Running an OM606 on Biodiesel
 

Has anyone had any results with this? I'm buying another E300 very soon, and am interested in experimenting with it. This would be filtered Biodiesel I'd be getting from a source of very good quality Bio.

I've read some of the newer diesels don't like Biodiesel.

Supposedly the rubber seals in the fuel system on the 606s are not bio safe. There's a whole viton seal upgrade that would need to be done.

As far as performance, I can tell you that they love bio just like every other IDI diesel.

Cool to hear. That's always the plan whenever I have my hands on an OM606, is to replace the seals with Viton. Those old seals just go bad on the drop of a hat. I think they're just crap quality too.

What kind of tank #'s have you recorded? Any different than before Bio?

I replaced all of the o-rings with viton just in case I ever have the opportunity to run bio. I like bio for it's lubricity and earth friendliness but the car gets awful mileage running it so, unless you're making it yourself, it's not economical.

yeah, not exactly ideal since I'll be unfortunately doing about a 50/50 mixed driving for awhile before my diesel really gets driven like it should.

running on B99

I found that the motor was quieter, the exhaust more pleasant

no significant change in fuel economy or performance, at least the way I drove it.

do plan on replacing rubber bits in the fuel system sooner or later

I have run my 1997 e300d on bio for a few years. However the past 2 years have not due to time restraints. It ran smoother and quieter but started to develop weeping and softness of original fuel lines which, i have not changed yet but will have to at some point.

Did it actually attack the plastic lines, or just the o-rings?

I ran my 97 E300D on creative fuel for virtually all of the 72,000 miles I put on it. Homemade BD mostly, but I also experimented with many miles of WVO/RUG blend. It liked this blend except in cold Feb. temps when starting times got extended and startup smoke. Went back to BD and all was well. Sold the car when it started rusting beyond what I wanted to deal with, and also had my eye on a 320CDI. Never had problems with the rubber bits disintegrating.

112,000 miles on creative fuel on my CDI so far and lovin' it.

I haven't heard anything positive coming out of running CDIs on Biodiesel. There was never any actual proof proven so far to back up the claims, but at 112K miles it sounds like you're going to be doing fine in the long-term.

The CDI didn't like the dry-washed fuel when I began dry washing in 2011 or so. I went back to water wash and all is well. I run 100% BD through the warm months, and blend about 20% pump diesel in cold winter to keep the BD from gelling.

There's a 10% hit to fuel economy with BD as compared to pump diesel.

I put a Bully Dog chip in to boost fuel rail pressure ('cause the 200 factory horses weren't quite enough!!!!).

Compared to the NA 606 that I had, the 648 motor is absolutely awesome.

Whats the correlation there you think?

I have no idea. I purchased the blue "rocket ship" type vessel to get away from water wash, especially in winter. I would run the BD through the media at least twice, but the CDI would run rough and lots of smoke. Not sure of the root cause, but went back to water wash and the car went back to smooth operation.

CDI is definitely more finicky on fuel as compared to the 83 300Sd, but then again, I think the 83 will run on rocks and small animal if that's all I have available!

I ran a WVO/RUG blend in my '99 all the miles I had it, and my friend has an identical car (color and all), and he has upwards of 40,000 Homebrew Biodiesel miles on it. The factory rubber hoses needed replacing mostly because they were starting to crack, but not because of running Bio. However, the delivery valve seals started to leak, so I replaced every Oring, rubber hose, and plastic fuel line under the hood just "because". The leaking DV seals could have been from age, or from the Bio, I don't know. Either way it is a small price to pay for the cheap fuel costs (about $1.25 per gallon, all things considered). The car runs awesome, and smells great too!

I tried 20 percent bio in my 84 300d and it did not run good at all. thinking about heating the fuel in the tank or at the filter.