . .

Sweet! I am assuming you mean it turned over and continued running correct? Also, how is the smoke now? Also, you can feel good about the primer pump, it likely needed replacing anyhow and will avoid future fuel issues. This forum is a wealth of info, stay in touch!

Yes, she turned over and kept running :)! Initially there was a big puff of white smoke but after the first start we're not seeing any more smoke. Thank you again to everyone! She has alittle over 397,000 miles on her and I'm so glad we found such a great forum to help us out when we really needed it! Thanks again!