I have a, 82 300td. I have been having some problems with my fuel tank. First off, the reserve light never comes on and it starts sucking air when the gauge reads about 1/4 tank. When it gets that low, I can only put about 15 gal of fuel in. is the remaining 3.5 gal foam?
Opinions please.
bb

__________________
For Sale: 1982 MB 300TD
1995 Chevrolet Suburban 6.5TD

Sold: 1980 IH Scout Traveler- Nissan SD33T Diesel

Your starting with 5 gallons in the tank.

Danny

__________________
1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

(\__/)
(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination

Sounds like the return and source fuel lines have been reversed.

__________________
RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

The return is on top, and the suction is bottom correct (on front side of tank)? I've thought about the reversal, and checked once, but I'll have to double check.

__________________
For Sale: 1982 MB 300TD
1995 Chevrolet Suburban 6.5TD

Sold: 1980 IH Scout Traveler- Nissan SD33T Diesel

Yes, IIRC, suction should be the bottom. I have the sedan, not the wagon, so a TD owner should chime in.

__________________
RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

I second that. Good catch rrgrassi!

-Jim

__________________
1995 S350D, Green with black leather interior.
Bought January 2008 w/ 233,xxx miles.
I did 22,000 miles during the first year of ownership.

Thanks, it's only because I glean great info on this forum! I remembered advice given to temporarily by pass the tank strainer, and the warnings that the car will stall at 1/4 tank if the driver is not careful to keep the fuel level up.

__________________
RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Mine is just the same -- and I assume it is because the tank strainer is clogged. One of these days I'll pull it -- but it's going to be a mess because I'll have 5 -6 gals of fuel left to come gushing out no matter how I drive the tank down...

you could drain the tank with a siphon first

__________________
1992 300D 2.5T 249k - Parked with a bad transmission
1981 300SD 142k - Daily driver

My wagon does the same thing. After I get below 1/4 tank, every time I turn a corner the engine cuts out until I slosh it from side to side.
I have cleaned the tank strainer before, and when tank drained the warning light does work, but it doesn't let me get low enough for the light to come on.
I guess I better check my fuel lines from the tank also.....

__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

Yes, Jimmy that sounds exactly like what I've got. I checked the fuel lines again, and they appear to be correct. The really strange thing is when I took the strainer out last time, I expected to drain about 5 gal, but only got about 2. The gauge read about 1/8 at that point, and I couldn't go around a corner with any speed without sucking air. Supposedly the tank will hold 18.5 gallons, but I have never put more than about 15 in??

__________________
For Sale: 1982 MB 300TD
1995 Chevrolet Suburban 6.5TD

Sold: 1980 IH Scout Traveler- Nissan SD33T Diesel

maybe your tank is dented.

tom w

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

The wagons have a 18.5 gallon tank, so you're close to the reserve level. We had an old TD where in one time it stalled and kept stalling after I bled the primer pump after pulling over. 17 gallons' worth of fuel had to be poured in! The former wagon's fuel tank warning light wasn't working properly at 372k miles...

The other day I also poured in 17 gallons' worth of fuel on the sedan, and the light hasn't come on yet.

Both cars have the light come on at start up though!

__________________
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

My td had this problem until I cleaned the tank screen. Its easy on the td's. Search my post for a cheap td screen tool.

This reminds me of something my father used to say; " It does'nt cost any more to keep the tank full".

__________________
a few mb diesels

Even when my '84 300td has the needle lying right on the empty line, the max that I've been able to put in is 15.4 gallons. I dunno if my reserve light works other than the test function at startup -- I'm not keen to give it a real-world test, but I suppose I could run the pump and discharge the fuel into a diesel can.