All of my 300 turbos are a little harder to start in the recent So Cal colder weather (40 degrees).

40 degrees in So Cal? What part, Oregon?

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1981 240D Four on the floor, Orient Red over Parchment, bought with 154,000 but it's a daily driver and up to 180,000 miles, mostly original paint and all original interior.

This morning in Beaumont (on my way to Morongo Casino) my car thermometer read 40 degrees. Prior to leaving this morning at 5:00 am I had to move my 1985 300D which took longer glow time and a bit of accelerator pedal to help it start.

Listen for the relay to click off before you try to start.

The light on the MLB diesels does not register how long the plugs stay on. It is there to show go life... poorly. You need to either listen for the relay to click off, or watch the interior light to brighten up...

Try that and see if the car starts better...

But yes, the valves need REGULAR adjustment, every 15,000 miles, and if no idea when last done... do it now. Then drive 200 miles or so, and do it again.

Also, if you have a meter, check voltage at the battery when the plugs are on, it should drop below 11 volts, if it doesn't, you have some plugs that are bad.

Also, if it is below 32F outside, your car will benefit from an oil change with synthetic 5W40 motor oil. Lightens the load on the starter.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Okay, it does get cold there. I'm at Newport, not as cold down here.

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1981 240D Four on the floor, Orient Red over Parchment, bought with 154,000 but it's a daily driver and up to 180,000 miles, mostly original paint and all original interior.

Great information.

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1981 240D Four on the floor, Orient Red over Parchment, bought with 154,000 but it's a daily driver and up to 180,000 miles, mostly original paint and all original interior.

koooop, how cold does it get where you're at? I use the block heater in my diesels when the night/morning temps get below 40 F. Sure makes cold starting easier for both the glow plugs and the starter. If the car doesn't have a block heater you might consider getting one for it if the temps get low enough to justify it.

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- Greg -
1973 220D, The Prodigal Benz
1974 240D

It rarely goes below 50 at night, pretty much doesn't go below the mid 50's but a few times a year. It was in the mid 50's this morning so I drove the car with the heated seats at 5am. LOL

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1981 240D Four on the floor, Orient Red over Parchment, bought with 154,000 but it's a daily driver and up to 180,000 miles, mostly original paint and all original interior.

I have a fleet of 5 diesels- yes all w123's and I keep a bottle of Diesel 9*1*1 power services liquid in the trunk for the just in case moments. I live at 6500 feet elevation in Colorado and the nights are consistently under freezing all winter. Fortunately haven't needed it but once- left my car at the airport for a week and got back to my car under 15" of snow. Glad to have had it in the trunk.

It's been so many years since I drove my folks' 240Ds in the '70s and early '80s....... I think it was normal to push the foot feed in a little and hold it in while cranking it. I just don't recall.

What I clearly remember was the extreme cold instructions on my '83 300SD - thusly; glow it twice, and simultaneously slowly flooring it twice, then hold the foot feed on the floor while cranking, then slowly letting your foot up off the foot feed as the engine sputters to life in the extreme cold temperature of winter.

Compression ignition engine need high pressure in the cylinders to fire. Nealy all long crank, cold start or no starts turned out to be lack of compression.

If you can get a compression tester the following needs to be remembered.

Leave all the glow plugs in but disconnect the glow plug power .( Not the battery .)

Hold the STOP lever in STOP position. (Wire, bungy cord etc.)

Pull one injector and fit compression tester in it's place..

Put charger on battery to maintain consistent battery voltage.....if required ( Tired battery ?)

Crank over the engine so piston does 10 compression strokes ( You can hear and count the compressions. ) or until pressure gauge needle stops rising.. Do same number of strokes to each cylinder.

Record pressure value ..

Repeat on all cylinders.

Your compression pressures at sea level should be 300 psi to 380 psi.

Some engines will get higher readings when very healthy. I build them with Total Seal second rings and see 510 psi often. ( Five hundered and ten psi.)

( One of my diesels lives in Deluth and starts immediately at minus 10 or lower temperatures. He called one winter and I thought he had trouble,but he told me he had the only diesel running in his neighborhood that morning. )

WARNING : Never do a wet compression test on a diesel engine even if it's cold.




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[http://languageandgrammar.com/2008/01/14/youve-got-problems-not-issues/ ]

"A liberal is someone who feels they owe a great debt to their fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money."

I more than appreciate the effort in this post, while I may not know anything about diesels I'm pretty sure the 240 doesn't have a compression issue.

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1981 240D Four on the floor, Orient Red over Parchment, bought with 154,000 but it's a daily driver and up to 180,000 miles, mostly original paint and all original interior.

...and you'll never know without a test.



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[http://languageandgrammar.com/2008/01/14/youve-got-problems-not-issues/ ]

"A liberal is someone who feels they owe a great debt to their fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money."

Compression is the most basic need of a diesel engine. It is knowable with a simple basic mechanical test.

If you are lacking the needed compression... none of the other items you can look at will fix the situation.

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1980 240d ,

chain elongation, cam marks reference:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/10414-help-i-need-check-stretch.html

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/305365-9-degrees-chain-stretch.html

evap fin cleaning:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/156207-photo-step-step-post-showing-w123-evaporator-removal-1983-240d-1982-300td.html?highlight=evaporator

A/C thread

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/297462-c-recommendations-mb-vehicles.html

Maybe I wasn't clear, this is not cranking on the starter For 10 or 15 seconds at cold start it's just a slight delay. Instead of firing instantly like it has been we have to touch the go pedal to make it start instantly.

I guess I got a little spoiled in the summer months.

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1981 240D Four on the floor, Orient Red over Parchment, bought with 154,000 but it's a daily driver and up to 180,000 miles, mostly original paint and all original interior.