Pulled my fuel tank last friday
 

I pulled my fuel tank out last friday,
82 240D, its really pretty easy.

1) disconnect 3 fuel lines on the bottom of the tank, 2 of the 3 can be used to drain the contents of the tank.
1a) Disconnect the fuel sender wiring (under the first aid kit)
1b) disconnect the vacuum to the vacuum resivoir, it might go hiss =)
2) The fuel filler neck is only held in by a big rubber grommet, pull this grommet..or leave it in, it flexes a lot
3) 4 screws hold in the "front of the truck" wall (sheet metal w/ carpet covering) - pull this
4) 4 nuts hold in the tank itself, the tank can "fly" out the trunk when everything is disconnected

its really not all that bad, it took me 4hrs to get it out, play for 2hrs, and get it back in, I could now swap out tanks in 1 hr if need be (probably less...)
I almost didnt need to jack up my w123 either, the gas lines are above everything else.

a couple things to be careful for
-you WILL get diesel on you, it will NOT wash out the first time...be aware...
-its easier if you can climb in and sit in the trunk to get the tank out, bending over the trunk sux =)
- the tank holds 15 gallons, I think I refilled mine with 17 gallons when all was said and done (5gal from a portable tank and 12 from the gas station...


the only potential problems I ran p against are the OEm hose clamps, they are phillips-screwed on, my clamps were tight, dirty, tough to get a screwdriver in and I couldnt get one of them off (stripped the head...) This wasnt a critical failure (better that than bend the fuel tank tubing...) but required a closely sized piece of replacement tubing and hose clamp - if the size of replacement fuel hose (and clamp) arent "pretty close", plan on finding a pint of fuel on the ground the next morning, the size hose I used that seemed to work fit on the tank nipples tightly.

Ask questions now while I still remember how I did it =)

-John

OK, first off, why did you do it?

sorry, posted from work, was busy...
 

The real reason : Oh, and my wife was spending the evening with her female friends...what else was I gonna do ?

I found my primary(?) fuel filter (the clear plastic one) had some black specs in it. The car has 279k on it right now, I bought it a year ago with 268k on it. (son of an MB regional rep...the air cleaner had a star on it =)
I'd been getting concerned that it had algae in it, (I was scared by the pictures on this forum =) and given the age, anything was possible. I'd also wanted to pull the tank or strainer, I'd know how to do it later if need be.
The strainer was fine, I blasted it with brake cleaner, dried w/ air and put it back in. the black specs on the fuel filter were after 10k miles or running, so it was probably just dirty fuel.
I've been looking to get my mileage up as high as I could, and I wanted to be sure that my strainer wasnt holding me back before I went on to more expensive items. I used to get 23-24mpg on my 100% city commute, I'm now at 27/28 (29 maybe, we'll see in a couple more tankfulls).

-John

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/92826-240d-fuel-tank-removal-cleaning.html

Your job with pictures.

Dave