The injection pump is too expensive to take a chance unless the offending contamination is known and harmless to the pump. So I agree with many posted statements. Your mercedes dealer by my standards is either incompetent or lacks experience and knowledge. Actually the two are synonamous. Possibly corrupt as well. The ideal of changing filters when needed is disounted as a safe alternative to me. Unless you have a fuel pressure gauge to watch for evidence the filter is starting to load. Even then I do not recommend that approach as some particle transition to the injection pump might still be underway. Iron oxide is fairly soft but will shorten the injection pumps normal life.

Also to ensure fuel system reliability is important. What was bothering me is the possibility of the salesman that also wanted the car perhaps having done something. The majority of used car sellers are in a class of their own. This is an almost a negligable possibility but still there. We have seen variants of it.

Cleaning out a fifteen year old diesel tank properly could almost be considered good maintenance if the need is indicated. I am assuming the 95s tank extracts as easy or easier than the 123s. We have been clear of the fuel tank business for a long time now. Plus we never did your body style that I can remember. The gas tank business involved a ten year span of our lives approximatly.

German fuel tanks are made of european steel or where at that time. Even though I never heard of mercedes having a coating problem. Volkswagon certainly did at one time. They switched to plastic tanks because of it.

Since I am trying to squeeze into the grumpy old members group with limited success it appears. I originated the speedy gas tank company that ultimatly became a franchise under that banner in Canada. It was a long and complex issue.. At the same time owned a building that we dealt with gas tank and fuel issues in it at the average rate of ten a day.

I even got my hands good and dirty. Politicians tend to have friends and can manouver things for their friends in the background I learnt to our dismay as well. The large company in Montreal today known to many of you as spectra premium started out totally in the province of Nova Scotia in the late 1970s. I tend never to post any of my background so will leave
most avenues and details out. Simply stated we got manouvered out of the mother load of the gold vein. The remaining crumbs were pretty good though.

One interesting sideline though was the trips I personally took in the early years several times a year to places like Tuscallosa and Atlanta to load our large truck with rust free gas tanks. Met an awful lot of nice americans and established good business friendships there during that period. We paid 5-10 dollars per tank and wholesaled them for 100 each. Actually consuming the majority of them internally. Fuel per trip was about 500.00 per return trip then and you can get a lot of rust free gas tanks on a large truck. Those days and economic conditions have passed into history. The return on one trip after costs would be considered substantial for the time and effort involved even today. .

If any of you have the experience of dealing with many thousands of fuel tank issues personally in your background you can over ride my best judgement. When repairing tank and fuel supply issues you preempt all posibilities to eliminate both customer returns and complications . This believe it or not is the cost effective way.

Today you pretty well have to do it yourself though as costs otherwise in the hands of others seem to gravitate through the roof. Thats why we always had at least ten cars waiting outside the shop every day. We were efficient and ethical and it was well known.

Actually one morning at age fifty I woke up and decided we could easily retire so in consultation with the wife did. Our lives were satisfactory and I thought why stretch it for money we have no purpose for. Owning a business is great but certain family functions are limited because of the demands on your time and mind. Ultimatly you cannot get out of this life alive either in my opinion. Too many live like they can unfortunatly.

Eighteen years later I cannot state I was right. Yet the wife and myself are still happy and satisfied. I never forget how easy it is too have a good life with the right wife behind you. In my opinion she still does not get all the support and credit she deserves from me but I try..

As for so called retirement. It is what you make of it. In my case I decided once the obligation is accomplished of not having to earn money to put food on the table. Plus a reserve is established so that your wife can live fairly easily if you depart. Do what makes both of you happy within reason of course. I am aprehensive about total retirement from the economy so still am semi active in those areas. The price of not wanting your brain to totally turn to mush or at least avoiding what portion of it you can personally influence. Some of the ongoing paperwork waits my attention this afternoon is an unavoidable penalty.

All the above is a blatent way of stating my opinion possibly is backed up more than any other posters on the subject by experience and exposure. So their opinion is a lesser factor of little consequence. If I truly held this opinion my ego would know no bounds. Or if I expressed my background in several areas. So with no pissing match possible by my normal approach how can I get into the grumpy old guys group? Well this is kind of an attempt I suppose.

Pull the tank. Clean and inspect it. Do what is indicated by me. Any other approach entails risk to some degree. You at this point have no ideal of what the contaminate is. Without complications the charge for this was about 200.00. Even if you where to need a new used tank and that is doubtful you or/and your friend can do it. This 4,800.00 talk quoted is insane even allowing for inflation. The dealer should have just done what was indicated as needed and sent you out the door. There is no way In my mind the charges would have been virtually much or any higher than what your friend will probably land up paying to them anyways without the job done.
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