Hey everyone.
My car is in a lot of trouble at this point and all help is appreciated.
We were away for the two weeks it was pouring rain here, and came back to town last night to discover the car won't start.

Cranks fine (had to jump the battery a few times to keep being able to crank it to make it start), I replaced the primary and secondary fuel filter, held the little plastic filter in my palm and blew hard into it, to push any sediment that may have been released and later captured at the bottom of the fuel tank, thus clogging the fuel line. Before we left, it sat there during the two weeks diesel and Sea Foam in the fuel tank.

so it's not gas line issues, I think.

I am guessing, it's an electrical thing, and because I am not really a mechanic (can do simple jobs on the car) I am clueless here.

All fuses look intact and fine.

Possible guesses to where the problem lies are - glow plugs, fuel pump, water in the fuel line ( it rained SUPER hard here in Hawaii for two straight weeks and even the interior of my car was full of mold smell in just that short time!!).

Please help.

 

Remembered a couple of additions to clarify things.

- a greyish/blackish smoke was emitted by the exhaust when I tried cranking it to start it up a few times that night. I probably tried to start it 10 times (with a few battery jumps to keep the starter going)
This smoke kinda smelled like something was burnt, an oil or something like that.
This freaked me out so I left it alone and did not try to start if after that.


-This is the first time this happened and the car ran perfectly fine before this incident. Never had any such problems before.

 

Make sure you are getting power to all the glow plugs. Also, you may want to pump the primer pump a few times just in case you have some air in the lines.

 

thanks for the reply.

Yes I primed it well, (maybe TOO well, pushed it almost 20 times)

How does one make sure power is going to the glow plugs? I have never played with these things, just spark plugs on gas cars.

aloha

 

The same way you verify power is getting to anything: with a test light! At this point, you may want to get a friend with some electrical knowledge to help you out. There is also a procedure for testing the resistance of each individual glow plug to tell you if it is bad.

http://www.dieselgiant.com/glowplugrepair.htm

You can't really overprime the car.

I am a little curious though. Since you're in Hawaii, the temperature should be warm enough pretty much all the time for the car to start without the glow plugs heating up. Two things I can think of then:

Make sure you don't have water in the fuel lines. You ought to be able to just disconnect the return line and pump it out into a can or clear bucket or something to check visually.

Double check your compression and timing. If you have good compression and timing there is no reason the car shouldn't start in Hawaii without the glow plugs heating up.

 

Glow plug repair page is awesome thanks. it's in the 80's here and I feel you are totally right in thinking that a glowplug or two are out since it's pretty warm out and car should start for sure.

How does one double compression and timing?

I will disconnect the primary fuel filter (or is it secondary, the little plastic one, not the screw in one) and drain that line to a glass to check for water. thanks!

so glad someone is replying here sinnce my car is stranded at a friends house and I cannot find ONE SINGLE MECHANIC in the town of Hilo who will touch a European Import!! It's pretty insane!

thanks again

 

the smoke is unburnt fuel whic means you have too much water in your fuel to burn if it rained that hard then the moisture in the air must be hoorible which means your fuel will condense water faster not to mention diesel condenses water far faster than gasoline to if they sell it get some heet its in a yellow bottle and it will allow the water to burn by attaching ethonal particles to the water and the water is then just a by product like any combustion reacion or drain your fuel

 

what a fantastic FORUM!
I will buy some HEET (one in a yellow bottle, will search it out) and report back!. there happens to be a new one n a red bottle WITH injector cleaner. Are you sure yellow bottle (Gas line anti freeze and water remover) is better?

thanks a million, I sure miss my ride and cant wait to get it back on the road.
Demi

 

read it before you put it in to make sure its safe for diesels because you dont want to burn up a mecedes engine

 

Jesus, am I glad I did not buy HEET (and I was so close!)

However, the day's events were not favorable.

I bought a 16 oz bottle of STANADYNE (Diesel Fuel Additive) and a 16 ouncer of good Ol' SeaFoam and put them both into the 1/2 full gas tank, hoping the Stanadyne will take care of the water, and Sea foam is pretty much pure diesel, as a mechanic once said to me.

Put in the key, glow plug light came on as usual to show they are warming up, light turned off, and I turned the key, and cranked it for a few seconds. Nothing.

No smoke from the exhaust what so ever today. I did see some the last time before the fuel additives were added to the gas tank.

after removing some diesel from the fuel line, I let it drip into a bottle to check. No visible traces of water, however, I ay have overdone it with the stanadyne. I could tell by smelling it in the fuel.

Put the fuel filter back on, primed it about 20 times and tried starting again. I kept the other car running with the jumper cables on, cranked well after some battery charge, but still no contact.

Hope starter can handle this wear and tear.

I read someplace that if more than two glow plugs are not working, the dash light would not come on, but it did come on like normal (after battery was juiced for 10 minutes) and went away in a few seconds. so it's not the glow plugs then?

what is the next plan of action you think?
thanks.