W210 E300TD still difficult start - what next?

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guydewdney

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 14, 2004
Messages
2,911
Location
Porlock, Zomerzet
Car
906 Sprinter 313cdi
T reg 150K mile E300TD

usual 'difficult to start in the morning' symptom. On first turn of the key, it splutters but it takes about 30 seconds of cranking (with foot to the floor) before it fires properly, then runs lumpy for a minute or two. Lots of smoke (grey / blue) which clears when it is running lumpy. Once running, it seems fine with good acceleration.

I have replaced:-
strainer O ring
Stop solenoid O ring (twice)
all the fuel lines around the filter
the O rings in the 'plunger' atop the injection pump (the one you need the spline tool for)
added non return valve / primer pump and bypassed thermostat under the inlet manifold
filled to the brim with dino diesel

whats next?
 
Good Morning

Did it start being hard to start and then you carried out the works listed or have they been done through time??

230k
 
try putting new hose clips on the rubber / metal pipe joints at passenger side the bulkhead joints and where one go onto the fuel heater, and the other end of the other one sorry forgot where that one goes , its the returun line from the filter I think. all those joints sit under slight negative pressure when stopped and air gets in. It took me six months to sort mine and it has been spot on for 6 months now. start on first turn of the crank, as prompt as a cdi. I still cant believe the transformation. Check the the tank is breathing doe is suck when you take the cap off if so either sort out the breather or remove the rubber gasket from the cap ( I have , and no spillage and no vacuum build up) I decided not to by pass the prefilter and have now removed a primer pump which I had mounted at the bulkhead it helped a little with priming but I could not get one that really gave me confidence for high under bonnet temperatures and long term use. Good luck magnificent machine. I drove a c270 cdi estate a few hundred miles recently and frankly give me my e300 instead any day, Peapod
 
Glow plugs......

Sorry buddy, you have a glowplug problem.
Hard starting, lumpy idle when cold is a sign of glow plug problems.

1. Diagnose if you have a wiring problem (check resistance between plug end and connector at glowplug relay)
2. Check if a glowplug is not opperational (Check resistance after removing wiring)
3. Check if the glow plug relay is opperational

Beware if you have a bad glowplug, removal is hit and miss without snapping one.
You might need to take off the intake manifold for easy access.....

If you have a fuel problem, you will see bubbles forming on a large scale within the clear fuel line at the fuel filter.......


Look forward to hearing from you.
 
It definitely sounds like an air leak problem.
 
nope - glow plugs.

2 were good, four bad. the back one (nearest driver) took an hour to get out. blow torch, wd40, undo one tiny crack, do up one tiny crack (repeat for 20 minutes) undo two tiny cracks, do up one.... repeat for 20 mins - all in all about an hour to do just this one. the rest came out easily. a mixture of ngk and denso

now starts almost perfectly, a slight slowness to start (like a full 360 of the crank, my 250 starts within the first compression or two on dino)
 
To get recalcitrant glowplugs out, get the engine hot then keep it idling while working the plug out.

The gas expansion blows the hole clean as you work.

Switch the engine off before getting to the final threads, then if it's still stuck in after the threads have released, start the engine again and put a socket and handle on and keep undoing it. It will soon blow out with a bang and flash.
 
after i had undone it, i started the engine, hoping it would pop out - sounds v nice like that :)

but no - took a lot of swearing, twisting, pulling, more swearing....
 
You need to continue to unscrew it with the engine running. They always come out then.
 
Nice to see its sorted!
I knew it was the glow plugs as i have the same symptoms - hard to start, when it starts it sounds like its nailing an injector and throws out blue smoke for about 30 seconds whilst misfiring then settles down as the temperature climbs.

Good job on getting them out!
Now pray for me - luckily i only have 1 bad one!
 

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