My '85 SD is abnormally slow after first start-up and will only crawl off the line when I leave the drive everyday. The outside temps are in the 80's and it has new filters, cleaned banjo bolt, boost line, but will not hardly move until the engine reaches operating temp or 2500 rpms (turbo kicks in). After the car is warm then it functions normally. If you let it sit and cool for 6 0r 8 hours then you have the same problem again. Am I just being paranoid?

Kevin

Mine used to do that too, but I'm sure you want a simpler solution than rebuilding. Check that the throttle linkage moves all the way to full throttle stop by depressing the petal. Pulling on the linkage by hand doesn't always give the same results due to lost motion in older, worn linkages. Also, check glowplugs - engine can sound OK, but not burning well when cold. Bosch offers a kit with new glowplugs and a glowplug relay/controller which runs up to 3 minutes to address such issues. Available through Fastlane

.... Tune the ALDA..... I'd bet 1/2 CCW will do the trick....

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The engine starts smoothly in all temps and doesn't use any oil in between changes and it gets great fuel mileage so I am hopefully not going to need to rebuild it anytime soon. I will try to address the linkage issue. Maybe it's just the linkage.

Kevin

Check the linkage first, just for grins. But I almost guarantee the cure will be about 1.0-1.5 turns (gently!) CCW on the ALDA... this is a VERY common problem and the ALDA tweak is the cure in almost every case. You should never feel the turbo "kick in", the car should pull strongly off idle and smoothly build power as boost pressure increases. What you are feeling is low fuel delivery and the ALDA tweak is *usually* the cure. (The proper cure is to yank the IP and have it calibrated on a Bosch test bench, but I haven't met one person willing to do that on a 617...! )

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Dave
Boise, ID
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Oh yeah - one last thing. When was the last valve adjustment? You're supposed to do that every 15kmi. If it hasn't been done in a LONG time, you could have the valves waaay out of spec, which can create a pretty significant power loss!

Mine starts slightly rough, after a couple minutes it goes pretty well. It actually goes a lot better than it did when I first got it. But- I can hear and feel the turbo wind up and it's not a smooth progressive offline delivery of boost from what I can tell. It spools up kind of late and hits all at once. It's very audible also. I really have no complaint with the way it accelerates now but I'd like to have it running as properly as I can anyways. I don't want to mess with the ALDA, the sealed cap has been broken anyway so obviously it's already been messed with. I adjusted the valves about a thousand miles ago. I think maybe I need a purge or some new injectors, but I'm a cheapskate and just had to have 2 new rear axles put in so I'll just do a purge and hope for the best.
This is definitely the coolest car I've ever had. I just wish the doors didn't bounce back when you try to shut 'em. All four of them do that and it gets on your nerves when you have to open and slam them five times in a row before they shut properly.

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)