I recently bought a 1975 240d. the car had been a daily driver for the previous owner until it started stalling while driving. Hehad itrunning on bio diesel for the whole time hehad been drivingit (about a year). Apparently it was running fine until it started stalling after it was driven for about 5 miles. I got it home, pulled out the fuel filter, which was a bunch of steel wool wrapped around a plastic core. so i pulled that out, cleaned up the filter casing and replaced it with an appropriate fuel filter. After replacing the fuel filter i took it out on the road and drove it about5 miles with no problem, it sat and idled for about 15 minutes then i drove about another 5 miles and let it idle for another 15 minutes or so then took it out again and it stalled after about 2 miles. soit stalledafter a total ofabout 12 miles and 30 minutes idling. Any Ideas? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

I'm in the process of accessing the tank strainer right now to check it. How do i check if the primer pump leaks? I dont know how to pump it by hand. Sorry i'm completely new to the diesel world.
Something i forgot to mention earlier, after it stalls, if it sits for about an hour it will start back up again.

 

Well, today i took off the fuel tank and cleaned it out well, it had alot of sediment and sludge in it. I dont know what the previous owner put in it that would make a sludge like what was in it, but it's all gone now. I also replaced all the rubber fuel lines, i left the metal lines. There was no way for me see inside the tank to see what condition of the intake lines were, but i blasted are through both lines then put fuel in the tank and pressurized it to see if fuel was able to come through them. They were somewhat clogged at first, but i got them cleared. after getting everything cleared out i put everything back together and stared it up and i ran for about two miles before stalling out again. It is acting like it is starved for fuel. I pulled the line from one of the injectors and cranked it, at first it was spurting fuel, then it stopped and stalled. I connected the solenoid directly to the battery and that made no difference. The only think i can think of now is a bad injection pump. Does anybody know where to get a pump for this car? Please help me, i really dont want it to be the pump, so please give me any other ideas of what it might be. Thanks

 

After reading through your post about your 1975 240D stall problem, i was inspired to register and tell you my story. My wife and i happened upon a 1975 240D 4 speed for a bargain. When we picked it up it had obviously been sitting for a bit as a bunch of wasps had made it their home (wasps love old diesels!). Nevertheless it drove nicely so we drove it the 50 miles home. It ran for about a day until it started doing much the same as yours, sputtering-like and stalling, until eventually it wouldnt start. We towed it back to our house rather morosely and there it sat for a year. Turns out it was the fuel pump, but not the injector pump, the mechanical lift pump. Few hundred bucks later and its running like a champ again! Same old diesel even.

Maybe on another thread i'll tell you all the story of my lil ranger diesel..