Smoke and Biodiesel questions
 

OK, about 200 miles into my first full tank of B100. Last tank was 50/50 of 'whatever the last guy had' and B100. Also did a Purge (just one bottle) and replaced fuel filters. I should note, I replaced the filters before the purge. It's got about 259K on it - all old diesel, no B100 or anything every put in it before.

Still I have some smoke. Usually very minimal white smoke, at start up, or from a standing start. At night a little more obvious. Its not belching huge clouds, except if I jump on the pedal to help it start (it seems to not start super easy if I am parked on a slope, engine upslope). Anyway, my mechanic, a very good mechanic (Enrique at Mr. MB in Tarzana) said not to be bothered by it.

Is this normal? Should I keep running the B100 to see if it clears? And, what is in the smoke if its B100? Smoke still smells like 'diesel' too.

If after 500 miles of B100, and new filters again, and there is still smoke, what else can I look into? Injectors?

You didn't drain the tank, so you're still getting a bit of a blend, hence the smell. White smoke on startup is normal for me and I'm running B99 -- worse when it's colder out. Hard starts uphill is probably just that B100 is more viscous than D#2, especially when cold, so the lift pump is working harder to suck it from the tank.

White smoke on startup is normal for me too. IMHO you changed your filter too soon. It will take a few tanks of B100 to clean up the tank, lines, etc. When you get hesitation (like you are running out of fuel) change the secondary filter again. I carry a spare filter and gloves with me just in case. Fortunately I haven't had to do a road side change. Do you have 2 filters on your car? I'm only familiar with the 124.

Chris

You'll clog up filters until all the gunk and buildup in your fuel system is gone. It all depends on how much there is in the system. My wagon wasn't bad at all. I had one really bad filter and that was about it. But I put one tank of B50 into my 240 and I clogged up the filters real in 200 miles. So it varies from one car to another.

White smoke on start up might be a bad glow plug. If one is bad that cylinder won't burn as well as the others when cold. So you might check your plugs. But, a little smoke on start up is normal. If it goes away shortly after I wouldn't worry about it. But if it start billowing out and won't go away I would be worried.