Overview: this upgrade addresses the concern some have over the absence of a fuel/water separator in 123s, and adds an excellent pre-filter that should increase both the final filter’s efficiency and life.

Top View (install details follow):


Parts:
Stanadyne FM100 30 micron pre-filter water seperator assembly (3/8" NPT ports)
go to www.reliableindustries.com or call 800-693-4583, order part#33641 - LINK for a measely $32.68

other parts you'll need:

• ~4' 5/16 fuel hose
• 2 hose clamps
• brass fittings: 2x - bushings 3/8 to 1/8, 2x - 3/8 plugs, 2x - 1/8 street elbows, 2x - 1/8 to 5/16 hose
• teflon tape
• stainless steel mounting hardware: 2x - 5/16x1-1/4" bolts, 4x - flat washers, 2x - 5/16 nuts, 2x - 5/16 self-locking nuts

the install:
1. assemble all brass fittings on the filter head.

2. attach the short section of hose to the intake and the in-line pre-filter

3. mount filter
drill 2 5/16" holes
insert 1-1/4 bolts from the back, put a little permanent locktite (red) on the first 1/4 inch of exposed threads, then tighten down nuts over the locktite against the sheetmetal (this creates your filter mounting posts), then add flat washers, filter head, flat washers, self-locking nuts



4. attach remaining fuel hoses

5. pre-fill FM100 with a good fuel additive (unscrew large black filter assembly cap by hand and pour additive in).

6. prime system with OEM hand pump

7. drive - you're done!

additional images:


in-line's already catching crud:


Clear Bowl Water Reservior Option:
you can see in the pics that i have an additional clear bowl water reservior installed. this is an easy screw-on option - part#29899 $26.96 from reliable. i happened to have this one already, so i installed it but it's hard to view so i will probably leave it off when i replace the filter.

FM100 water removal efficiency:

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Current Vehicles: 2001 Mercedes E320 Wagon | 1979 Mercedes 220D | 1995 Volvo 850 Turbo Wagon | 1993 Volvo 240 Wagon

Very nice install!
Any idea what the filter elemnts cost?

thanks!

the 4.3" element that comes with the assembly is part#31865 - $11.17
a 6.0" replacement element is part#31869 - $13.06.

i will probably go with the 6.0" when i replace the filter since it should last even longer.

FWIW - i have a FM100 installed as the final filter on my VW TDI and did this writeup:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?p=1121994

cheers!

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Current Vehicles: 2001 Mercedes E320 Wagon | 1979 Mercedes 220D | 1995 Volvo 850 Turbo Wagon | 1993 Volvo 240 Wagon

Nice install. Thanks for posting! Are you going to put in the drag-pointer restriction gauge on your 123, too, like on your VW? And if so, please post up your WOT restriction numbers so we can all be lazy.

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Currently converting a 1984 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60 to use a 1985 300D engine and tranny... Engine/tranny are in, no transfer case or wiring yet.

Nice! Too bad that corner of my bay is so cluttered already....

Thanks! I'm not going to install drag-pointer restriction gauge on my MB just because the MB filter (30-micron) should have much less restriction than the VW (5-micron) and the fuel flow rate on the MB is much less than the VW. The VW uses less fuel of course, but it relies more heavily on fuel to cool the injection system - so in the VW fuel that's not injected passes through a fuel cooler and returns to the tank at a relatively fast flow rate (compared to the MB).

And, if you go with the 6" replacement filter restriction will be even less...

Cheers!

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Current Vehicles: 2001 Mercedes E320 Wagon | 1979 Mercedes 220D | 1995 Volvo 850 Turbo Wagon | 1993 Volvo 240 Wagon

Does anyone know the filtration micron size of the stock MB filter(s)?

I just put in a Stanadyne FM 100 housing with a 3.6" 30 micron filter on my 300SD. I also added a drag point vacuum gauge between the fuel pump and the FM 100. I'm getting 17 inHg after WOT on the way to 75 MPH. This seems a bit high. It can't be the new FM 30 micron... or maybe I got a bad one. Maybe I have a clogged tank screen too. I'm going to bypass the FM 100 and see what I get.

Does anyone know what the vacuum should be in between the tank and the fuel pump?
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83 300SD (Pepe)
03 Golf TDI (Sandy)
Both running on B100

just though i'd report that the FM100 30 micron pre-filter water seperator IS WORKING!!

here are some views of the water it has removed from my fuel since installed ~2 weeks ago. remember that with just a stock setup our IPs, injectors, etc are having to deal with this...





cheers!

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Current Vehicles: 2001 Mercedes E320 Wagon | 1979 Mercedes 220D | 1995 Volvo 850 Turbo Wagon | 1993 Volvo 240 Wagon

Nicely done, and a good follow up. Does the teflon tape hold up? I tried it on some fittings that I use on my veggie oil filtering station, and it promptly disintegrated. Veg oil is a bit nastier in some respects then diesel, so at full dino you might not have a problem for a long while.

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Mercury is a boxer

1984 300d
1999 Prelude
Medici road bike
Klein touring bike
Klein mtn bike

thanks! you've got some cool bikes - i'd love to see that Medici.

re: teflon tape - i'm not sure what to tell you because from my experience it should work fine for veg filtering...

since i've taken ownership of the MB it's been fueled exclusively with biodiesel (roughly B40), the teflon taped FM100 setup on my VW has also been used exclusively with biodiesel (B33 to B100) - both are leak free. my understanding and experience is that teflon tape is perfect for petro and bio/veg fueling applications.

loads of people instruct the use of teflon in veg oil to biodiesel processors, here's just a few that came up googling "biodiesel teflon tape":

http://www.homegrownfuels.net/services.html
http://www.biodieselcommunity.org/standpipewashtank/
http://www.ezbiodiesel.com/accessories.htm

hope you find something that works.

cheers!

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Current Vehicles: 2001 Mercedes E320 Wagon | 1979 Mercedes 220D | 1995 Volvo 850 Turbo Wagon | 1993 Volvo 240 Wagon

Is it heated?



will us northern folks be able to use it?

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-1983 VW Rabbit LS Diesel (5speed, VNT/Giles build)

there are two FM100 heater options (a side loading and a top loading) but IMHO a heater is not necessary - even in the north - unless your existing in-line prefilter is currently freezing up. i.e. - this pre-filter has probably 25-50 times the surface area of the stock in-line prefilter and because its 30-micron fuel should have no problem getting through it.

cheers!

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Current Vehicles: 2001 Mercedes E320 Wagon | 1979 Mercedes 220D | 1995 Volvo 850 Turbo Wagon | 1993 Volvo 240 Wagon

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!

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

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.