Fuel here is almost water free but have to wonder if yours is. Try to accertain if you are getting the water from your suppliers. Everytime you fill up put a little fuel in a contained and let it sit for a day to see if any water dropplets accumulate at bottom of vessel. If you are in an area where it really never goes below freezing much the suppliers may add a little water to the diesel. They used to do it here with gasoline but the practice has been discontinued. I realise it sounds far fetched plus it is hard to believe the lack of ethics by some suppliers of fuel. Since it is usually dry where you live the water has to be coming from somewhere other than thin air.

I have occasionally pumped a gallon of fresh fuel into a gallon milk jug to check for water but have never found any.

It appears to me that maintenance is not a high priority at most of the gas/fuel stations around here. Card readers not working, pumps frequently out of service, octane rating not posted, out of reciept paper, spills not cleaned up, air/water dispensors not working, etc. Mostly neglect due to absentee ownership or arab ownership. In spite of the lack of maintenance, I have yet to find water in fresh fuel though. I am fueling 3 diesel vehicles at the same 3 or 4 stations and only this one has had fuel system problems. I think this car had a serious case of diesel clap before I came to own it and I just haven't been able to cure it yet.

My apologies to the thread owner for the hijack. We seem to have gotten way off the original topic.

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Palangi

2004 C240 Wagon 203.261 Baby Benz
2008 ML320 CDI Highway Cruiser
2006 Toyota Prius, Saving the Planet @ 48 mpg
2000 F-150, Destroying the Planet @ 20 mpg



TRUMP .......... WHITEHOUSE
HILLARY .........JAILHOUSE
BERNIE .......... NUTHOUSE
0BAMA .......... OUTHOUSE

Well. Again you all have guided me down a truely enlightened path. I changed the fuel filters this weekend and voila, no more hesitation. I did purchase some critter killer and some diesel 911 after I removed and drained the fuel filter into a clear glass jar and saw a ton of black specs (critters I presume). I also ran the locally available diesel injector cleaner additive through the system while I was at it. (I cannot find anyone locally with Diesel Purge). I will have to keep an eye on things and get a few extra filters and my thinking is, when the critters die off they will have to go somewhere (filters) I’ll have to change them often for a while, and switch fuel suppliers.

End result:
Money spent on a replacement vehicle = $0
Money spent on transmission repair = $0
Time spent on informative Mercedes forum = 2 hours
Money spent on replacement filters and BOIcide = $25
Time spent correcting malfunctioning diesel = 2 hours

A happy wife and a once again speedy diesel wagon = PRICELESS

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Dean

Dean

Glad to hear you have solved the problem.

About the Diesel 911, that is pretty potent stuff. It will pull out whatever water exists. The MB fuel filtering system does not seem to deal with water as well as I think it should. I would suggest you drain the main filter into a container at about 500 miles and see if any water exists. Unless you find something really gross in there you can refill the filter with fresh fuel and put it back on. What you find or don't find in the filter may dictate your filter maintenance going forward.

Edit: Drain the prefilter into a container also. I have on occasion found a few drops of water in there also. That kind of surprised me as I would not have thought a simple plastic mesh filter could do that.

Edit2: Let me emphasize again that Diesel 911 is powerful stuff. Its main purpose is removing water and sludge from a contaminated fuel system, not for use as an ordinary injector cleaner. I would caution not to overdose with this stuff. I have been using about 1 glug (couple ounces) with every other fillup, and only on the car that really needs it. Details for proper usage are on the Power Service website.

__________________
Palangi

2004 C240 Wagon 203.261 Baby Benz
2008 ML320 CDI Highway Cruiser
2006 Toyota Prius, Saving the Planet @ 48 mpg
2000 F-150, Destroying the Planet @ 20 mpg



TRUMP .......... WHITEHOUSE
HILLARY .........JAILHOUSE
BERNIE .......... NUTHOUSE
0BAMA .......... OUTHOUSE