explain to me how to start a diesel?

[tpv01]

My W124 24v E300 is the first merc and first diesel i have owned. I am unsure about how i am meant to start it in terms of letting the glow plugs warm up. It starts fine and first time even in the mornings but i dont know what i should be doing with respect to turning the key backwards or forwards and the glowplug light being on or off.

Sometimes i can just fire it straight up other times i have to wait a few seconds for the plugs to warm up. sometimes the glowplug light comes on for 10 after it has fired and sometimes not.

I know the glowplug light coming on after the engine has fired normally means a fault with the plugs but i think i am just doing it wrong as the seller should me how to do it properly but i have forgotten what he said.

Doesnt explain it in the handbook either.

 

[Gollom]

My W124 24v E300 is the first merc and first diesel i have owned. I am unsure about how i am meant to start it in terms of letting the glow plugs warm up. It starts fine and first time even in the mornings but i dont know what i should be doing with respect to turning the key backwards or forwards and the glowplug light being on or off.

Sometimes i can just fire it straight up other times i have to wait a few seconds for the plugs to warm up. sometimes the glowplug light comes on for 10 after it has fired and sometimes not.

I know the glowplug light coming on after the engine has fired normally means a fault with the plugs but i think i am just doing it wrong as the seller should me how to do it properly but i have forgotten what he said.

Doesnt explain it in the handbook either.

Let the glowplug light go out before starting.

Just a comment - I didn't know they did a diesel E300-24v?

 

[MBManInKen]

I am unsure about how i am meant to start it in terms of letting the glow plugs warm up.

The normal procedure is to turn the key to position 2 so that the glow plugs are activated. The glow plug light will come on. When the light goes out, turn the key to the start position and hold until the engine starts.

Doesnt explain it in the handbook either.

Are you sure you have the right handbook? Sounds like you got an owner's manual for petrol models only.

Just a comment - I didn't know they did a diesel E300-24v?

I'm pretty sure that the straight 6 OM606 diesel engine had 4 valves per cylinder, so that would be 24 valves. However, I don't know if it was ever badged with the "-24" designation.

 

[tpv01]

thanks.

it doesnt have the 24v designation like the 190 cosworths or sec's just thought i would drop the fact i had a multivalve!

i am not sure the glowplug light comes on or it might come on a flick of quickly and i dont notice. I guess that would make sense if the engine was already warm?? is this right or could i really have a glow plug problem hence the light after i start up sometimes or am i just mucking up the starting?

no it is a diesel handbook it is just very vague on the starting.

One more question for you guys.
Where do i get a workshop manual or similar for my car? i was told there is a haynes for the W124 but it doesnt cover the OM606 engine so it is just good for the body and common engine parts. Is there a manual that you can buy or get free online or a CD for my exact model? I have seen things on eBay but i dont want to buy one and then find out it doesnt exaclty match my car or i could of got it for free online.

 

[glojo]

In the morning the glow plug light should be very noticable when you first turn the key, it should stay on for a number of seconds (at the very least five) Once the engine is warm, I would expect the engine to start without any delay, but a cold start will need that glow plug.

If the light is not showing then you have a problem. If it comes on when the engine is running; You have a problem.

Regards
John

 

[Dieselman]

it doesnt have the 24v designation like the 190 cosworths or sec's just thought i would drop the fact i had a multivalve!

Call it a multivalve as that denotes the later car with OM606 engine.

What do you need to know about the engine.? The disks from ebay will be a good resource but in reality it wont go wrong so you shouldn't need much info. Most will be available here..

Welcome. Nice car.

 

[tpv01]

Call it a multivalve as that denotes the later car with OM606 engine.

What do you need to know about the engine.? The disks from ebay will be a good resource but in reality it wont go wrong so you shouldn't need much info. Most will be available here..

Welcome. Nice car.

thanks. a few specific things at the moment like the starting (what is my likely problem with the symptoms i have decribed?) and how do you tighted up the handbrake? I appreciate it is a big heavy car but the handbrake doesnt seem to hold it even fully depressed (i know because i have started my journey a couple of times without letting it off! as i say my first MB and first auto too!).

I know nothing is likely to go wrong but i would like to do all the servicing and tinkering i can do myself so rather than annoying you guys everytime i hoped there would be a workshop handbook floating around.

doing an oil change so finding a step-by-step would be a good start.

 

[bolide]

The Haynes W124 manual is fairly useless, and often incorrect, but it is one of the few references around. A version of the 606 engine is covered in the C Class manual

The glowplug light coming on after starting means at least one glowplug has failed. You can test the glowplugs and the relay with a multimeter via the plug on the glowplug relay on the o/s bulkhead

If the handbrake isn't holding it'll either need adjusting or the handbrake shoes will need replacing. This should be covered in the Haynes manual and I would expect it to be the same for every W124

Oil filter's in a bucket a the top back of the engine on the o/s. The fuel filter and pre-filter are at the top front on the o/s in front of the injection pump. the rest is fairly self-explanatory

You'll find lots about these cars on this forum so do a search for multivalve, diesel and 606 and see what you come up with. Also check the FAQs

I think the Multivalve diesel W124 is one of the best cars MB ever made

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[Ian B Walker]

I think the Multivalve diesel W124 is one of the best cars MB ever made

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

Hangs head in shame (being a petrol head) but has to agree with that statement.

