Ok everybody,
Here is the latest:

Received and installed the new glow plugs this week. Purchased and installed new starter with 1.7Kw motor.

I cannot get it to start. I have cycled the glow plugs, added starting fluid a couple times, fully charged the battery, tried the blow dryer trick, and got so close that I thought I had it started, let go of the key and it stalled. Never got it that close again last night. Finally gave up to let the starter cool down.

I'm so at a loss I don't know where to look next to figure this out.

I'm not a trained diesel mechanic, but I'm pretty handy with a wrench, and have done complete overhauls on gassers with good success. I'm stumped at this one. What am I missing?

Thanks guys for all the help advice so far. Please keep it coming!

Rick

 

I would verify the cam timing then IP timing, since the motor ran fine before you tore it down.

 

FTE,

Thanks, but as stated above, I have done that a couple times now in exact steps from the Todd manual.

Yesterday I even advanced the IP a little bit, and still no start. I can't find anything wrong with the timing, except that I should put in an offset woodruff key to even up the cam to the crank due to chain stretch, but it is exactly where it was before I touched it. I marked everything very clearly before dis-assembly and put it back exactly as I found it.

I get lots of smoke, it will almost start, cranking faster and faster, let go of the key and it stops. After trying several times, I stop to let the starter cool down from cranking so much.

The only thing that I can concretely say is different is the starter. The MB starter had a 2.5KW motor, and the new Jeep starter motor is 1.7KW so it turns over a little slower. Everyone I have talked to on here and another forum says that they use the Jeep starter with no issues though. I don't know what else to do. The economic climate is not good up here right now, so I will have to wait before I can step up to a more powerful, high-torque, starter from Mean Green, or Powermaster.

Maybe I will have the IP checked out by a diesel mechanic I know down state. Maybe it was worn and borderline when I bought it. I had planned on doing a Diesel Purge to clean the IP and injectors as soon as I got it running, but can't get there yet. I'm just stumped at this point and grasping at straws.

Rick

 

It sounds to me like your compression is a bit low and the original starter was just barely able to crank it fast enough to get it to start. Now you have a slightly slower starter and it just won't quite get there.

Try wetting a t-shirt with gasoline, and fold it to where you have two or three thicknesses of cloth and cover the intake with it - then crank it. Sucking air through a couple of layers of gasoline wetted cloth gives you a air/fuel mixture that is close enough for it to fire. once you get it to fire a few cycles in a row on each cylinder it will generate enough heat, that it should take off and run.

 

Thanks for the tip.

I will try that tomorrow.

Rick

 

Get the I.P. pump checked out . I had a 220d that would do the same thing.I had a shop in G.R. rebuild the pump and injectors. The shop said pump was all full of stale old fuel broke down to varnishy semi-liquid . Car had not been started in many years .There was a guy in Stanwood that was a retired ferris state diesel instructor that rebuilt pumps in his house. Don't know if he's around still but the work he did for a former bosses 7.3 was decent and resonable. Your compression sounds low, mine on the 220 was 285 to 325 per hole. Can you pull start it? Good luck

 

Guys,
Here is the latest.

I tried the method mentioned above with the t-shirt soaked in gas placed in front of the intake. No success.

I want to try and pull start it next, but I want to be 100% sure I didn't screw up somehow.

How can I verify the crank is in the TDC position, and the cam is not 180 degrees off without taking the head back off? I really don't think it's possible that I did that, but I have double or triple checked everything else, so why not double check this too?

Tonight I pulled out the #1 injector thinking that if the piston is up top, I could run a thin wire down through hole in the pre-chamber cap. Unfortunately, I could not get to the holes. There is something in the way inside the pre-chamber obstructing access to the holes.

I think I read about someone saying that you could open the valve cover, unscrew the nuts from one of the valves, hold the stem with a magnet, and see if the valve only drops a little and then rests on the piston. Is there any truth to that? Or is there a better way without removing the valve cover? In this truck, the engine bay is so tight I have to remove the engine mounts, lower the engine til it sits on the crossmember, then I can wiggle off the valve cover away from the firewall. PITA!

Cam and IP pump timing match up using the drip method and hand pump at 25 degrees BTDC gives me a drop per second. Is that possible if the Cam is 180 degrees off from the Crankshaft? Also, when I turn over the engine with a ratchet and socket on the crank pulley bolt it turns quite hard as it approaches the TDC position. Shouldn't that indicate that the crank and cam are timed correctly? It seems that if the Crank was off a turn from the cam it would turn over very easy all the time. At least in my mind the valves would be open as the pistons came up and no compression could take place.

I don't want to take a chance on ruining my pistons or valves if I am wrong, and try to pull start it in case the valves stay open too long and get hit.

Thanks for any ideas. I'm really wanting to get this on the road.

Rick

 

I don't belive your cam timing can be off 180, wouldn't matter (crank turns twice-cam once) but the IP could be 180 out. Even though you have the ballancer on 25btdc it may be on the exhaust stroke not the comp stroke, making the IP timing 180 off. So make sure that both valves on #1 are closed when lining up timing marks, then set IP.

 

FTE,

Thanks for your help.

I am proof positive that the cam and the IP are timed together, meaning that the valves are both in the closed position when fuel delivery starts. What I am trying to figure out is if the #1 piston is in the top position, or the bottom position at that time. I know it is supposed to be in the "up" position, when the valves are both closed and ignition is supposed to occur.

It has been several months since I re-assembled the engine and since it won't start I am starting to question my sanity as to whether I did it right. I am trying to determine if there is a way to verify the actual position of the #1 piston without removing the head to visually see it with my eyes.

Today I looked into the finding the tools to remove the prechamber to look down through the port, but decided it's not worth the money to do it that way. I did not have any leaks from there before, so I really can't justify the price yet. I think I can make those tools in my shop for far less if I need to.

I'm really wanting to pull-start it today, but I won't try that until I can verify the crank to cam timing.

Thanks,

Rick

 

Hey Guys,

Been away for over a week and tonight I had my wife pull me around the block to attempt to pull start the Ford-n-Benz. It sort of started but would only stay running if my foot had the pedal all the way to the floor. I did get the rpm's up enough that I could hear the turbo whine for a little while, when I pushed in the clutch to see if it would stay running, it started to falter so I let the clutch out to get the rpm's back up and it would stay running.

The whole time it was trying to run it was belching a HUGE cloud of white smoke.

After I told her to pull it back to the house, I tried to start it with the starter in the driveway and it wouldn't even come close. It fired, but was soo rough that it shook the entire cab, but it wouldn't actually start.

I am at a loss for how to proceed from here. I feel like I am so close, but I don't know what I'm missing.

What could be causing so much white smoke? I mean, I could not see anything behind me.

I guess I may have to find a MB mechanic around here, but funds have gotten a little tight around here lately and not going to be able to pay much for a while.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Rick