Parked my dog of a 300cd for two years... now it works great (??)

[Zacharias]

As the subject line says... I have a 1978 300cd, which came from California but is far from what you would picture the average Cali car to be. It was my worst eBay adventure.

Two years ago I had had enough. From the time I acquired it it never ran well, was a slug, smoked (oily) all the time and badly when cold. Always reluctant to start, really bad when it got even a bit cold, and a lot of blowby. Floor soft. Trans was sloppy on 2-3 shift. Noisiest injectors I had ever heard on an OM617 (PO claimed he had enlarged nozzles installed to better run biodiesel.)

I said To Hell With It and parked it, figuring to find a decent turbodiesel engine and trans to put into it. That was harder than I thought.

Didn't even start it last summer. Went out today after just about two years, charged up the battery, checked I still had oil in it, and got it to spring to life.

Well came back from the dead might be more appropriate. Not only did it start EAGERLY after two years of inactivity, it smoked much less than before on startup/warmup.

So away I went, gingerly, around the neighbourhood (no inspection, plates, insurance so strictly flying under the radar). Ran well almost from word go. Trans shifted crisply. Seemed to have decent pickup for a NA.

I am thinking, Now This Is Damned Odd.

So I keep driving for almost an hour. Aside from a couple of bouts of spoiled fuel behaviour from the injectors, it was great. Decent enough power. Smoke cleared after 20 minutes or so, completely. Exhaust is clear but still smells distinctively oilyolddieselly. Trans just got better and better as I drove.

So here is my question: has anyone ever had an experience like this? I am completely nonplussed. I know about the old jokes in the mechanical trade about the "sunshine repair" but this is insane.

[1980sd]

Maybe it just needed the rest!

Sounds like good news but you're always gonna be waiting for it to "wear off"...

[panZZer]

yes that funky canadian diesel needs time to ferment perhaps!
(you know need another one so you can have a pair of bookends--just happen to know where one is).

[Skippy]

That is odd. I've fixed a few things by PFM before (pure freakin' magic), where something didn't work, I took it apart, found nothing wrong, and put it back together only to have it work perfectly, but this is a new one on me.

[Zacharias]

The only idea I can reach out and touch here is really bad fuel. But I didn't add any today so if it was THAT bad before, it would only be worse now, two years on. (It arrived with 1/4 tank and I brought it up to about half a tank, as I recall.) Well or maybe the pump had a major problem that somehow sorted itself from sitting. That would be a first, I'm certain.

In 2009 it was so bad that I only drove the car for a few months, on and off, around my neighbourhood, after it arrived here. It was so hard to start that I installed a parallel GP kit and a manual controller. Even with that it always cranked and cranked before starting.

The car had been massively misrepresented in eVilBay and was a huge disappointment. Initially I tucked into it and started working through stuff but then I injured my back in the late summer and that put it off the radar for the remainder of the year. The next spring I was so angry about it I just left it parked....

Later today, I left it long enough for it to cool down then restarted it tonight. Though it smoked cold, it was nothing like two years ago, about the same as my 240d did. Ran well. Good oil pressure, though I don't clearly remember what it was like before.

So I wasn't on some bizarre temporary high this afternoon. But I am still gobsmacked.

[1980sd]

Originally Posted by Zacharias

The only idea I can reach out and touch here is really bad fuel. But I didn't add any today so if it was THAT bad when the car got here it would only be worse now, two years on.

Do you do stuff in your sleep?

[lwbdriver]

Can I take you with me to Vegas next time?
Actually, I just bought a 82 300SD that had been sitting for about a year. It runs better every time I drive it and little things start working (like the instrument light rheostat) that didn't work when I first got it. I think in my case, it just needed to clean out the cobwebs, so to speak.

Good luck with the rest of the resurection!

[Stretch]

Don't question why - just go with the flow!

A great story...

[t walgamuth]

Sounds like a combination of bad or dirty fuel and some bad glow plugs. Change all your filters, add biocide to your fuel and fill up with fresh fuel, check your glow plug function and fix whatever glows are not working and you will probably have a fine running car.

Good luck!

[Zacharias]

Originally Posted by 1980sd

Do you do stuff in your sleep?

Well that would mean I do better work sleepwalking than I do awake....

[Zacharias]

Originally Posted by lwbdriver

every time I drive it and little things start working (like the instrument light rheostat) that didn't work when I first got it. I think in my case, it just needed to clean out the cobwebs, so to speak.

I completely agree as I've had a number of cars that came to me after sitting for extended periods, and all progressively 'woke up' as they were driven. It's remarkable how the feel of a car can change as it is brought back in to service--and even small things, like the rheostat you mentioned, suddenly spring back to life.

In the case of this car, though, I did drive it well long enough back in '09 that it ought to have smoothed out. I threw some plates on it back then and actually had it on local secondary highways, in urban traffic, etc. It was most unrewarding to drive, let's put it that way.

There was no doubt in my mind at the time that it needed a motor based on the way it ran and the lack of power. And in the past I patiently worked to bring two Mercedes diesels back to life when they had been pronounced in need of motor transplants by more than one shop, so I'm not shy of a challenge in that department.

But this one had me convinced on symptoms alone. Incredible.

[Scott98]

Love it!

Scott

[lwbdriver]

That is the coolest story I've heard in a long time. May your luck continue!!

[my83300cd]

This summer I got mine started after an extended sit. For months the battery would not take a charge until at some point this summer it did, and fired right up.

Does this mean if I leave it for another year the passenger side floor will heal itself?

[vtmbz]

Heres a theory:


OVersized injectors leaked unburned fuel into the cylinders. Sitting for a long time, the fuel loosened up the rings which previously were coked with veggie oil.