 

[c240yaz]

It may not be a glowplug issue. Does smoke emmit from the exhaust when you are turning over the engine ?

 

[Uberwagon]

If the brake holds you steady on a hill, then it's fine imo.

I've had new shoes and it all fully adjusted at Merc and I can still pull away, i've also parked on a very steep hill in Old Coulsdon and it held firm all night, no issues.

As for starting, I was under the impression that the glowplugs sometimes stayed on a few seconds after starting.

Dave!

 

[jadefox]

Two things; this is coming from a novice female point of view - so forgive me if I'm talking utter nonsense!

I noted in my car that if you go to turn the key all the way round before the lights gone off, then it sometimes just won't turn at all. This freaked me out until I noticed that it always started on the second try - I am guessing it is a safety feature which disables the ignition to prevent you starting without letting the light go out?

If you turn the key till the ignition lights come on and let that light go out every time then you should not have a problem.

Secondly, I think the hand(foot)brakes on MBs are atrocious and pretty much useless on anything other than a flat surface BUT you really shouldn't have to apply it unless you're on a steep hill. If you're just parking the car in a street or in a car park then selecting park is enough to hold the car perfectly still. In fact, my handbrake never gets used because it's just not usually needed.

I am aware that it'll need adjusting for it's MOT but until then I haven't found a use for it.

 

[glojo]

Explain to me how to start a diesel?

That's the title of this thread and thinking back to my childhood when we had winters that were indeed winters with severe frost and snow

The memory of my father soaking an old rag in diesel, lighting it and then throwing it under the engine of one of his many lorries are still as vivid today as they were when he did this crazy act!

Why did he do it, and why the post?

He did it to warm the engine and no doubt to a degree the oil. Once warm the engine would start whereas before this crazy deed there was no way the engine would fire

I think a more sensible act would have been the good old fashioned 'Ki-gas' or ether spray, but for cheapness then a rag with diesel!

Today we have a way of pre-heating these high combustion engines which is both safer and more convienant

Regards
John

 

[Uberwagon]

Explain to me how to start a diesel?

That's the title of this thread and thinking back to my childhood when we had winters that were indeed winters with severe frost and snow

The memory of my father soaking an old rag in diesel, lighting it and then throwing it under the engine of one of his many lorries are still as vivid today as they were when he did this crazy act!

Why did he do it, and why the post?

He did it to warm the engine and no doubt to a degree the oil. Once warm the engine would start whereas before this crazy deed there was no way the engine would fire

I think a more sensible act would have been the good old fashioned 'Ki-gas' or ether spray, but for cheapness then a rag with diesel!

Today we have a way of pre-heating these high combustion engines which is both safer and more convienant

Regards
John

This was done more to suck in the warm air on start up rather than to warm the oil.

On some of our test engines i've had a heat gun blowing into the inlet of a diesel when the glow plugs haven't been connected.

If you leave your car only in park and someone shunts you in the rear, it doesn't have to be a bad one either, I believe it's a full gearbox strip down to replace the pin in your gearbox. I always leave my parking brake on unless it's in the garage or on the driveway.

Dave!

 

[glojo]

This was done more to suck in the warm air on start up rather than to warm the oil.

I was only a young child when he did this but I'm sure he pulled the rag away before climbing up into the cab?

Once the rag was pulled away he would climb into the cab and crank away on the starterso there would not be any warmth from the absent burning material.

John

 

[MBManInKen]

The reason the engine block needs to be warmed up is because in a diesel engine the high temperature needed for ignition is achieved by highly compressing the air. If the engine is cold, its massive metal lump acts as a heat sink drawing heat energy from the air, thus making combustion harder or even impossible.

Glow plugs are just a more convenient way to heat up the engine block around the cylinders.

 

[glojo]

The reason the engine block needs to be warmed up is because in a diesel engine the high temperature needed for ignition is achieved by highly compressing the air. If the engine is cold, its massive metal lump acts as a heat sink drawing heat energy from the air, thus making combustion harder or even impossible.

Glow plugs are just a more convenient way to heat up the engine block around the cylinders.

That's exactly what my father said but in words of mostly four letters or less!

regards
John

 

[MBManInKen]

in words of mostly four letters or less!

Was he an editor for the daily mail?

 

[glojo]

Was he an editor for the daily mail?

Labour through and through and only read the Daily Mirror in the days when it supported that party.

 

[c240yaz]

This was done more to suck in the warm air on start up rather than to warm the oil.

On some of our test engines i've had a heat gun blowing into the inlet of a diesel when the glow plugs haven't been connected.

If you leave your car only in park and someone shunts you in the rear, it doesn't have to be a bad one either, I believe it's a full gearbox strip down to replace the pin in your gearbox. I always leave my parking brake on unless it's in the garage or on the driveway.

Dave!

Dave, What is all this got to do with this thread ? I am confused