Just watched the local news, there was an item about Biodiesel with Darryl Hannah who is driving an El Camino running on BioDiesel(?), she was even taking a zip off it!

They also mentioned that of the first of next year there will be a Biodiesel station just around the corner from my house in Marina Del Rey. Guess it will be time to replace the fuel lines!

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

wierd never heard of a diesel el camino but i googled it and it said it was made from 83-84.

Jorn, there is a Co-op which is being formed right now and the tank is supposed to be in Culver City somewhere. I can't join becuase of the high startup costs and the 20 mile cross town drive to get to it.

Which station will carry "B99.9"? I know the breakdown is supposed to be 8000 gallons per month to break even. I guess they did their research.

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1974 240D 3.0L 4(M) - 250K -OM617.910 + 300D FW + Rajay turbo power!
1977 6.9 3(A) - 84k

I have been a couple of bits on SVO use and BD use here in Boise, and I have heard a few stories on BD on NPR. I always get excited about it, cause there is not B100 pump in town. I have to store it in my garage, which isn't all bad.

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So that would be the Olds 5.7? Pure evil, that engine. Forgive me while I go retch in the corner.

The 5.7 was a decent engine....the 4.3 V-6 diesel was the Turd....


J. R. B. knows these well.

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Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Why don't you try to be more specific? Don't give me lame generallities. Tell me what you think are the design flaws (and don't tell me it's a re-worked gasser) then I will tell you how they were corrected and how it was turned into a good engine. Like any engine the biggest problem is poor maintenance. I've rebuilt too many of those engines to accept "pure evil" as fact. Just finished rebuilding one this week including pump and injectors and it is waiting for a happy owner. As a side note I have noticed that parts are starting to get a little hard to find and spendy. I'm glad that I have a stash of them in one of my sheds.

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1983 300-D turbo
1985 300-D turbo
1959 Harley Panhead chopper
1929 Ford coupe restored
I hang out with Boneheaddoctor at Schuman Automotive OBK#5
All liberals are mattoids but not all mattoids are liberal.

Perhaps they have been fixed. I am not referring to design flaws, although this was probably the case. I am referring to two instances of this 5.7 engine, during the late seventies and early eighties:

#1 - Blown head gasket. Broken crankshaft. Failed seals in the injection pump.

#2 - Broken piston. That essentially killed the car.

Blown head gasket--Old style head bolts
Broken crankshaft--ether used? I have seen ether break the main bearing caps.
Failed seals in the IP--The only problems I have seen with the pumps on these are the plastic governor drives which were updated to metal ones and the advance plunger and housing on them will gall which can be re-sleeved and new plunger installed.
Broken piston--ether or maybe water got into the intake and down through into a cylinder. When the engine was turned over maybe the piston slammed up against the water. This happened to one of mine because the air filter cover wasn't seated down properly and water got inside a cylinder from melting snow. That one was my fault not the engines.

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1983 300-D turbo
1985 300-D turbo
1959 Harley Panhead chopper
1929 Ford coupe restored
I hang out with Boneheaddoctor at Schuman Automotive OBK#5
All liberals are mattoids but not all mattoids are liberal.

I recall the brand new OLDS Delta 88 that my father bought new in 1978 it had three major shop visits before it reached 12,000 mile the first visit was the IP pump failure the other to where do to the cheap metric transmission and the final blow what the rod when throught the block. At this point it was traded and sent to an auction. I also can recall many mid 80's modles that live for many miles. I was too young to drive then but I think this was the start of the diesel toxins that infect my blood even today. The Old John Deere 2 cly helped to.

FYI -- It can takes many months/years of Neat biodiesel use to break down those old rubber hoses. Also , a theory is that you do not need to spend 6.00 a foot for Viton hoses. Just by the same braided hose for 2.00 to 3.00 Here is my experience :

1) 1991 Jetta 250K, ran highest blend biodiesel I could (B100 in warm season , B50-B75 in colder months) for 1.5 years before the old braided injector hoses finally gave way. Replaced with new braided hose.

2) 1981 300D -- they were bad when I got the car (leaking around connections) and biodiesel made it a little worse maybe. Replaced with braided hose.

So if they are already leaking or old , you may want to replace them, but if they are not, then I would not worry about it.

Regarding the theory of not needing the Viton rubber--
A diesel shop mechanic said it was combination of the old formulas of D2 that started the breakdown of the rubber and the methanol in the biodiesel finishes it off. This makes sense to me when I look at my wife's 98 TDI and it has the same braided rubber hoses yet they are not supposed to be subject to Biodiesel breakdown -- the D2 formula changed before her car was made.
It could be a different rubber though.

I replaced all mine with 3.00 braided hose from an MB mechanic in town. I've read where other people have too.

cheers,

ummm, ok rookie question but what is 3.00 braided hose? I need to replace my old lines. I'm going to convert to either b100 or wvo as soon as I get my SD dialed in to original diesel spec and I was going to use Viton...rather use NAPA otc line or Gates...I'm just curious about the terminology...3.00 braided and where I can find it and so on and if it's different then what I was going to use...like I said, rookie question...

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1983 300SD... 269,000 miles, nearly 2,500 on my B-100, Faded Grey, Ugly in an elegant sort of way...Duh-Benz


If any of this has been a blasphemy to you, then good, because it's been a blast for me to...A.Whitney Brown

$3.00 (or less) per foot braided hose just like what came on the car. you can get it on line, at a dealer, or at a German car mechanic. Half as cheap as Viton and easier to come by for me.

Gotcha...feeling goofier then usual for asking but gotcha now, Thanks.

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1983 300SD... 269,000 miles, nearly 2,500 on my B-100, Faded Grey, Ugly in an elegant sort of way...Duh-Benz


If any of this has been a blasphemy to you, then good, because it's been a blast for me to...A.Whitney Brown

There is no methanol in quality (washed) biodiesel. Biodiesel will break down "rubber" fuel line, even new nitrile. My first conversion I ran a second tank in the trunk filled with B100, and plumbed it with new line. I plugged a filter with black goo every week until I stopped running B100 in the second tank.

Shorter lengths will not be a problem for a while, but it will break it down. I have replaced all the rubber lines in my car with viton, only 2 feet of 1/4" and 2 feet of 5/16". Not too bad.

B20 will hardly be noticed. It's B100 that will need attention.

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'83 240D with 617.952 and 2.88
'01 VW Beetle TDI
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD
'89 Toyota 4x4, needs 2L-T
'78 280Z with L28ET - 12.86@110
Oil Burner Kartel #35

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...oD/bioclip.jpg