I have spent three decades around MB diesels, getting paid for it btw.

If it ran ok with the old injectors, and it won't run now then logic dictates that the new/reman parts are probably the problem.

It has only been sitting for 8 weeks, I doubt the fuel went bad during that time.

Then again, it's the internet and what do I know.....

__________________
"I was a dirty bird, Carol's not grungey - she's *****in" John Milner....American Graffiti

I agree with Edward. It sounds like somebody missed the mark with the injector rebuild to me.

Heck, I have had engines in that were healthy enough to start up on one or two injector lines hooked up after I got fuel to them.

__________________
Jim

Time will tell.

If its her 240 that has over 300k miles on it, one could say its getting close to its use by date.
A tea spoon of oil down each injector hole before installing injectors is good for getting old motors to go after fuel system work. Helps the compression along.
She mentions plenty about air in the system, even after it has run.

If one injector was bad, I would agree, 4 is stretching it.
There would need to be a bad batch.
There has not been a flood of people with such problems.
The link to the thread about bad remanufac injectors is 11 years old !
On a Jap motor with those type of injectors we once connected all the injectors with them not installed & cranked the motor to make sure they were popping. Worked a treat.
Leaky or low pop pressure injectors dont prevent starting.

Over fueling is not a problem with a diesel, the extra fuel just puddles on top of the pistons. Its the atomized fuel that ignites.

BC made a valid comment ~ the usual idea of starting with your foot off does not work. ~ diesels dont flood like petrol motors.

__________________
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

yep

I find it quite unusual if all of them are bad too.

Next step will be to remove the injector, hook it up to the line and watch the spray pattern.

If it was running prior to the job and is getting fuel to the injectors then it should run. How did the wd40 test turn out?

__________________
Jim

I do not remember exactly all the changes you've done.

Did you remove the throttle linkages at some point? If so, it is possible to put them back incorrectly such that the fuel shutoff lever is always engaged (BTDT).

Did you change fuel filters? If so make sure there are no leaks.

Did you verify all glow plugs are good and getting voltage? It's possible one or more burned out on you since the last time it started.

It's always a good idea to change only one thing at a time.

At this point I would put the old injectors back. Sure, it will cost you 2 more sets of heat shields. It can get frustrating. On the positive side, think of all the practice and experience you're gaining.

__________________
85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Thanks for the input, guys. I have not done anything since my last post ... due to a non-car-related fiasco, to leave it short. I put the charger back on to start fresh and may try again tonight. If I can find a helper I'll have them squirt WD40.
Unfortunately I already turned the old injectors in to get the core charge back. It didn't even occur to me I'd want to swap them back, but I'm kicking myself now. That would be an easy way ... heat shields are cheap. At best I can call the dealer tomorrow in case they haven't shipped out my old injectors yet. I'm sure they would work out a way for me to take them back; they are very nice to me. But I handed them in Thursday so they are probably gone. I should have held on to them until the job was done ... lesson learned.
I was not pushing on the pedal ... I was not aware of the need to do that. If it starts with the pedal to the floor, should I just let up to about 1500 rpm after it catches?
Funola, the things I have done since I last started it are only injectors and hard fuel lines, as well as heat shields. I reused the return lines ... maybe I should replace them. After I took the old injectors out, I tried a compression test, which I had to bag because my tester fitting was defective. I did not do the fuel filters or other lines. I did try to prime via the primer pump yesterday, in case air had leaked in, to see if it would help. As I mentioned I must have left that bolt a little loose, because fuel came out the short while I got the car started. I thought maybe it sucked in air, but I'm still getting fuel at the injectors, and no bubbles from the filter. The GPs are the updated pencil types and are two years old ... I did check to make sure there is voltage at each, but have not yet removed each one to watch it glow. As far as the linkage goes, as I mentioned it's crossed my mind I could have bent it while trying to prop it up for the compression test. I only removed one linkage end to access the third injector to torque it, but put it right back where it came off ... not really another place to put it. If the linkage is bent, wouldn't holding down the throttle allow it to start, even if dropping back to idle makes it cut back out? That could tell me something.
Sorry if I missed a question or did not address something. I'm pretty sleep-deprived right now, which I am about to rectify.

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

Usually I floor it when bleeding it out. Then when it finally shoots to 5000 I try to do 1500 for several seconds.

High rev is necessary to push out the air in fuel. Flooring it is a figure of speech for high rev but don't do it. Flooring a cold engine will destroy it.

Get a length of 5/16 clear vinyl tubing from Home Depot and temporarily replace the cigar hose. The hose clamps will not fit so use rubber bands and wrap a bunch of turns around it.

