my broken sdl going home from work
 

my 87 sdl tonite going home began to lose power ,would not go above 40 ,black smoke,temp ok,oil pressure ok,eventually got down to 20 mph,had to get off of freeway,had it towed home.it has 175k,never has it overheated.too dark now to check anything.it starts and idles,but with pedal really sluggish and lots of dark smoke.im assuming filters first,but it is a 14 head-gaskeT?MAybe ip pump?any ideas where to start.ive taken alda off a year ago.

Start with new fuel filters!

If the smoke increases as you press down on the pedal, it is evidence of a functioning fuel supply and pump.

If the engine stumbles when pressing the pedal, then the fuel system could be suspect.

Whats missing is the burning of the fuel due to a lack of air or poor compression. If the idle is healthy and does not stumble, it points to air supply.

The turbo and air filter would be the first things on my list unless you find, in better lighting, that it is burning crankcase oil.

Since you removed your ALDA, how hard have you driven the car and how often did you see "black smoke" before?

Brakes binding?

ill check air intake ,will bad turbo produce such low performance and large volume of smoke.with alda off there was smoke upon acceleration,otherwise ok.ive had plugged filters before and in that case there was a stumble and eventually no go

black smoke means unburned fuel, yea?

do check the filters but sounds to me like the ole #1 cylinder head gasket failure...Just can't burn off the oil being dumped into that cylinder. I have experienced this with a #17 head at 240 k miles. Very common problem with this model 603 engine as you probably well know. It will make you think its a turbo problem but unlikely.

im afraid of that

If that is the problem it is not that bad of a fix. Just a little time consuming. Latest update head gasket and new head bolts. I think it is easier than dealing with IP issues,

You still have a few investigative things to do to diagnose it exactly. Sometimes pulling the head is the conclusive method. Pull the #1 injector and see if it spits oil at you or pull the exhaust manifold to see if oil is dumping into the exhaust.

Someone else might have another method?
good luck.
John

Definitely check air supply first.

Air filter and turbo would be my first suspects, most likely the turbo (I have spares in parts now also on ebay).

Pull the air filter box first, look for possibly an animal has built a nest in the intake, filters don't naturally clog that quickly.

If the filter system is clear, pull the rubber elbow leading into the aluminum box beneath the filter box, reach your figers in and press on the aluminum door, see if it pushes open smoothly. I haven't heard of it happening but in gassers this airflow-meter door can sometimes get damaged by backfire and stick.

Next would be the turbo. Pull the rubber elbow on the turbo, reach your fingers in to see if the impeller spins freely. Also push/pull to see if there is end-play. Last look in there to see if it is full of oil. If it doesn't spin freely, you've found your problem, the most expensive and PITA of the three I mention, but magnitudes better than a head-gasket job.

i changed all filters,air filter ok,took turbo elbow off reached in no play in shaft,some oil, spins,but maybe a bit stiff,my 617 turbo spins more freely.i guess a compression check would have to be next,i dont feel ok about doing head gasket myself,

would fouled injectors give these symptoms

Did you try running it with the turbo elbow off and looking in there to see what is happening? Keep your hands out of course.

I agree will all suggestions above, let us know what you find.

May I also suggest altering the thread title?

Would anyone ever search for "broken sdl going home from work" ?

Might it be better: W126 OM603 Loss of Power.

Maybe add HELP! to the thread title if its an emergency.

Does "going home from work" have anything to do with your issue? Maybe if you stayed at work it would have been ok?

It could also be interpreted that you have a broken SDL at your place of employment, its been there for a while and Hooray! its finally getting to go home !


Best of luck.

I had power loss issues with my OM603 in a W124. no black smoke during power loss. Turned out to be the main filter. With black smoke as you indicated, there is something else at play here.