My daughter insists that she got diesel fuel from the same pump that she always does and that it was indeed diesel.

However, she drove the car home after refueling, and it has yet to restart. I've checked the glow plug system thoroughly including all new plugs. The valve adjustment, timing and everything is very recently put in order.

I removed the main fuel filter and poured the contents in a clear jar. It is the normal gold/yellow color, except the very top is the color of green antifreeze. It can't be antifreeze or it wouldn't be mixed, there would be a bubble looking seperation between the gold and yellow color seperation, not a cloudy line between the two. Additionally where would antifreeze get into the fuel tank unless it was mixed with the fuel at the station.

It smells like diesel fuel as best I can tell. And I did not see even a hint of water in it.

Any ideas?

------------------
Larry Bible
'01 C Class, Six Speed
'84 Euro 240D, manual, 533K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

Larry,
I would drain the fuel tank and fill with what you know is good diesel fuel. I enjoy reading your posts.

Richard, Phoenix, AZ
1982 300D Turbo
1987 420SEL sold
1993 400SEL

Larry,

Sorry to hear your problems....

I had a similar problem with a truck once. No matter what we tried, the thing would not fire up. The only solution was to drain the entire fuel system, replace all the filters, and start over with fresh fuel.

I have a feeling the station where she got the fuel got a bad batch or have a leaking tank.... Maybe the tanker was contaminated?

Anyway, dumping all the 'bad' fuel and starting over seems to be a valid approach to this strange problem.

Good Luck

------------------
William
76 240D (W115) - 555K miles
78 300D (W123) - 200K+ miles -- SOLD

Larry, I agree with the others. If indeed it proves to be a bad batch of fuel, it woild be
a good idea to contact the station manager
and let it be known. There may have been other reports and maybe you can at least
get a credit.
Keep us informed!

------------------
1979 300D
133K miles
1989 300SE
1995 C280

If you got bad fuel, you should also be entitled to the cost of all the repairs.
P E H

Bad Diesel fuel is a real problem. One Friday, I filled the tank of my 1990 300D at a Westar station here in Miami three days after that last huge rain we had and almost immediately it began to smoke really bad.

Since I had recenthly had a large amount of work (injector pump, glow plugs, injectors) done on it, I took it back to Helmut and Hermann's shop. When they looked at it on Monday, they found about four gallons of water in the tank. They changed all the filters and had to replace an the fuel pump injector, which they said had become "water marked" and was therefore not returnable. The bill for all of this was around $315.00 parts and labor.

I called the station, and the bozo there (it is also a convenience store) said that he had no number for the owner of the station, did not know where Westar's HQ was, and that I might try calling at 10:00 to see if I could speak with "Mohammad".

I called the State of FL Agriculture Dept, which handles consumer complaints about fuel and weights and measures, and they checked the tanks (on the following Thrsday) and found that by then there was an acceptably low amount of water in the tank and so therefore I didn't have a legal leg to stand on, as I had no receipt and paid cash. He also said that there is no requirement that any gas station carry insurance against this sort of thing, and that he knew that Westar in particular was especially good at ignoring customer's complaints and to his knowledge had never paid any damages to anyone. Of course, one fill-up of a big rig would suck up maybe 90 gallons of whatever was in that tank.

After several calls, I was unable to contact Mohammad, or to find out anything about the Westar company.

Needless to say, I won't be darkening Westar's door again. I am not at all sure what companies have insurance or will make good on problems caused by bad fuel. I don't really trust ANY oil companies, but have been using a company-owned Mobil station, and getting a receipt. The cost is about 3 cents higher, but perhaps it is worth it if I don't get any more bad fuel.

I also plan to drive my other car (a simple, cheap gasoline-fueled Hyundai with a carb) for a week after any more big storms.

Good luck and pure fuel to you all.

Isn't Heating Oil colored to prevent diesel drivers from using it (thereby avoiding road-use, and other taxes)? Then again, even if you did get heating oil, it still ought to run. So I am thinking that maybe you ought to try getting a container of good diesel fuel, and stick the suction part of the fuel line into the container, and see if that makes it run. Should take less time than cleaning out your fueltank, and this way you can be sure its the fuel, and not something else...or vice-versa.
-Larry

Thanks to all.

