My aunt is driving her '87 240dl with 202,xxx miles on the clock. She is driving along at 40mph and gives it throttle, the car looses power and shuts off. Now it will not start. It will turn, just not fire up.

From this diagnosis, it sounds like either the fuel pump has given out, or the fuel filter is clogged.

Does anybody else have an idea of what might have caused this?

Thanks,
Nick

 

check the date on the fuel pump relay. when they get old, they'll run til they get hot, then quit for a while. should be above the felt pannel at the passengers knees (US models, anyway). it's a white rectangular relay. if it's over 7 years old (from personal experience), there's a good chance thats your problem.

also, rust clogging the in-tank fuel sock will cause a similar problem. it'll run til the sock gets clogged, then will die til the rust floats off, and crank again for a while

 

It's the pump. I tested the relay and it wouldn't prime. So then I went to remove the sending unit from the tank and it was so rusted that it just broke apart. I had the car towed to a shop since I live 80 miles away and it was in a parking lot. [:@]

Nick

 

Hello- I can't get my 240 to shift into a higher gear- is there an adjustment I can make?- Thanks- PaulDD