rickcjmc Posted June 1, 2014 Report Share Posted June 1, 2014 Hi Guys, So I have been reading some of the posts regaring lose of power and smoke, and there is a lot of info that is appreciated here. My problem most likey falls under these posts but I have an added twist I need some help with so here goes: Car began loosing power the other day and stalling, would start back up after several cranks but power would flatten out and then die again after a short distance, heavy footing it would produce a lot of white smoke. When I got home and looked at the filter bowl (mine was replaced with I believe to be the 504 roto filter) I noticed the glass filter bowl was all water! I removed the filter, enmted the water, blew out the water from the filter and reassembled it all, same problem. I replaced the filter yesterday, same problem. I have always had a lot of smoke on start up, and I have some smoke coing from the right side of the motor on hard starting as well, but usually on first start of the day. I am running some additive in the tank to loose the water in the tank. The car had sat for many years and when I got it, had no fuel cap, so I suspect the rainy pacific northwest has made it to the fuel tank. Because its a wagon, I understand ther is no drain for the tank so I guess I need to pump it all out and try to dry the tank, next suggestions on this one? As always, you guys rock and I am always gratefull for the advice and direction...... Rick in St Paul Oregon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted June 4, 2014 Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 Hi Rick, Just to confirm - your fuel bowl is filling with water every time? (That`s the same problem that keeps reoccurring?) If so you definitely need to clean out the tank ASAP, and ideally purge that pump ASAP to get the water out of it as well. The symptoms you cite had me thinking head gasket, but you`ll get the same thing if there`s water in the fuel system - you have to get the water issue taken care of first, and that should correct the running issue. Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickcjmc Posted June 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 Hey Rabin, thanks for always being on point with issues, always appreciated. So the bowl filling with water, so far has been just the once that I have noticed. I did pull the rear carpets, pull the sending unit and fuel feed and return port and I used an old pump I had to "vacuum" out the tank on saturday. I had discovered, along with some water in the tank, the sending unit "splash guard" had completely rusted apart and I managed to suck most of that contamination out as well. I blew out the feed and return lines too, so the bowl is not fillinf with water anymore, but the poor running issue persists. I dumped a bottle of fuel dryer into the taank hoping to get it to the pump. All at John in Hebos suggestion........Any thoughts on purging the pump? Currently the car is sitting as I cannot drive it far with out loosing power and it stalling.......grrrrrr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 When it first starts does it run good? Any oil / coolant mixing? There's a diesel purge that's found at www.mercedessource.com that would be good for purging the pump. If fuel system is OK, next steps would be to do a valve adjustment, then get a diesel compression tester and find out what your compression is at. If that checks out I'd pull the injectors and have them tested for pop pressures and flow pattern. The more detailed you can be on exactly how it's running will help narrow it down more. Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickcjmc Posted June 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 OK!! Success!!! So I did the diesel purge per the MB site instructions, began running civillay amost instantly. With that being the case I ruled out valves, pump setting and compression so only fuel was left. It occured to me the Roto filter has a banjo bolt and fitting on it so I removed the filter assy, cleaned it all out and cracked the banjo bolt and the fitting was full of crap! Claened all components, pumped the filter purge and ran the car hooked up to the rest of the bottle of diesel purge, ran great and fired right up. Because the fuel sender casing had rotted to little pieces of rusty crap, my fuel system was full of it up to the filter assy. All parts stores are closed now but I have 3 new filters on order and I will put another in front of the Roto to catch the big chunks that may be left from my "vacuuming" of the tank. Big thanks Rabin for all the help!!!!!! Rick PS: any thought of aquiring another fuel sending unit???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bean Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 That's awesome Rick - glad I could help! If the car is a keeper and worth a little investment I'd recommend upgrading the filter assembly to Racor unit that they mention on the MB site once you use up your new filters. Al the upgrades they suggest are worthy of consideration on our cars. I bought my Monark nozzles from them and recommend them highly - great customer service. The also recommend running cheap plastic per-filters which would the the easier way to achieve the same thing. Bosch pumps are susceptible to dirt, so the cleaner the fuel, and the better the water separation the better. If you haven't done a valve adjustment I'd still put it on the future todo list - it's a good main item for these engines. Fuel sending unit should be the same as the gas ones, but maybe somebody closer with a good one can post up. If not - I'd try the vendor section for contact info for the most likely sources. (I'd try Parts Network for new, Peugeot Holm for used) Rabin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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