I'm glad this post bubbled up to the surface! Coming from the 'better safe than sorry' club, I'll definitely be doing this install.

Thanks, SUNRG. Great write up & pics, too!

filter
 

Thank you for referring me to this filter. I purchased one and I purchased the 150W heater that you install in the housing. Add a 12v fuel pump & injector line heaters and that should be enough to run 100% veggie oil through. I'll try it and see if it works good. Should extend for a long time the life of my primary, and secondary stock filters on a single tank system.

Is water in the fuel a concern with diesel fuel? I believe most gas pumps now have a hightech filter at the pump to remove water. If you put on the gas cap and it seals then is their any reason to worry about water in the fuel?

many, probably most people are not concerned. but, this inexpensive upgrade has the potential to protect and some expensive equipment, prolong equipment life and improve the OEM filter's lifespan and efficiency. Also - check this out: http://www.**************.com/node/2156

a little excerpt:
$52... did you get the 150 prefilter that comes with the clear bowl? the 150 should work well and when you change the filter you can replace it with a 30.

I think stations and distributors make some attempts to separate water prior to dispensing in your fuel tank. I don't know how serious these efforts are. Problem is, condensation builds up and there isn't much you can do to halt that. SUNRG is on the right track with this on-board separation system. I had a similar system installed on a new Olds diesel I had (years ago) at the strong recommendation of the factory mechanic I used. Much to my surprise, the separator was catching water all the time. Granted, it wasn't a lot, but it was ever-present. I think the unit was mfd by Stanadyne and it had a clear glass site bowl making inspection quik 'n' e-z.

It is impossible to have fuel that is "too clean". Additional filtration can only help to prolong the life of injection components and increase ability to remove water before it gets to the injection components and does damage. My Chevy has a water drain on the factory filter housing and it produces some water every time I drain it. I fail to see why MB did not offer this. RT

I did it too
 

I made pretty much the same modification after first reading this thread, but I used a Goldenrod Water Block spin on filter from Northern Tool.

IIRC, less than $20 for the unit with a filter and then less than $10 for a spare filter.

If nothing else, a little peace of mind. If there's any down side it's that I now have another spare filter to carry around with me.

i'm pretty familiar with the filters at NorthernTool and i'd love to see how you've set it up - can you post a pic?

All the Japanese diesel engines commercial or domestic come with water separator, I have installed a seperate Bosch seperator from day one I owned my vehicle, don't regret it, 75000 miles and engine is smoke free with 1/4 turn start in any weather.

I'm at work and I can't post a pic today, but here's how I did it:

I mounted the unit to the fender so it sits a little behind and above the glow plug reley. I fabricated my mounting bracket out of some heavy duty plastic with the help of a sabre saw and a heat gun. Somethng out of metal may be better, but this is what I was able to do at the time with what I had on hand. The unit just sits in a cut out in the plastic. This allows me to slide the unit and filter out of the bracket should I want to for any reason.

The unit I got has 1" inlet and outlet. I had to use a brass fitting that is barbed at one end to accept the fuel line and is 3/4" male thread at the other end. This threads into a PVC bushing that is 3/4" female to 1" male. The bushing then goes into the filter head.

I ran fuel line from the plastic pre-filter to the waterblock and then continued the fuel line out of the other side of the waterblock onto the pump.

I did this install at the beginning of December and I don't have any complaints yet.

Veggie filter
 

I recently installed the FM100. It was extremely efficient at filtering the diesel from everything else. The SVO collected in the bowl, plugged the filter and starved the engine from fuel:behead: . There was no water in the collection bowl, only veggie oil! All of the fuel was water filtered in the garage using a goldenrod before going in the tank (I had drained the tank in order to replace the fuel lines, so 100% of the fuel was de-watered and well filtered)

Any one have this happen to them?
I have sent an email to the company asking for clarification, with no response.

I just got mine yesterday. $58 total, including shipping. I did get the 150 micron filter, so I will change that out. But, for the $58, that included the water bowl at the bottom of the filter. Now to get the bolts, fittings and fuel lines...an install!

The filter does say diesel fuel only. I do not think this will work with WVO, but it should work with Bio diesel.

Stanadyne Response
 

Here is a response from the manufacturer about using Veggie oil, and thermostat settings:

QUOTE...
Without more knowledge of the problem it’s difficult to say what could have happened.
However here are some generic statements that can be said:

1. Vegetable oil fuels have well documented issues with quality, stability, oxidation, water absorption, cloud point and point pour deficiencies. With that in mind my first guess would be the problem stemmed from the quality of the fuel he is adding. Especially at 80% content, I would not trust the reliability of the fuel.

2. The filter media is not capable of separating DF2 from vegetable oil fuels therefore the separation process would have definitely begun prior to coming into contact with the filter paper. My guess is the vegetable oil fuel began to gel or become too viscous to flow thru the media, whereas the DF2 with the proper additive packages for stability and temperature resistance would not have began to gel and was still able to flow.

3. Furthermore, is he adding our filter to the existing filter on the car? The increased pressure loss of a redundant filter has the potential to create fuel restriction problems if not installed correctly for the application. Regardless of any fuel gelling problems, any improperly design filter system has potential for some problems. I would recommend if he has any questions to talk to one of our applications engineers.

4. As far as the heater goes, the thermostat is not capable of being changed since it is built into the heater and will automatically regulate itself. Depending on what heater he has here are the following on/off temperature cycles.
a. 100 Watt heater: On at 58˚F, off at 85˚F
b. 150 Watt heater: On at 42˚F, off at 75˚F

...END QUOTE

I wonder if there is a Goldenrod equivalent...

Has anybody tried using this filter for 100% Waste Vegetable Oil? Thats what I bought it for. I would like to hear some feedback before I install it.