After reading all the posts and knowing there was a West Marine fairly close by, I bought a 16 oz bottle of Star Tron today. I put what I estimate to be 2 ounces in about 3/4 of a tank of diesel. My car runs great so I noticed only a little better performance...not much and a bit quieter engine. What I DID notice is I can't seem to get ANY visible smoke on hard acceleration. I don't get much smoke anyway, but when I floor it, I usually get a puff of dark smoke. Don't see any now. Probably drove 40 miles today on the Star Tron. Guess I'm a sucker for trying things to get the most out of the SD. I use a few ozs of Power Service w/every fill up; have tried Redline; and an AMSOIL product also. The only thing I use regularly is Power Service Silver.

Reg in Texas
1985 300SD
Astral Silver 240ishK miles

After experiencing fuel starvation and bits of black stuff in the primary filter I dropped the tank strainer last week to find it coated with rubbery black goo. Of course I hadn't thought to order a new one ahead of time so I scrubbed it clean with a toothbrush and Marvel Mystery Oil. That solved my fuel flow problem but now the primary filters are loading up with the goo so I'm sure there's a good bit of that hanging around that tank still.
After reading about Star Tron here and on the StarBrite web site I figured I'd give it a whirl since 8 bucks beats yanking the tank. The good folks at StarBrite have a dealer locater on the website and I found out that WalMart sells the 8 ounce bottles in the boating supplies section. If you live in a coastal state your WalMart probably sells it also.
I just put two ounces into about a third of a tank in my 300D and am going to change the primary filter before driving it again. After a week or so I should know whether it's working or not and will post the results for anyone who cares to find out how it went.

I may be wrong but it sounds like you have a build up of diesel goo and not the microbes. Try adding some Power Service diesel supplement, also available at WalMart. I use it every other tank to keep my injectors and fuel system clean.

Star Tron is good stuff. I had an "infection" last summer and it cleared it right up.

Cheers,

Bill

__________________
Cheers,
Bill

The largest contributor ** 95% ** to the black gunk in diesel fuel systems is the mysterious asphaltene. These non-combustable (they don't burn very well) polar radicals are in diesel and fuel oils etc... They tend to adhere to each other and form larger chains like polymerizations that clog the fuel filters in diesel systems.
Asphaltenes and parafinic waxes are a real big problem that the oil industry has to deal with at the well level just to keep the crude flowing. Even at the refining level this junk is still in our refined diesel at the pump. The objective is to stop agglomeration of these asphaltenes and keep them dispersed/seperated allowing them to pass through the fuel filters before they start to get big and plug up things.
Bio-material is a tiny fraction of what can cause problems in fuel systems. Think about the size, 1-5 um , and construction of a bacterium and other microorganisms. They do not stick together well like asphaltenes and do not polymerize into strong chains.
Use a commercial fuel dispersant with a stabilizer (from someone who uses a Bycosin product or similar). Remember that the oxidation process with diesel starts promptly upon leaving the cracking towers and when it sits in your tank oxidation is accelerated by air, water , metal , everything in the fuel tank. Diesel degrades at a 2 digit rate in just a few days. Most of us never have an empty tank so we you always have a batch of starter waiting for you to increase the rate of oxidation when you add new fuel.

__________________
1986 300SDL 201K Daily Driver
1984 300D In Progress
1989 240GL 196K Swedish Brick
1984 300SD -- Sold 289K
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I use it regurlarly in my diesels and also my gasser.

Definelty helped with running on WVO in the Diesels, & it suspends any moisture and allows it to be burnt in the injectors....


..

__________________
'87 924S
'81 280SEL

Sold ->

81 300SD -
93 300E w/ 3.2
85 300D-
79 300SD
82 300CD
83 300CD - CA
87 190E 5 spd
87 Porsche 924S

"..I'll take a simple "C" to "G" and feel brand new about it..."

Statron is a stock item at west marine and on their website--saves the running around trying to find it.

I still swear by it. wgilmore's comment's mirror what Peter from Starbite said as well.

__________________
Mark
========
THE WHITE FLEET
2016 GLE300d 4-MATIC 38K BROWN!
2012 S350 Bluetec==94k WHITE

2007 ML320 CDI==166K WHITE (FOR SALE)

Under new management:
2005 E320 CDI--140K--WHITE
1995 E300-Diesel-133.5K--THE CAR IS BLUE
1986 300SL--97.5K (European) AND WHITE. Back in Europe!
1991 190E 2.3-73K California Perfect.--WHITE
1995 E320-Wagon-159K--WHITE (recently scrapped)
1987 300D Turbo-213K--WHITE
1987 190D 2.5 Turbo-288K--WHITE

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I finally got the GREMLINS out of my fuel tank!
She was sitting for way too long and the little buggers invaded the fuel and this is the product i got today from our local marina repair shop.Very potent stuff too.http://www.lubricants-oil.com/products/6.shtml
So heres a few pics of the product and of course one of my new additions to the great family of Mercedes Benz....And yes there will be more MB coming into the yard very soon!
Best regards to all
Dan
Vancouver BC
Nice chatting with you Bob!!
Attached Thumbnails


As a foot not to this product,It did not increase my fuel millage,nor was I expecting it to,but after two treatments the nasty gremlins are gone.

Attached Thumbnails

   

__________________
Cheers
Big Dan MEng

Visit my Blog..
http://allformercedesbenz.blogspot.com/

www.benzguy.piczo.com



If at first you don't succeed,
Skydiving is not for you.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS NO
MATCH FOR NATURAL STUPIDITY.

If anything can go wrong,fix it!
The hell with Murphy!!
I never think of the future.It comes soon enough.

I am looking for more info on removing the tank strainer w/o removing the tank. I can't get the fuel up to the primary filter. I can't see where the strainer comes out of the bottom of the tank - is this a 'remove tank' job?

__________________

87 300d w/ Greasecar kit 214k
94 chevy 6.5
95 chevy suburban 6.5
96 ford e350 van
3 years - no petroleum, all SVO
Bozeman, MT

I couldn't get my tank strainer out so I just switched the return and suction lines to the fuel tank. Under the hood, drivers side just above steering column, right where the steel tubing meets the rubber fuel line just disconnect and switch them so you're sucking through the return line which has no screen and pushing up through the tank screen. It seems to go to the bottom of the tank. I've run mine pretty low on fuel according to my gauge.

Cheers,

Bill

__________________
Cheers,
Bill

Cleaning the screen made a big difference in keeping the fuel system from sucking air into the lines. The StarTron has not made a noticeable difference in fuel mileage or how the car runs. It does seem to idle a bit smoother but that could be wishful thinking. One thing that has not happened is that the primary filter has not clogged. There are some larger bits of black stuff that have accumulated in there so I'm going to swap it out anyway but I do seem to be getting proper fuel flow. The fuel gauge used to stop at a quarter tank and not go lower and it's working better now. So there is a good chance that the StarTron is dispersing the goo in my tank but I don't have a physical examination of the inside of the tank to support that. If spending the eight dollars saved me from dropping the tank to clean it and/or the fuel gauge sending unit it was well worth it. I don't think I'll be running it as a regular fuel supplement without some measurable improvement in engine operation.