Note to Biodiesel Users.
 

I just noticed today that the rubber gasket around the filler neck where the neck goes into the body on my 300TD was sitcky and gooy. Basically useless. This probably explains the water in the bay below the filler neck. I also noticed that the drain hose that is in the filler area was pretty well melted and sticky. I am assuming the biodiesel did this. You guys may want to check your as well.

Hey Thanks for the update.

Is this B100? If so any idea on how much it might have taken to soften the rubber?

Its probably a good idea to keep such areas clean with regular washings/water rinse if running biodiesel. You'd probably be hard pressed to find a replacement piece that was b100 friendly. :)

There was a letter sent out to our local Bio group from a VW Diesel owner whose rubber components were disintegrating. He has been using bio D for quite a while. Personably I'm holding off putting anything but dino diesel into my engines.:rolleyes:

Personally if I eat up a hose every 5 years it doesn't matter to me...I am not bent on getting under my car or working in the engine bay to replace a few pieces of cheap rubber :)

Some people freak when they see rubber getting eaten up...I guess they never saw what gasoline does to some rubbers as well!!! heh

Since March 05 I put about 7K miles on B100. This winter I started blending, cause it got too cold. So the deterioration is probably due to B100.

Rinsing and washing is probably a good idea. Thanks

Andrew

Yep each time I wash my car I open the gas door and give that area a good scrub with the leftover soapy water and such. If you can get the oilyness off the rubber will last much longer.

A lot of people forget to clean in there...but if it gets dirty in there the outside of the car will start to show it too! :D

wodnek had one on his 300
 

that he took out when the car went up on stands for repainting and such. his sat on a table in the sun. since he just poured the b100 directly in from the cubie it tended to splash. the filler neck donut got all gooy and soft and even left residue on the table or your hands when handled.









love that home brew b100 solvent:)

What all is needed to run bio in the Benz? Are the seals in the pump already Viton or Nitrile?

There are no rubber seals inside the injection pump on the fuel side of things. The only parts that would be affected would be the lift pump (perhaps) and then all the rubber hose you see.

There is a o-ring at the top of the IP elements but this sees no fuel flow past it. The pump takes it fine :)

Ok, thats awsome! My buddie who is into rabbits runs heated wvo and bio had to replace the o-rings in his IP and also a few seals which were a bit of a pain to find. Glad i'm not going to have to deal with that ;)

Inline pumps (MB) versus rotary (VW).

Already replaced that part. Yes, some folks get freaked out by that nasty biodiesel eating rubber parts, but the replacements do not deteriorate nearly as fast.

Where are you guys getting the alcohol for the bio from?

check out
 

www.biodieselnow.com and look at the forums. there should be one for your state and prolly a question just like it there.


we get ours from wausau chemicals in wausau wi. but that may be a little expensive for delivery for you.

I just got my car a couple of weeks ago and I've been doing some research on SVO. I was looking at greaseworks.org and they are selling hose kits they claim hold up to continued B100 use. The price for a kit is around $100 depending on your car. It's unclear to me exactly what a kit consists of, but I'm guessing it's the rubber parts B100 destroys over time.

You may notice that I am in Corvallis and so is Greaseworks, but I don't know anything about them other than what's on the website and I don't have any experience with their products.