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Originally Posted by tstarr
I have been running B100 in my 87 300SDL for a couple of months now, starting off with some mixing of BD with DinoDiesel. I've been noticing that the car had no pickup - once it got up to speed it ran really smoothly, but it had no power going uphill or when I tried to pass. I had chalked it up to fuel filters clogged or such and planned to check it out.
Well, the other morning I didn't have time to lug the 5 gallon containers of biodiesel to pour in, so I got regular diesel at the pump. I saw a nearly immediate improvement in performance. It is VERY noticeable that my car has much better pickup with dino diesel. I had heard that, to run B100, one should probably tune the IP, but I didn't have this issue with the 82 SD. Any ideas on why the incredible dropoff in performance?
I'd love to run biodiesel, but sheesh....
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Some cars are jsut sensitive to the marginally less power/energy biodiesel fuel has.
There's something like 8-10% less energy in BD than Dino.
In the 240D I notice the EXACT same thing as you. As the principle mechanic for the Boulder Biodiesel Co-op, I've dealt with the gamut of BD issues and run the fuel for a few years (off and on, more 'on' this year than any other) and have noticed this same phenomenon.
In the 300D Turbo, NO difference is detected between B100 and Dino. Probably because of the over-abundance of neck-snapping, tire burning, axle-shearing, raw HP available in that engine compared to the 240.
Try going to B20. It's a good compromise and you'll have your power AND all the benefits (engine wise anyway) of using BD. It'll also be fine for a winter fuel.