I have thought about the suction line in the one gallon jug of fresh fuel for troubleshooting purposes.

It's difficult for me to understand how you can get "bad" fuel, unless it gets water in it. I suppose that there could be a mistake and some gasoline is in it.

I spoke last night with a friend of my daughters who also drives an MB diesel(daughter of BRAD who posts here occasionally) and she got fuel from the same pump about the same time. I could not determine if it was exactly the same time. I will have to ask the station if they have had any other complaints. This is a major brand station, but it is independently owned. The station changed hands about a year ago and has not been run as well since. I personally stopped buying fuel there, but it is next to my daughters high school and very conveniently located for her.

I will let everyone know the outcome. There is no guarantee that the problem is fuel.

Thanks to everyone,

------------------
Larry Bible
'01 C Class, Six Speed
'84 Euro 240D, manual, 533K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

Last year I stopped and bought fuel at a station which I don't remember the name of but it is first station on South side going west into CO from NB on RT 76. About 50 miles away The car came to a halt, primary fuel filter plugged. Since I always carry extra filters, I replaced the filter and away we went. On the other side of Denver the secondary filter plugged. Replaced that too the car still didn't seem to have the power it should have in the mountains. A week later between Las Vegas and Kingman AZ the primary filter plugged again. Replaced that and the car has been OK since.

So I blame the fuel station in CO for causing all my problems. Next time I go by there I'm going to give them Hell.
P E H

P.E.,

I assume that you saw lots of visible trash. The fuel looks clear on this car, although strange color.

Larry

Larry, Have you gotten the car fixed yet? If not I would really like to hear the outcome of the situation. Thanks

------------------
Adam,
1986 300E
1997 Acura Integra GS-R

Adam,

Don't worry, I'll post the results if it lives. It is pointing more and more toward bad fuel. I am buried this week, then I'm on vacation all next week. I expect to get it going one way or another. My daughter is being very patient about it, but I'm sure she wants her car running again.

Thanks,

------------------
Larry Bible
'01 C Class, Six Speed
'84 Euro 240D, manual, 533K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

It would seem that fuel would keep an engine from starting by being nasty with algae, trash and/or water.

I replaced the fuel filters and plugged in the block heater. The car still refueses to start. I am going to leave the block heater connected all day and check it tonight or in the morning.

I still have not tried totall different fuel. Could fuel that does not have trash, algae or water, STILL be bad and keeping the car from starting?

The car had 300 PSI compression on all cylinders just a couple of thousand miles ago. I can't imagine the compression going away.

It appears that it is going to come down to trying some fresh fuel from a one gallon jug as suggested.

Could the fuel be bad, not start, even if it looks good?

Thanks,

------------------
Larry Bible
'01 C Class, Six Speed
'84 Euro 240D, manual, 533K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

Larry,

Looks can be deceiving...

It may look good, but may not be worth using to start a forest fire!

Best to change it out before it adheres some impurity to the walls of your tank and really makes a mess.

------------------
William
76 240D (W115) - 555K miles
78 300D (W123) - 200K+ miles -- SOLD

I'm having a great vacation. I can't get the phone company to show up for my ISDN installation(ISDN is the best I can do here in the boondocks). And I still can't get my daughters car to start.

I went to a different station and got a gallon of diesel fuel.

I rigged a gallon jug with a hose to draw from the bottom of the jug and a vent hole. I emptied the main fuel filter and even rinsed it with fresh fuel. I emptied the primary filter, then pumped as much out of the system with the hand pump as I could. I then poured the main filter full and installed it, put the primary filter in place and connected the one gallon jug line, and pumped it all full.

I cranked a good bit and could still not get it to start. I am recharging the battery and will plug in the block heater.

How much fuel could possibly be in the pump and injectors themselves?

If the block heater and fresh battery don't work, I guess I'll do a compression check.

Any experience with purging fuel in this way? Any suggestions appreciated. It's getting closer to looking like the diesel injection pump may be at fault.

Thanks,

------------------
Larry Bible
'01 C Class, Six Speed
'84 Euro 240D, manual, 533K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles