Last fall I made my first (and only) e-bay purchase of an electric in line fuel heater for my MB. Sorry to say that it did not work at all. This was an old / new part and had no warranty. So I lost $60. Looked on a few web sites and e-bay again and seems that the price of entry into inline fuel heaters is now about $120 min. This has started the wheels a'turning in my mind ----- what if I buy a longer section of flexible fuel line (rated above 180 degrees) and take a few wraps around some engine component that warms to about 180 and then route it into my fuel filter? Seems a reasonable way to save about $110 and minimuze the labor. I have an infrared temp sensor and can determine where to locate this coil. Is this simple idea a stroke of brilliance or something that I need to be cautioned about? Any advice is appreciated. My limited knowledge indicates that warm fuel (180) in the winter is better than cold fuel (especially with bio).

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John Schroader
bio burnin' 83 300D, '83 300 SD, '79 240D
"I've never met a man who was good at making excuses who was good at anything else" Ben Franklin
"You cannot permanently help a man by doing for him what he could and should do for himself" Abraham Lincoln

or.... invest in a two tank system and do it right.......

If you are burning biodiesel in the winter - don't you really need an in-tank heater? If the fuel is like pudding in your fuel tank, then I'm not sure that your idea would work.

how would you heat the biofuel prior to starting the car, and for the first few minutes of driving before the engine heat can do its thing?

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1984 300D Turbo 163k.

I've thought many times about whether I should install some kind of fuel heater--**************.com has the glow plug heater which seemed like the most interesting. But then I put together the bottle under the hood fuel cell in a milk jug, and thought better of it. The jug was warm to the touch after running the car only a few minutes. The fuel gets heated plenty under regular operation--just takes a while. So as mentioned, a fuel heater doesn't seem to matter unless you're heating it before starting and before injected for the first time on a cold morning. Which seems almost impractical. I blend in the winter--usually no more than 50% to prevent the pudding, which I don't see as a big deal. Ain't no way I'm installing a second tank just to get that other 50% in there.

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1998 E300D, 287k, barely broken in.

I have injector line heaters on my car. They were inexpensive and easy to install. While the glow plugs are warming up, the injection line heaters are also heating. The lines become too hot to touch in less than 30 seconds.

I'm not sure if they make a real difference, but it does certainly heat the fuel in the lines prior to starting the engine.

If you'd like a source for them send me a PM. I can link you to a guy that is local to me that makes and sells them at a reasonable cost.

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Pictures of the MB: http://s230.photobucket.com/albums/ee41/EricandRobyn/1981%20Mercedes/

1981 300 SD with a Goldenrod water block and Injetor line heaters. EGR is missing

1999 F-350 with HP X-over, Dahl 100 Fuel Filter, Coolant by-pass filter, CCV mod, Tymar intake.

Both on single tank WVO blend

It sounds like your concern is the higher cloud point of biodiesel in cold weather? I know of two people who had their diesels die in very cold weather from the fuel gelling. Note that this was well after starting and driving for a period of time. The fuel gelled and killed the engine. A simple way to prevent this would be a Racor filter with integrated fuel heater. These heater equipped units are thermostatically controlled and heat the fuel enough to keep it liquid but not hot enough for WVO use so don't get that idea. Fuel that is not completely gelled is still pump-able and flows through fuel lines. Its the filters that get clogged up with the partially gelled fuel. The heated filter will take care of this. RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

Bio diesel needs heat?

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83 SD

84 CD

In cold weather, yes.

I'd bet the OP said bio, he meant WVO/SVO which needs to be heated ALL the time.

depending on the stock used to make the bio the gel point will depend.

during winter running a biodiesel/kero blend( like d2/kero) will do just fine.

unless you are all "green" then a tank heater would be needed.

Thanks for the quick replies, now I have another reason to stay with dino.

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83 SD

84 CD

Thans for the replies. I asked a question and then my internet went down, preventing me form further feedback. Here's the take. I run 100j% bio 'till the temp gets cool. Then I start blending in dino and adding an anti-gel. Last winter the lowest temp in KY was 10 degrees one morning and my car started and ran fine with 70% bio and 30% dino. But --- I understand that even dino (and especially bio) give a better spray pattern when warm. I am not opposed to buying an in line heater, but if I can save money and labor (wiring a relay or cutting into the heater lines) then I'm all for it. I know that using engine heat won't help the starting, but that's not been a problem. I'm just wanting to burn my fuel as efficiently as possible. I checked the temp on my engine after a 30 mile run and the block was 180, the oil filter 125 and the fuel line 90 degrees.

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John Schroader
bio burnin' 83 300D, '83 300 SD, '79 240D
"I've never met a man who was good at making excuses who was good at anything else" Ben Franklin
"You cannot permanently help a man by doing for him what he could and should do for himself" Abraham Lincoln