Hello all! I just had to drop you all a note. Thank you for all of your knowledge on Sat. night and vent a bit.

Unfortunately, "the old broad" didn't start this morning. I am a 33 yr. old, single mom, mba, and had to call my parents for a ride to Montessori school for my son. Talk about a long ride! "I told you not to buy that car." Aaargh!

I ordered a "from the ground up" repair manual, a tool kit, and I am going to dig in when they arrive. I am eager to learn about this car, how it works, and how to fix and maintain it. I feel as though this is attainable with your help.

I know that before I do anything, I need to degrease the engine. I'll go and find some product today or tomorrow. I suppose it'll tell me on the package about temps. It seems as though it's too cold to do it . Highs this week are in the 30's. Maybe its just my blood thats boiling.

At any rate, I've received enormous support here, and I want to thank you for it. Thank you.

Good day,
Shelly

Shelly,

Perhaps I'm missing something, but what vehicle model are you referring to?

__________________
Chris

'04 ML500 - 53k, Inspiration Edition, Desert Silver
'11 Audi A4 Avant - Brilliant Black
'87 300SDL sold
'99 C280 Sport sold
'85 190E 2.3 sold

Oops, sorry...... I have 1982 300DT

Shelly,

The 300D-T is not an overly difficult car to service. The 617 motor is a jewel.
First place to start if it's not starting when cold... Fuel Filters and glow plugs. I think most here would agree. Also, a valve adjustment may be in order depending on when the last one was. I haven't had the courage to do that process yet. I'll tear into the climate control or replace an axle shaft, but not a valve adjustment. Guess it's just a fear for me as others do it with ease.

Good luck on your project!

__________________
R Talley
88 BMW E32 735i (make it go away)
95 Volvo 960 "Inga" (valve problems)
95 Nissan Maxima (the indestructible)
89 Ford Ranger XLT (ugliest truck in the South)

Thank you very much!

Hi Midas,
Welcome to the club and don't listen to your parents! We all love our cars and believe me, in the long run, your car will cost less money. A new Honda is $20,000. If you put $1000 into your car it will last forever!

__________________
1982 300D Turbo "Helga"
380,000 miles

Thanks Bill - it does have a block heater, and I quite faithfully plug her in. I just didn't last night. I have not started it with it plugged in though. Apparently, that's ok, huh?

Thanks again,
Shelly

You may also want to apply a charge to the battery so it is at full "steam".
On engine cleaning. Gunk brand is good. It does help to warm the engine a little,spray with gunk and I used a tire brush or any stiff bristle brush and after gunk was on for a few munites, brushed the heavy grease are. Then with a nose with a nozzle on it hosed the whole thing off. This may take two tries if really nasty.
Also get some latex gloves at the drug store. It make cleaning your hands a lot easier.
And as to the post of a Honda. I would jump over two Honda for a Benz. You car will still be running when someone is drinking Saporo beer cans made from the recycled aluminum of Hondas.
So don't let them grind you. Just smile knowing you will win.
Charlie

Midas,

One of the symptoms you described the other day is consistent with not starting well, and that is having a fuel leak. Once you allow air into the "system" of tubes, pumps, filters and injectors, the function can be severely impaired.

The fuel/air leak needs to be identified and addressed first if this is the problem. A common source of such a failure is the hand pump on the side of the injection pump. This thing typically has a white plastic knurled disc about a quarter of an inch thick or so at the top. Some look grey or black because of dirt. The hand pump is there to allow you to get the air out of the critical portion of the sytem without using the battery and starter. This is because the battery has to expend about the equivalent of 2 hp to turn the engine over with the starter, and it will quickly drain, likely before the job is done and then you have made no progress. On the other hand the pump can be a source of the problem. Especially if the top is not screwed down pretty tight.

So, without degreasing or buying any special tools, you might check the status of the hand pump. If you find it loose, or not tightly screwed down, it will also likely have copious quantities of Diesel fuel on it and adjacent areas. You should put on a reasonably tough, grubby glove when you do this as the knurled disc is very sharp and rough, and you are going to be pumping this hand pump for a few hundred strokes. You will get Diesel on your skin, and you will abrade the first few layers of skin off without a towel or glove.

Unscrew the pump when you are ready with the glove or towel. Then lift the disc up as far as it goes, and push it down as far as it goes. See if lots of fuel squirts out or not. A little is unpleasant but my experience is that the pump still works in that condition. Then, if it is working, pump it quickly and forcefully until you detect a stiffening of the fluid system, meaning the pump becomes more difficult to stroke. After a while you will start hearing a buzzing noise from the fuel filter area. If it is light out when you do this you may notice the clear line (may be yellowed, but still translucent) going to fuel filter housing will have bubbles in it at the beginning and they should become much smaller and foamier as the buzzing noise starts. I usually make the thing buzz for ten or twenty seconds. Then I stop, push the white disc in, and screw it down tight.