Once you get it started, feather the throttle so it does not stall til it will idle on it's own, then intermittently rev the throttle till the bubbles clear and you see a solid stream of fuel, which can take a few minutes, IF you have no leaks in the system. If you have leaks, it will never clear and will suck in more air and stall.

It is not possible to know if an injector is good or not without pop testing, even if brand spanking new. Ask the dealer if these are recent rebuilds or if they have been sitting on the shelf. How much did they cost?

__________________
85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

This is your entire problem. The amount of fuel delivered at idle is miniscule and it would take all day to get the engine to actually run without any air.

You must open the rack fully and get enough fuel (with associated air) until it will run. Hold the pedal to the floor until it climbs to 1500 rpm and then keep it there for a full minute.

Problem solved and new injectors are perfectly fine.

there you go

__________________
Jim

I am fairly certain they are recent rebuilds. They were not in stock at the dealer ... they ordered them from Germany. They were supposed to come within a week, but after about 10 days still hadn't come, so the guys at the parts counter called them ... at that point they said they had not shipped yet because they were waiting for the cores to rebuild them (i.e., waiting for someone else's cores I guess). If I'd known it would take that long, I would have just had someone else rebuild mine, but that's all hindsight now. They were something around $75 each. I'm sure if one is defective they would take it back (they have always tried to make sure I get the right parts/parts that work), but I want to be sure it is not air first. I will try the clear tube in place of the cigar hose.
Sorry if I'm being a little dense, but I'm confused about what my right foot should be doing as I crank. Where should I have the throttle while I begin to crank? Should I have it down as I crank, or only start revving up the rpms after (if) it catches? I assume it would not be great for the engine to floor it before oil pressure rises, though I noticed the oil pressure rises as I crank.
I'm debating whether to do anything tonight or just wait until my dad is available as WD40 squirter and air bubble watcher ...

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

Just read this after I posted my last post. Think I'm clear on the pedal procedure now. Thanks.

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

Results:
I tried the pedal as described, and got nothing. Upon further inspection I noticed a large pocket of air in the line from the IP to the spin on filter, so I pumped and pumped. Bubbles kept coming up through that line but eventually stopped, save one small bubble at the top that does not seem to want to go away. After that I cranked a bit with injector lines cracked, again, until I started getting fuel. Once I had two injectors getting fuel and tightened, it sounded like it wanted to start, which I guess is a positive sign. Once I got fuel at all four (took a long time to get fuel at #1 for some reason ...) I tried starting with the pedal down again and it started pretty easily ... I backed off and tried to keep it stable at what sounded like 1500 rpms. It was pretty erratic, as in would suddenly surge, then slow down as if about to die, I'd feather the peddle a little, it would surge again. I finally felt like I got it stable at about 1500 for a good minute so I started to back off ... it shut off immediately. I tried twice again (with breaks in between) and getting the same thing. Only now it reaches a point where it dies even with the pedal down. A couple times it almost died, then VROOOOOM, then back to dying. I know I don't have the greatest motor skills in the world (no pun intended) but I'm being pretty steady on the pedal, and sometimes it just is not responding to the pedal at all (I can see the linkage moving cleanly so I don't think that's the issue).
This sounds like air is continually getting into the system, or something is blocking the fuel supply, to me. What do you guys think? Could this still be a symptom of a bum injector? I would think it would be more consistent if one or more injector were bad? I'm leaning toward trying to find a leak going into the IP somewhere. Or is there any point at trying what I've been doing a couple more times?
One more thing that might be relevant: When I was pumping the primer pump to get the air out of the line between the filter and IP, I heard an occasional "glug" coming from the back of the car (tank) ... I have not had that happen in the past. It also just felt like the primer pump was not working well. I had to pump it A LOT and the fuel barely moved up the line. I think I mentioned it, but it is the new-style primer pump, put in 3 years ago ... no visable leaks from it.
Two more things to add: I looked at my receipts and while I have driven it as recently as 6 weeks ago, this tank of fuel is over a year old. The primary filter looks clear but maybe there's a bunch of gunk in the strainer. Also, something I found odd ... I did not see any exhaust smoke at any point in this. The car never smoked a ton to begin with, but it seems after a long sit, with cylinders full of fuel, and me revving the engine, it should kick out something?

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

Have you tried putting the old hard lines back on? Not that it would really do much, but you never know. One more thing to eliminate.

Also have you cleaned your tank recently? If it's been sitting for a while you might have a clogged screen back there. Switch the supply and return lines and try that.

It was not running up to the day or so before you changed the injectors?

__________________
Jim