I need info from older Diesel owners - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Murphy2000 · #1 03-28-2007, 02:15 PM

Does anyone here have long term experience with any stock model 80's version vehicle running biodiesel?

I need to know if the D300's or other series had natural rubber fuel lines or synthetic..

I'm doing a study on biodiesel's effects on earlier model vehicles and what modifications, if any, where required.

Thank you,

TheDon · #2 03-28-2007, 02:19 PM

300D friend

The fuel lines will weap with age of course and biodiesel speeds that up

no need to use fancy nitrile lines just use factory ones since the fuel lines are supposed to be changed every 3-4 years.

Plus it seems that some goodyear fuel lines are nitrile impregnamted.

I have ran B100 in my car with no mods for 3k miles.. no issues at all.Just a couple clogged filters and thats it. This was my own home brew also

TX76513 · #3 03-28-2007, 02:26 PM

Like Don has said above. I have not had any issues. The Isuzu has been running bio-diesel before most people ever heard the term.

vstech · #4 03-28-2007, 02:32 PM

does B20 count? I have run it in my 79 TD, no issues, original lines as far as I can tell.
John

GRIESL · #5 03-28-2007, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Murphy2000

Does anyone here have long term experience with any stock model 80's version vehicle running biodiesel?

I need to know if the D300's or other series had natural rubber fuel lines or synthetic..

I'm doing a study on biodiesel's effects on earlier model vehicles and what modifications, if any, where required.

Thank you,

No mods here. The car loves the homebrew. I think my car sat up for a while with the PO, so I had a little gunk in the tank that really got loosened up with the bio. If I had it to do all over again, I would have pulled the tank and cleaned it, instead of replacing 15 or 20 prefilters and two primaries.

veg_hed_300d · #6 03-28-2007, 02:43 PM

I run my 82 300D on a biodiesel blend daily...since it's warm i'm running B100 and veggie oil all the time...there are two fuel lines underneath the tank that need to be changed when running biodiesel..and the supply and return lines under the hood...also probably a good idea to change in the little rubber lines on the injectors...

TMAllison · #7 03-28-2007, 03:00 PM

I've burned quite a bit of B99 in my 99 with no problems (uses different fuel line material than older models) and run B20 in the 85 on stock fuel lines also wiht no problem.

My 99 now has 13 of 20 o-ring seals (at fuel lines, etc.) that have been repalced with viton.

On the older models my belief is B20 and above will hasten deterioation of +20 year old rubber.

300sdToronto · #8 03-28-2007, 03:04 PM

I think the previous owner replaced the rubber fuel lines on my vehicle. I have been running mainly biodiesel for about 9 months now. So far no ill effects.

Same for my farm tractor but that has all metal fuel lines. Bio fixed the malfunctioning fuel guage float - probably cleaned it up!

Cephallus · #9 03-28-2007, 03:28 PM

B100 caused my '79 240 to leak from the injector return lines, which had not been replaced in God knows how long, within a couple of weeks. Within a couple of months, the main tank feed and return lines were dripping. I went ahead and replaced everything with Viton anyway, since I was under there.

BTW, I used straight Viton hose to replace the magic cigar hose with no ill effects, contrary to popular myth.

And ya, probably 15 pre filters and 3 main filters. Though this is probably due to the fact that when I went to replace my gas tank filter screen after a couple of months, there was not one there. I'm assuming the PO's mech just removed the screen from the plug.

Kuhlrover · #10 03-28-2007, 04:38 PM

In my 1983 300D I have run B100 and B20 about 50% of the time over the past 2 years. About 3 months ago I noticed a small fuel drip underneath the car. The two rubber fuel hoses under the car that connect to the hard lines had degraded to the point that they started to drip. I also noticed the rubber grommet at the filler neck has also turned to mush. I attribute all of this to the Biodiesel and the fact that the rubber components that failed were 23 years old.

TimK

DubMutant · #11 03-28-2007, 05:08 PM

Hi.
I am a little confused about your study. You dont really ask for specifics and I think that it would help if you did. Here are some ideas to help filter the feedback you get on the forum, take them or leave them.

1. Set fuel parameters- Identify which concentration of BioDiesel individuals are using, th 2 most common blends are B100 and B20, and both will most likely have different maintainance and engine effect characteristics.
*A higher concentration Bio will cause fuel lines and seals to leak faster due to the solvent-like nature of the fuel, and without this distinction it will be impossible to determine what is the cause of the leak- time or concentration.

2. Set time Paramaters. As stated before, time will have an impact on maintainance and engine characteristics. I suggest that you set time up like this- using Bio: 1-6 mos, 6-12 mos. 12-24 mos etc etc. I think that after the first year, intervals can be elongated because operators have worked out the kinks in their systems.

3. Set engine parameters- identify specefic engine models you are interested in and place specific values on the characteristics you are interested in- this however, will be highly subjective and not very valid. If , for example, you were to use a decibel meter to measure sound level with Petro vs. Bio, that would be a good start, however, you would need to get 4 or more vehicles and test them as their own controls. IE, one time measure with Petro, another time measure w/ Bio and that would produce valid results. Same applies to vibration, power (here a Dyno woud be a good start) and fuel efficiency.

4. Set hose parameters. I would want to test several brands of fuel line and hose so, I would find some owners that would be willing to put on fresh hoses (should be easy) and report back with results of the specefic blends of fuel that you assign to them or they volunteer to use on set intervals, monthly, bi-monthly, whatever. That would be the best way to determine a fairly accurate time frame for hose failure and BioBlends (and would be of great intrest to many members here, I assume).

Hope this helps! Let me know I would be willing to partake in said study as I run B20 most of the time.

Murphy2000 · #12 03-28-2007, 07:28 PM

Thanks everyone!! Great responses and great information.

For the reply above:
I just need a general sampling. No specifics needed.. I wanted a random sample of 10 to 20 replies.

veg_hed_300d · #13 03-29-2007, 10:35 AM

[QUOTE=I also noticed the rubber grommet at the filler neck has also turned to mush. I attribute all of this to the Biodiesel and the fact that the rubber components that failed were 23 years old.

TimK[/QUOTE]

Same here...as well as the fuel cap itself...but I have both the filler neck gasket and a new fuel cap on order now...it's a cheap fix and since i'm buying unwashed biodiesel at well below the $2.75 a gallon price replacing the deteriorating lines, gasket and cap is not that big of a deal..