I ran my 81 300TD-T low on fuel the other day and am now having some issues. The car now has one heck of a rough idle, acts like it wants to cut off, starts tough, has little power, and needs LOTS of throttle to move out. I replaced the filters and it helped a bit, but I am pretty sure my tank strainer needs attention. The tank is full, so at this point, pulling it out and cleaning it is not going to happen. I will do that as soon as the tank is low. I have read on this wonderful forum about 'blowing back through' the line as a temporary fix....is this a viable option? What is the best, safest, and quickest way to do this? Any advice will be greatly appreciated...THANKS!!

You can literally blow on the fuel line. Or another trick is to switch around the return and supply hoses.

This is probably a silly question....which line? I have a feeling this may be a 'duh' moment

The supply line would be the one coming from the strainer... the one that's usually attached to the prefilter.

yup..."doh"

I had problems until wvo finally cleaned my tank.What I did was take a razor and cut out the top section of the strainer.Then switched to purolator primary filters,Mahnn sucks.I had to change or clean primary filter every 250 miles till it all got gone(14 months).I still carry carb cleaner to flush primary,and extra filters.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran, deutschland deutschland uber alles uber alles in der welt

Emptying the fuel tank

One thing to keep in mind is that the TD tank is much lower than the D tank. This means that a failing lift pump will cause problems more quickly in a TD than in a D. Not saying that's your problem, but even a plugged strainer will cause more problems in a TD than a D. I'd switch the inlet and outlet hoses and see what happens.

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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

Ran low on fuel, ehhh? What, sending unit not lighting up the low fuel light or just too interested in your passenger?

Did the same thing and found the pre-filter/tank strainer full of crap and corruption....I ended up siphoning out the fuel (reused it after filtering it through a 1 micron bag filter (I also run SVO, so I had 'em)

I'd recommend not blowing back all the crud into the tank...take a afternoon and a few adult beverages... the parts are cheap and replace the tank filter screen, pre-filter and secondary filter. I found a bunch of sludge in the tank, some due to age, some due to the original rubber portions of the return lines dissolving -- change 'em out too while you got it apart. About 25.00 in parts, excluding adult beverages, is cheaper than getting stuck on the road.

Also cleaned my sending unit at the same time....now the low fuel light works, leaving me no excuse to run out again...dang! that comes in handy sometimes.

The tank strainer on my 1985 300TD was pretty easy to change. First, you run the car out of fuel, then you unscrew the strainer, which you will find near the center of the tank in the rear of the car. I got a bolt and nut of the proper size (22 mm or its close SAE size) with a piece of tubing as a spacer, and used it as a monster Allen wrench.

The strainer is easily cleanable with nothing more than al old toothbrush and perhaps a bit of degreaser, and maybe a bit of MEK or brake cleaner. The advantage of having a new one is that you can shove it in right away and avoid having a lot of fuel come out.

The disadvantage is that the more liquid algae and goo in the tank will stay in the tank, where you really don't want it.

The new version of the filter has an aluminum base: the original on my car has a brass base. I paid $22.00 for mine a couple of years ago.

You want a large pan under the plug. Do not wear any clothes you plan to ever wear again, as it will stink like diesel forever. One clever way to avoid this is to run a tank of biodiesel thru the car before replacing the filter. Biodiesel is far less irritating and stinky. Easily worth the price.

I am betting that your filter is really really clogged. See the pictures online in this forum and you will see what it is likely to look like. The engine does not use all the Diesel pumped into the injectors: the excess, with all the scum and crud that made it past the filters since forever is recirculated back into the tank. The only ways to get rid of it is for it to get burned in the cylinders or to be drained when you change that filter screen.



Best wishes!

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Semibodacious Transmogrifications a Specialty

1990 300D 2.5 Turbo sedan 171K (Rudolf)
1985 300D Turbo TD Wagon 219K (Remuda)

"Time flies like and arrow, yet fruit flies like a banana"
---Marx (Groucho)

I just bought a bottle of superconcentrated biocide for diesel tanks. I live in Raleigh and would be happy to dose your tank for you, this tiny bottle is practically a lifetime supply. Used it in all four of my diesels, and in my 85 300D it bought more black goo to the primary filter quicker than any product I've ever used. Also would be happy to help if you need help with replacing the tank filter. I've been unemployed and looking for anything to keep busy.

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1985 300D Gretchen (Astral Silver) 220k
1983 240D 4-speed Evelyn (Orient Red) 203k


TANSTAAFL

The light works well! Something came over me, that little voice in my head said, "lets see if we can make it" We made it, sort of. I am not thrilled with blowing my tank but may do it as a temporary fix. I want to pull the tank and get it cleaned, but have waaaaaay too much stuff going on right now, come to think of it, I should be doing something other than this...., but I do like adult beverages...This little project has moved up the to do list. Looks like I need to get a parts list together

Lots of good info here..thanks for the post!

WOW! Thanks!! YOU have the potential to be my new best friend! Be careful though, as I also have adjust valves, and replace injectors on my to do list! I work in Raleigh...I will send you a PM..