My 1974 240d is struggling to start. The car will crank over but sounds like it is not getting fuel. After multiple attemps the car starts and runs perfect. Only after the cars sits for long periods of time (8 hours or longer) will this occur.

A friend of mine, who has always driven diesel trucks, said he had a smiliar problem with one of his trucks. Turned out to be a one way valve in the fuel line that prevents fuel from flowing back to the tank while not running, went bad. Do these old mercedes have such a valve. I am certainly not a mechanic but it seemed like a logical explaination. It feels like the car is trying to pump fuel to the motor.

Anyone ever have such a problem?

Mark

 

I'm not an expert buti have fuel leak on my MB 300TD 87 and I have beensearching and reading lots of forums and most of them said "to change fuel hoses every 2 years". Hope this will help you.

 

You only have to replace fuel hoses if they are worn or leaking. Some recommend changing the hoses every two years if you are running biodiesel. And if you are running 20% or less bio, the bio may never ruin the hoses. Have you checked the fuel filters? I don't think Mercedes cars have a check valve on the supply line but I am not positive. I would change both filters first just to eliminate those. Good Luck,

John