84 300D 100K does not start

[mdisav]

I have just picked up an 84 300D with only 100K. It is georgeous but it does not start in this sub 30F weather.

All glow plugs are new and check out properly with the ohm meter. Holes are reamed out with the proper reamer. Glow plug relay is new and has power to all plugs. Battery is fine and gives a good crank.

I have had to change the filter out 3 times in the last 300 miles because what looks like rust is evident in the inline filter with only 10 miles of hard driving. The car has excellent power and will pull 80mph up a fairly steep hill. It does idle with a bit of a shake.

Could the tank screen be that clogged that it will not start when cold but still pull 80mph on the hills?

There is barely a bubble in the prefilter even after sitting on an incline overnight. So the fuel is not going back to the tank. I also primed it well and heard the injection pump hiss immediately but still no start.

Also all valves have been adjusted 3 times.

[Icefire]

Have you tried glowing the plugs more than once, my starting procedure for cold mornings is as follows, is double glow, then foot to floor, start cranking, foot 1/3 way down, and keep cranking till start, sometimes 20-30 seconds if its really cold and i didnt use the block heater.

It sounds like bad fuel, I would suggest cleaning the tank screen, and starting with fresh fuel from a "good" station.

[Mike Freeman]

At 100,000 miles I would have a look at the pump timing, If it's late it will be hard to start. M.B. diesels like to have a couple extra thousanths extra valve clearance in cold weather also.
If it starts and runs normally in warm weather the filters are OK.
Mike

[bgkast]

How sure are you that the 100K is correct?

[rrgrassi]

Did you change the spin on filter and cut open the old one to see what is clogging them?

[larry perkins]

if it was mine i would complete a compression test as a fast and cheap way to determine basic engine condition.
larry perkins

[TMAllison]

Have you cracked a metal fuel line at the IP delivery valve to see if you are getting fuel?

If you think the prob remains fuel related you could set up a temporary fuel tank of good fuel (similar to doing a DP) and see if it runs that way.

[GRIESL]

My 85 300d would start down to 25F with these compression numbers (dry, wet) without plugging in:

#1 - 360, 420
#2 - 260, 300
#3 - 220, 220
#4 - 100, 120
#5 - 260, 320

And my car smokes pretty bad--definitely burning oil. So, I would suggest you do a compression check to see what you're looking at. But I bet you find another problem. Especially with 100k (but like bgkast said, are you sure that's 100k?). I would check timing chain stretch and try the bottle under the hood fuel tank.

[BillGallagher]

Originally Posted by mdisav

I have just picked up an 84 300D with only 100K. It is georgeous but it does not start in this sub 30F weather.

All glow plugs are new and check out properly with the ohm meter. Holes are reamed out with the proper reamer. Glow plug relay is new and has power to all plugs. Battery is fine and gives a good crank.

I have had to change the filter out 3 times in the last 300 miles because what looks like rust is evident in the inline filter with only 10 miles of hard driving. The car has excellent power and will pull 80mph up a fairly steep hill. It does idle with a bit of a shake.

Could the tank screen be that clogged that it will not start when cold but still pull 80mph on the hills?

There is barely a bubble in the prefilter even after sitting on an incline overnight. So the fuel is not going back to the tank. I also primed it well and heard the injection pump hiss immediately but still no start.

Also all valves have been adjusted 3 times.

clean out the tank....sounds like a lot of crap is in the fuel which will prevent starting and you said rust which indicated water and O2 are working... my best guess is not enought diesel fuel to start... too much water and rust material in the fuel .... the car might have been sitting for a long time and diesel fuel will grow bacteria causing the starting issue

bill

[mdisav]

Thanks for all your replies! I have the tank out and the screen looked ok but there was definately a lot of junk in there. I will be putting the tank back in and see what happens...

[Slcom1983]

Go by West Marine and get some Startron tank cleaner. It eats all the algea to the point it will pass through the filters and be burned up in the combustion process. Some folks disagree but a few tank fulls worked for me.

[mdisav]

Car still did not start. I took the injector lines off and cranked it to see if fuel was coming out. It was not. So I pulled the vacuum line to the shut off valve and cranked it. Fuel shot pretty high! I put the injector lines back on and with in a fuel cranks she fired. I replaced the shut off valve with a new one I had and all is well. Upon removal of the old one it looked fine and functioned fine. Was it just sticking? How does the valve stay pulled keeping the fuel stopped? Ignition switch bad???

I will see how it starts in the morning.

[mdisav]

The car did start decent this morning. No long cranking like before. So I guess the shut off valve is working properly. I wonder if the pump timing needs to be adjusted to make it start better when cold??

It does idle a bit low when cold and then picks up. I want it to start really crisp. Valves rechecked and are just right. New fuel filters.

Anything else to check but the pump timing? I will make sure the rack dampner is not too far in.

[kerry]

Originally Posted by mdisav

Car still did not start. I took the injector lines off and cranked it to see if fuel was coming out. It was not. So I pulled the vacuum line to the shut off valve and cranked it. Fuel shot pretty high! I put the injector lines back on and with in a fuel cranks she fired. I replaced the shut off valve with a new one I had and all is well. Upon removal of the old one it looked fine and functioned fine. Was it just sticking? How does the valve stay pulled keeping the fuel stopped? Ignition switch bad???

I will see how it starts in the morning.

This raises an interesting issue. A number of forum members have posted problems with the starter not functioning at colder temperatures. A forum member recently traced the problem, not to a starter problem but an ignition switch problem. Your situation makes me wonder if a similar ignition switch problem, exacerabted in the cold, may the cause of the difficulty. I have not looked at the ignition switch. Is there anything in the mechanism which releases vacuum from the shut off valve when the key is switched on, that might be slow or not completely effective in cold weather in the same way that the starter component of the switch fails to function in cold weather?

[captainmonk]

any starting is good starting crisp is good for the crease in your trousers