Trust me...A Mercedes will overheat if you put WVO in the radiator. - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

veg_hed_300d · #1 04-12-2008, 02:30 PM

I just picked up a sorry 82 300 SD last week and have been un-veggie converting it and bringing it back to life. So the other day we changed the radiator on "EL Presidente". I know that I have heard that the radiators in these cars rarely go out but a botched veggie oil conversion by some idiot caused veggie oil to get pumped into the cooling system!!! So the radiator blew, the water pump went out and the cooling system was FULL of WVO!!! Here's the kicker: After the wanna-be-hippie mechanic tried to convert the car to WVO and failed the p.o.ed owner drove the car 2000 miles cross-country with WVO in the radiator!!! This all happened before I got the car so I am trying to bring it back to life....We flushed the whole system, including the heater core and I swear that the stuff coming out of the cooling system did not even resemble coolant...I guess this is a testament to these cars "toughness." Or just watch out who you let work on your cars... EL Presidente should be back on the road in a few short days. WVO-free.

kerry · #2 04-12-2008, 04:09 PM

As long as its WVO in place of the coolant and not coolant in the oil cooler, you'll probably be ok. Now that I think of it, if I was stranded in a remote location and lost my coolant, I'd probably use just about any liquid to get home. If I could get enough people to pee in the radiator, it might even try that.

Diesel911 · #3 04-12-2008, 04:10 PM

Do you think the PO routed some hoses wrong or that he thought: why bother with a heat exchanger system to heat the fuel. I'll just run my WVO straight into the cooling system and draw the heated fuel from there.

kerry · #4 04-12-2008, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diesel911

Do you think the PO routed some hoses wrong or that he thought: why bother with a heat exchanger system to heat the fuel. I'll just run my WVO straight into the cooling system and draw the heated fuel from there.

Jeeezuz. There's some out of the box thinking that could take you a long way.

Knightrider966 · #5 04-12-2008, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diesel911

Do you think the PO routed some hoses wrong or that he thought: why bother with a heat exchanger system to heat the fuel. I'll just run my WVO straight into the cooling system and draw the heated fuel from there.

I've seen some people do dumber things to their cars!

leathermang · #6 04-12-2008, 05:36 PM

Well, on the bright side... I am sure that waterpump bearing is nicely lubricated...

Palangi · #7 04-12-2008, 09:12 PM

WVO doesn't kill cars, WVO'ers do !!

NC Benz · #8 04-13-2008, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by veg_hed_300d

I just picked up a sorry 82 300 SD last week and have been un-veggie converting it and bringing it back to life. So the other day we changed the radiator on "EL Presidente". I know that I have heard that the radiators in these cars rarely go out but a botched veggie oil conversion by some idiot caused veggie oil to get pumped into the cooling system!!! So the radiator blew, the water pump went out and the cooling system was FULL of WVO!!! Here's the kicker: After the wanna-be-hippie mechanic tried to convert the car to WVO and failed the p.o.ed owner drove the car 2000 miles cross-country with WVO in the radiator!!! This all happened before I got the car so I am trying to bring it back to life....We flushed the whole system, including the heater core and I swear that the stuff coming out of the cooling system did not even resemble coolant...I guess this is a testament to these cars "toughness." Or just watch out who you let work on your cars... EL Presidente should be back on the road in a few short days. WVO-free.

I doubt they put WVO in the radiator. More than likely one of their WVO heater hoses has a leak and sucked some WVO in. There are some hoses that run a "coolant" hose outside of a fuel line.

veg_hed_300d · #9 04-13-2008, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NC Benz

I doubt they put WVO in the radiator. More than likely one of their WVO heater hoses has a leak and sucked some WVO in. There are some hoses that run a "coolant" hose outside of a fuel line.

Actually the idiot somehow hooked the fuel line to a coolant line and the coolant line to the fuel line. So there was oil pumped into the radiator and coolant pumped into the fuel tank. But they didn't figure this out until after the car idled like crap for about 10 minutes. But then they didn't flush the system. I guess they didn't think that much WVO was pumped in the coolant system. The fuel tank was drained though. The "coolant" that we flushed out the other day even smelled like WVO. Insane.

But on a brighter note, "EL Presidente" should be un-veggied and on the road next week after I get the new rotors slapped on.

Hatterasguy · #10 04-13-2008, 01:57 PM

Wow I guess people are that dumb!

pawoSD · #11 04-13-2008, 02:09 PM

Yet another reason to never destroy one of these fine cars with a gross rigged WVO system.

veg_hed_300d · #12 04-13-2008, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pawoSD

Yet another reason to never destroy one of these fine cars with a gross rigged WVO system.

I knew this was coming sooner or later...Just make sure you don't hire some wanna-be-hippie mechanic to destroy your car. A quality veggie conversion with minimal "destruction" can be accomplished with the right knowhow. But I think I might hold off on the veggie conversion on this one. It's such a cool looking car I don't think it needs anything extra at this point.