Usually I just have fun around here and enjoy the banter. Today however I found a real honest to goodness problem. I have diesel fuel leaking and a lot of it. Below is a picture. Since I am a complete neophyte to this world, help (hopefully in easy steps) would be greatly appreciated.

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86 300 SDL - Vesuvius

96 SL 500

Assumption is the mother of all screw ups.

Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing - Edmund Burke

Looks to me like leaking return hoses (the cloth covered short pieces that go from injector to injectors). Just buy new and replace.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

yup- about $3/m from some places, a bit more from others.

remove old line by pulling and twisting. cut new line to length of old. replace. dont throw out the plug in the very rear line, it can be replaced.

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1984 123.193 372,xxx miles, room for Seven.

1999 Dodge Durango Cummins 4BTAA 47RE 5k lb 4x4 getting 25+mpgs, room for Seven.

Wow, again yall are right on top of it.

A few questions now from the newbie:

1. What is the function of a return line?
2. What type of line should I get? Can I get it here from fastlane?
3. Will I blow up?
4. It appears I can do this by just monkeying with the lines, correct?
5. How much line should I buy to replace? Don't I need to do this one at a time?

and finally,

it happend on 5 injectors pretty much all at once. Does this raise any alarm bells?

__________________
86 300 SDL - Vesuvius

96 SL 500

Assumption is the mother of all screw ups.

Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing - Edmund Burke

You can get the hose from any dealer. The last time I changed these lines, it was on a 617 and cost about $12 for the hose. They asked me how many cylinders and cut enough hose for the job. For that kind of money, there really isn't any reason to use something else.

It's diesel fuel, so you won't blow up. I would still refrain from smoking while doing the job.

Wow, $12? Allright!

What a car!

__________________
86 300 SDL - Vesuvius

96 SL 500

Assumption is the mother of all screw ups.

Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing - Edmund Burke

Someone on here has used clear lawn mower fuel line to replace the original. That stuff probably only cost about $2.

The line returns excess fuel from the injector back to the fuel tank.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Why is there excess fuel at the injector?

Doesn't it all get burned/injected?

__________________
86 300 SDL - Vesuvius

96 SL 500

Assumption is the mother of all screw ups.

Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing - Edmund Burke

No. The injector "pops" at 135bar, as the pressure decreases it closes up again even though fuel is still moving through.

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

It pops at 135 or so, but then the pressure increases fast, due to the force of the piston on the fuel forcing it through the opening. 135 bar certainly is not the limit of the pressure that you'll see on the line. When injection stops, the pressure falls and the injector closes.

There is always a surplus of fuel pumped to the injectors. What doesn't get injected is sent back through the cloth-covered "leak-off" or return lines. At the spin-on filter the return line runs back to the fuel tank. Steve

Thanks everybody. This is the most helpful forum I have ever been a part of. I have a couple of bikes which I also use internet forums for help The forums are no where near as quick to reply nor do they tolerate newbies like yall do!

__________________
86 300 SDL - Vesuvius

96 SL 500

Assumption is the mother of all screw ups.

Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing - Edmund Burke

I replaced all my lines when I did a compression check a couple of weeks ago. All except for 1 connection are leak free. I have recut it a couple of times and also tried a new piece of hose.

Any suggestions for a line that won't seal up?

Chuck

Same thing happened to me, but am only getting a very slight weep. Some have suggested that use of a knife or sharp point to remove the old lines can cause a scratch on the barb which can lead to leaks. Pulled off all of mine by hand, so not sure what might have not worked quite right. For the moment have just put up with it, as it is so slight that it does not even smell.

This whole situation is no where near as refined as the system on the W115's which are almost all metal. The couple of short rubber sections used in that system can and should be clamped, so it seals very well.

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1961 190Db retired
1968 220D/8 325,000
1983 300D 164,150

I had a few minutes yesterday and played with this again. I tried the lawnmower fuel line and it leaked a bit also. Then I went back and tried the MB line one ( well really 4 or 5 ) times again. The incantation that seemed to work was cutting a longer piece of tubing - maybe 8" as opposed to 5". This allowed the tubing to go straight up and not bend immediately once it is off the nipples. I also used a sharp knife instead of a pliers kind of cutter. Maybe the lawn mower line cleaned off some dirt or it was just my time to get lucky. It is now dry.

Chuck