I use Castrol Syntec 5w50 in my 75 240D and no more leaks, and cranks AWESOME when its cold.

Been running straight veggie in my Suburban for 1 year. Designed and installed the conversion myself. Now I'm retiring the Suburban so as to run biodiesel in my Mercedes. I don't want to mess with the conversion to run straight veggie.
And the Suburban was a piece of junk that I bought from the police impound simply to experiment with veggie.
If you need any advice on the veggie conversion, I can help I'm new at biodiesel though.

I bet lovecraft does not want people running synthetic because it will cut into their oil change jobs. If their customers are too lazy/uneducated to replace some rubber lines and add a bypass fuel filter, they probably can't change their own oil.

So you're saying small time actors, art gallery employees, and furniture boutique people can't turn a wrench?

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1974 240D 3.0L 4(M) - 250K -OM617.910 + 300D FW + Rajay turbo power!
1977 6.9 3(A) - 84k

Let's say hypothetically, that everyone hops on the veggie oil bandwagon. Boy, this will sound stupid. I am imagining that over a long period of time, with all the heated oil particulates coming out of the exhaust that we'll all be sliding around slippery freeways/streets. It'll be braking chaos all over America! Just kidding, veggie oil does biodegrade w/i hours of exiting the exhaust vs diesel stays in the air for days. I'm just wondering if it completely dissipates, or is there a minute oily residue left that might build up over 10 years or so.
Anyone have a picture of what REALLY good WVO is supposed to look like after multiple filtrations?
Newguy, how did your Suburban veggie (SVO?) experiment go? Any conclusions?
Frankie

Oh, no. I'm sure there are many more than that.

What will happen is that restaurants will stop giving away the oil and start charging for it so the managers can make money on the side. Once that happens, all the followers doing it to be part of the "in crowd" will give up, dump their cars in the junkyards, and go back to their Honda/Toyota/Lexus hybrids.

sounds great, more parts..

OLDER model ? How old do you need to go....try WW II aircraft engines on synthetic oil AND gasoline

".............
The first synthetic oils were developed in the 1930s and '40s, and used in industrial applications and during wartime. In World War II, the Germans began using synthetic oil, noticing that refined crude had a tendency to freeze as they attempted to advance into Russia. Years later when jet aircraft emerged, it became clear that only synthetic oil could survive the high temperatures found within jet engines. Synthetic oils designed for cars began to appear in the 1970s. In fact, while no producer of synthetic oil outright recommends that you ignore your car's suggested maintenance schedule, "Mobil 1," one of the first commercially available synthetic oils, was so named because it claimed to allow once-a-year oil changes. ................"



.

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[http://languageandgrammar.com/2008/01/14/youve-got-problems-not-issues/ ]

"A liberal is someone who feels they owe a great debt to their fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money."

Mobile 1 has had a detergent effect in my w201 engines. I have a 2.3 8v that has 160k on the ticker, that I did a head gasket on at around 135k miles or so. The interior of the valve train and timing case were noticably 'scorched' looking - burned-on brown residue. After re-assembly, I filled with Mobile 1 and forgot about it. After 20k miles (3 oil changes), I pulled the valve cover to check the condition of things...and was amazed at how clean everything looked! The first couple of oil changes produced some nasty, blackish oil...the last one (#4 since switching) looked like it could have gone another few thousand miles.

No leaks to speak of, but then again, I changed the oil pan gasket, front and rear main seals, re-sealed the timing cover, and the valve cover gasket when I did the head gasket...

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1973 280 - Current Project Car
1979 240d - 100% Stock
1982 380sl - 100% Stock
1985 190e 2.3 - Heavily Modified

That's the plan

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'83 300D Turbo
Current: ???K mi - 19.2mpg -> 17.4mpg -> 22.9mpg ---> ODO Died
bought at: 233.8K mi - 10MPG For $1.00
3.5 cylinders work: 320 320 100 340 280
Got insurance? FarmersReallySucks.Com

I put over 20,000 miles on veggie in the suburban. I killed 2 injection pumps during that time. But.... it was due to my experimentation and lack of knowlege early on in the process. Mostly, I was trying to switch over to veggie before the veggie reached 150F. Also I later put an electric heater in just prior to the injection pump. I then could turn on the heater to slowly heat up the diesel prior to switching to veggie. This allowed the injection pump to heat up (which by the way has a significant thermal mass). That way when I switched to veggie the veggie isn't cooled down as much by the injection pump.
Veggie gets about .5 to 1 mpg less than diesel.
I could go on for hours like this, but... gotta work.

Sorry about the reppition here, but PLEASE DO NOT WORK WITH LOVECRAFT. I have heard so many problems that I would never let my mercedes near them. Also, I don't think that his system would work in the cold areas. He sells so many mercedes but they are all around a some what arid area. I feel bad for all the people that are going to kill their pumps and injectors after a couple of miles on their mercedes.

Okay, I am done with my little tirade. I just wanted to get that out of my system as I have heard about so many disasters.

DK

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1983 300sd 253,000 + 13,000 (10,000+ on veggie and biodiesel)= 266,000
1983 300sd 390,000 (Leaky windshield seal) Known to me as the shower car. Parts car now!
1 junk 300sd Watch out for the skunk that lives underneith it!

I can only speak from my own experience. I took over my mom's 84 300SD at 182K miles and she had been running Castrol I believe. I switched to Mobil 1 syth and changed the oil every 3K miles. I am now at about 217K miles. After two valve adjustments I can saw the "crud" level and deposits sitting up top in the valve train is night and day better. The car burns less oil (less than a quart in 3K miles) and the leak on the main front seal (crank to fan) is down to the point where it doesn't drip on the garage floor anymore and I only give it a simple green wipe off once a month (driven daily).

Every car in the garage runs mobil 1.

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~shell
As of 2/2010:
2001 CLK55 0o\=*=/o0
13.6 @ 106mph
10K mi
1984 300SD
260K mi and going and going...
97 S600
46K miles
1991 Sentra SE-R (extremely dorked with)
www.se-r.net

I will not work with Lovecraft, Doug. Thanks. I was considering it, driving down to LA and have the conversion done while I visit friends and relatives but I took a look at the website, forum and some of the questions were answered with a bit of elitist attitude. It took me awhile to figure out if it was confidence in their work or elitist.

I also realize that I probably do not need a conversion involving a seperate tank due to mild weather in the Peninsula. I can take the Forester for the long trips to Tahoe or Yosemite in the winter, that Old Priest grade is a B---! My Forester is my comfort SUV, so dependable and turbo, zoom!
I probably just need a inline heater for the fuel to warm to 150 deg. and 3-4 gallons dino diesel combined with each tank of veggie oil. Still researching. . .
BTW, is biodiesel compatible with veggie oil?? I'd rather use that.
Today, I discovered that the low fuel warning light doesn't work! I was watching for the light like a hawk ready to fuel up but no light. I was damn lucky to barely get to the station! and this is just 2 days after learning from this forum, never to let the tank completely empty= air in fuel line = no restart until flush air out! Whew! Phase 1 part 1, first tank of diesel since ownership = 23.8 mpg. Gotta add that to the fix- it- please list.