I think I am having trouble with the #3 injection element in my 240D. I have been running a 50/50 (diesel/WMO) in the main tank for about a month now. I just set up my dual fuel system (which works great) about a week and a half ago. Over the last couple of weeks I have noticed the car (which used to run like a sewing machine) started to loose power. The first time it happened, I changed the fuel filter and it was back to normal. This time (a couple of days ago) I changed the fuel filter and nothing changed. Then, today, it started to run like it's running on three cylinders (slow, no power, smokes like a mosquito fogger, dances hip-hop at idle). I changed the fuel filter with no change. I swapped the fuel injectors with some I pulled from a boneyard - no change. So then I started to crack the fuel lines while the car was running. Cracking #1, 2, and 4 caused fuel to spray out in a mist and the engine wanted to die. When I cracked #3, however, fuel sort of oozed out and nothing really changed with the engine. Just for the sake of being thorough, I cracked the nut at both the injector and down at the pump. Same result.
Should this problem be isolated to one injection element since the rest of the engine runs fine? Can the injection element get the feed hole plugged over a period of a couple of weeks (doesn't seem likely)? Could the injection element just need cleaning? Could I replace this element with a boneyard pick? I know "the experts" say that each element is adjusted for certain fuel flow and timing, but how critical is it? You should see this car. It's not a beauty queen. I just need it to last a year and a half or less and survive my learning curve. Any other suggestions?
Should this problem be isolated to one injection element since the rest of the engine runs fine? Can the injection element get the feed hole plugged over a period of a couple of weeks (doesn't seem likely)? Could the injection element just need cleaning? Could I replace this element with a boneyard pick? I know "the experts" say that each element is adjusted for certain fuel flow and timing, but how critical is it? You should see this car. It's not a beauty queen. I just need it to last a year and a half or less and survive my learning curve. Any other suggestions?