problems with 300E 86
 

sorry i posted this in the wrong area but maybe some of you diesel techies can try to help me on this one. I usually post problems for a 300D 78 but my dad has a 300E 86 that i would like to get some help with...

problems..
1). hard hard extremely hard starting. dont know whether its a fuel injector/delivery problem or the main fuel filter that needs to be replace. i took my finger and stuck it in the tail pipe and found lots of black soot...so perhaps a fuel mixture problem or timing ??? any clue?

2.) suspension. when i get out of the car..there is a loud squeal coming from the back of the car on the drivers rear side. is this the shocks or the coils??...maybe its something else..however if i go over a bump you can clearly hear the squeal from inside of the car..very annoying. also, for the front of the car, if i go over small bumps and cracks, you can hear a "clunck" sound from the front suspension and i dont know whether if its just simple bushings to replace...whats the evidence for a control rod or an arm to go out sound like??

3.) funny sounds when starting.....when i put the ignition into 1 (a turn before starting) you can hear this constant loud clicking sound coming from the engine compartment....it sounds like its coming from under the air filter. when the engine is runing the clicking sound is still there and its just as loud as the engine sound itself. however if i push the breaks...the sound goes away!! weird stuff...i know in at 300D that the brakes are operated off of the vacumm pump through the brake boosters...but could it be the same way how the 300E 86 works? if so its probably a vacumm problem...

thanks for everyone who replies...sounds like a million dollars of work to do on my dads car. i appreciate any pointers from anyone.

happy holidays
allen

Allen:

Here's what I would do:

There are any number of things that can cause hard start cold -- bad plug wires, bad rotor and cap (when were they replaced last?), low fuel pressure, sticking cold start valve, massive air leaks, etc.

Check the condition of the secondary ignition system. Replace cap, rotor, and wires if in poor shape -- these cars will run with completely shot cap and rotor until the suddenly stop completely, or perform very badly. Ditto for roasted plugs. Entire tuneup will be on the order of $350, the parts aren't particularly cheap, but it will pay back in saved fuel very quickly.

Next, check the condition of all the vacuum hoses, specially the ones for the idle control valve (large aluminum box under the air filter housing with a two wire plug and two rubber hoses). Most likely those hoses are rock hard and leaking, and the cold start vavle plugs into the one on the intake manifold. A big leak here can prevent the car from starting since the air isn't being drawn through the fuel distributor. Other vac lines can go bad, too, check them all. Replace any that are rock hard or soft and sticky, they both leak. A bad brake booster will also cause a big vac leak.

I'd also replace the fuel filter -- low fuel pressure can cause all sorts of trouble.

Peter

You are better off posting this in the tech forum, you will get alot more responses. I remember reading about alot of 300E's having hard starting problems, I think it was the fuel pump or the fuel pump relay, not quite sure but I think it's a simple fix.