Well I am new to diesels, but not cars (or the forums).

I just purchased a 73 220d - needs a little love but not too much to get it in great condition.

I have searched for this issue, but did not find exactly what I am looking for..

Symptoms:
Went to test drive the car (on a thurs) and started up just fine, no issues. Car was driven maybe 7 minutes, turned off for a bit, then watch it be started again and driven away.

Had the car looked at by a mechanic- he said oil change and NEW BELTS (this may play into the symptoms) and the car will be solid. This is a legit mechanic- really knew his diesels..

Went to pick up the car the next thurs. I turned the car on, then off after a min. to talk to the owner. Went to turn it on again- car would crank but not fully turn over. The guy jumped the car for me and she took a second to charge, but then started right up, no problem. He gave me some money back for a new battery and told me that had never happened before..

Drove to autozone (on a a dead battery, which leads me to believe the alt. is still good, otherwise the car would not stay on..) got a new battery. Car started and didnt have any more issues.. UNTIL i went to start it up on Sat. night. did the same thing at the original owners house.. would crank but not all the way over.. could tell it's the battery..

Other things to note:
The battery is grounded near a lot of rust
the belt around the alt is pretty loose

My thoughts: (Please confirm or give any other ideas)
- I am going to ground the batter with a larger wire in a better place (sand an area down on the body, keep it short, yada yada...)
- Ground the alt to the body better as well, same way
- replace loose belt

Any other thoughts/ opinions?

Sorry for the long first post!

-Chris

 

A bad ground will cause serious starting issues on a diesel because they draw massive power for cranking.

Check battery voltage with the engine running, it should be 13 - 14.5 VDC.

The alternator belt needs to be tightened and/or replaced as it is also your water pump drive belt.

roy@pelicanparts.com


.

 

hey, thank you for the information. I did not realize the water pump was also on that belt. That could have been BAD.

I will go through the fixes and report.

- Chris

 

hello everyone, i have a similar issue. i have been driving my 1972 220d with no problems whatsoever, i started it this morning in -12 deg f again 2 hours later no problems and then now at lunch i went to start it up and its completely dead. I tested the battery and its got plenty of charge. after looking over some electrical pars i tried to start it again, this time the generator light turned on until i pulled the **** to start the glow plugs then it went back to being completely dead. I imagine it has to be a short or a loose wire somewhere. please anyone with some experience point me in the right direction as i'm currently stranded in the bitter cold worst of all i'm stranded at work!
thanks in advance,
Corey

 

Hey, I never reported back - but it was my glow plugs that were the issue. Have you replaced yours?

I replaced mine with the pencil style plugs and took off the ground on the first plug.

This COULD be your issue, as my problem at first was intermittent then completely stopped working.

The plug instantly fixed my issue.

Hope this helps!

- Chris

 

thanks for the help, i did the pencil conversion a month ago or so. its an incredible upgrade. I found my issue last night. i had a short that was screwing things up. its crazy that one frayed wire will bring a car to its knees.

 

Glad you found the issue! - Where was the frayed wire??

 

one of the wires on the starter relay was bad and also the ground wire off the battery had a poor connection.

 

I have a later model. I have a Ground Cable from the Chassis to the Transmission. If you have one it is a good idea to remove that and clean the Contact areas and of cours inspect the Cable.