If your battery is already dead, you will have to charge the battery, or jump start the car. It will be very strenuous on the donor battery to start your car in the cold. Very few regular batteries can put out 2 hp worth of Volts and Amps for any length of time. And most jumper cables are too thin to get the available Volts and Amps to your car without significant losses. This means the jumper cable will get hot and the engine might not turn over fast enough to start. You would be best off to have the battery charged with a trickle charger or the like overnight before you start the job of trying to get the engine running.

As you can tell, many of us are eager to help you shut down the critics. To really do that we need a systematic approach to trouble shooting and repairing. Specific feedback on what you find will go a long way to getting this process working. If we were nearby and could check it out ourselves this might go quicker, but it would not do much to bring your knowledge and self confidence up to speed. One of the guys above noted he would not attempt a valve adjustment, but routinely rips open climate controls or axle shafts.

I would readily adjust his valves if he would do the axle half shafts on my car, and that is because I have done the valve adjustment twenty or thirty times, but have yet to dig into the climate controls or replace a half shaft. With this web site we can give each other some "virtual experience" to help tackle these jobs and lessen the fear of the unknowns that hold us back. There are no stupid questions, and we have all done things that we wish we hadn't right after we did them. But don't let that hold you back.

So, as you give us data we can interpret, we can pass along this virtual experience to you. Eventually you will have a reliable car that you can be proud of because you brought it back to that condition your self. Soon you will be taking the new perspective you have on these jobs and passing it on to others, or at least we hope you do.

Good Luck, Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

LOL, Thanks Charlie!

I appreciate the input on cleaning the little bugger and your support.

There are not very many MB's around here. Ok, there aren't a lot of people around here, only 5 per square mile in the state. I just don't think my "sphere" understands how great these cars are! I truly love mine. My mom commented on the noise of the engine the other day, and crinkled her face when I told her that I really liked the sound.

Not that I need to sell you on MB, but its my first one, so bear with me. It feels like a heavy, solid, safe car. I am so impressed with all of the functionality that was put into it twenty years ago. It feels indestructible. I have no problem strapping my kid and toto dog in the back.

I also faced great family opposition to the number of miles that are on the 82 300DT (134,000). One of you wrote to me that its just a baby. That made me feel so great. Thanks!

Jim,

How tight does that pump need to be, geesh! I finally got it loose, pumped it about 200x. I couldn't tell if it was getting stiff or if were fatigue in my arm I think I heard the buzzing you spoke of, seemed like the sound of the fluid moving through the lines. I forgot to look for the bubbles. I then screwed it down again. Does it make a difference that I stopped briefly a few times? The battery is dead. I have it plugged in, but do not have a charger. Planned on calling AAA in the morning.

Thanks for all the detail info., rubber gloves, leather gloves, towel.

Exciting, fun!! Now what?

Thanks,
Shelly

Oh Bill, I live in no mans land. I can drive nearly 6 hours to Missoula, 8 hours to Spokane, or 8 hours to Denver.

Do you think it makes sense that I learn a little bit about all of this?

I didn't mean to send that message yet!

Those hours represent drive time to the nearest MB dealerships. I did, however, just join AAA. Can't be a bad thing.

Midas,

When you pumped the pump, did you have Diesel fuel leaking out of it? I take from your description it was screwed down tight to start with, as once it is down tight, it is not easy to unscrew. If it unscrewed easily, it was likely not all the way down. Stopping and starting while not likely to bring down the wrath of gods, is not helpful. If there is air in there and you move it closer to the point of being ejected from the injection system, but it does not get out and you stop, it may just redistribute in the pump. Depending on how long you stop it may get you near back to zero.

Give it a rest until the battery is charged or the AAA guy shows up. The cables they show up with, if it is a local garage's truck equipped to go out and help stranded truckers and motorists, will be able to get the necessary juice to the car.

I would plug the block heater in when you get some indication the AAA guy is coming. It will make the starting procedure more likely to be successful. If the car was starting before, and one day it did not I would look for obvious things, like your fuel leak, glow plugs, and starter performance.

By the way, is your car a wagon or a sedan? Keep the info coming! And good luck. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Jim,

From your original message, I kind of expected be in contact with fuel. Perhaps it would spit out at me, but it didn't. I really didn't get much on me. There was some in the hole in the top.

I also didn't stop and have a manicure in the middle of the pumping. The stops were short. Like moments of "how long do I do this? Is this working?" After I had screwed the lid back on, I thought of your message and wondered if it was to be fast and furious right until you screw the lid back on. I can do it again tomorrow after the battery is charged and be more mindful of the timeframe, ie. more continuous and constant, look for the bubbles until they are minimal if any, what else?

Oh yes, the old broad is a sedan.

Thanks!
Shelly