Is this normal? 1983 300D Turbodiesel Fuel Delivery

[mbolton1990]

Just so I know Im not totally crazy,on my car a '83 300D TD,the fuel should go through the pre-filter first NOT the big spin-on filter.
Correct?
Because it's only taking in fuel from the large spin-on..

Just a little background on the car,I bought it from a used car lot for $1000 and it had a SEVERE algae problem,the fuel strainer and pre-filter were clogged 100% with tar-like black algae and wouldn't run at all.NASTY STUFF,after a injector cleaning and a few other small things I've got it running good until,you put it under a load..it tends to only run at 5-10 mph..I've set-up a 10 gallon outboard tank with soft-lines zip-tied to the hard lines(they were clogged with algae as well)for now just to get her back on the road.Have changed pre-filter and spin on twice now and ran 4 bottles of diesel purge through it to no avail,now I'm thinking there is air in the line somewhere,but I noticed it's odd it's taking fuel from the spin-on not the pre-filter...please let me know if this is normal and tell me if I'm crazy or not

Sorry to ramble just am dying to cruise in a old diesel Merc with A/C

[coolram62]

Fuel should enter first through the prefilter from the tank. Air in the system sounds likely. I just went through similar when I changed out the primer pump on my '83 SD. Had to crack open the injector lines to bleed system. There was a lot of bubbles in the pre-filter. Now there is just a single small bubble at idle and she runs great. Hope this is of help as I'm still learning.

[kerry]

tank--prefilter--lift pump--secondary filter--IP

[cooljjay]

That's not algae....

Congratulations you just bought a wvo car, probably a lover craft system. Your lift pump fuel pump on the side of the IP was bypassed and there probably is or was an electric pump....

Reason why you can got no more then 5-10mph is because your IP and injectors are gummed up....hard lines to and from the tank are also probably also blocked...

[mbolton1990]

Originally Posted by cooljjay

That's not algae....

Congratulations you just bought a wvo car, probably a lover craft system. Your lift pump fuel pump on the side of the IP was bypassed and there probably is or was an electric pump....

Reason why you can got no more then 5-10mph is because your IP and injectors are gummed up....hard lines to and from the tank are also probably also blocked...

YES,sir you would be correct.I was informed it had WVO oil ran through it at one point,but I had no idea it'd be like this whew.....Yes the hard lines are virtually completely clogged,hence why I've bypassed them aotm..dam so any ideas on what I should do now? I have some Startron but I'm highly hesitant this is going to be that easy of a fix..This car is worth the money and time put into it I know it..I love this car!A/C works paint is good interior is in good shape,she deserves it.

I'll post some pics tomorrow of her and the in-tank screen so you guys can see what I'm up against.Any help would be appreciated,BTW I do have access to a local PNP JY,and I saw some IP's they had however they only had 240d's no 300d w123's as of this moment..fingers crossed,will it come down to that you think?Me pulling a IP and hoping I get lucky to get a good one?Again any help greatly appreciated I'm beginning to think I may be a little over my head on this one but I can do the work if I'm just pointed in the right direction and with some knowledge

BTW I just got an idea,would hooking up a fuel pump to the prefilter and trying to force fuel down there be a totally bad idea?Maybe it'd open up some clogged passages?

Ah and it's good to know I'm not completely crazy afterall!

Matt

[Diesel911]

Originally Posted by mbolton1990

YES,sir you would be correct.I was informed it had WVO oil ran through it at one point,but I had no idea it'd be like this whew.....Yes the hard lines are virtually completely clogged,hence why I've bypassed them aotm..dam so any ideas on what I should do now? I have some Startron but I'm highly hesitant this is going to be that easy of a fix..This car is worth the money and time put into it I know it..I love this car!A/C works paint is good interior is in good shape,she deserves it.

I'll post some pics tomorrow of her and the in-tank screen so you guys can see what I'm up against.Any help would be appreciated,BTW I do have access to a local PNP JY,and I saw some IP's they had however they only had 240d's no 300d w123's as of this moment..fingers crossed,will it come down to that you think?Me pulling a IP and hoping I get lucky to get a good one?Again any help greatly appreciated I'm beginning to think I may be a little over my head on this one but I can do the work if I'm just pointed in the right direction and with some knowledge

BTW I just got an idea,would hooking up a fuel pump to the prefilter and trying to force fuel down there be a totally bad idea?Maybe it'd open up some clogged passages?

Ah and it's good to know I'm not completely crazy afterall!

Matt

Sorry I missed the comment about your Fuel Lines being completely plugged under the Car.

One of our Members who had I believe it was Rust hole issues in his Fuel Tubing; instead of replacing that Tubing that ran under the Car He bought enough regular Fuel Hose to to reach from the Tank to the Fuel Injection Pump and used Electrical Ties to tie the Hose to the old Fuel Tubing.

That is a simple solution so you could use after the Main Tank when it is cleaned.
You can buy Aluminum Tubing and do the same thing.

Startron of Bilbor is not made do deal with the WVO residue issues.

[Diesel911]

You need to put something like Startron or Bilbor in the Fuel Tank to kill the Organism otherwise the problem will presist and you will spend a lot if time and Money changing Filters on the side of the Road.

You did not mention draining your Fuel Tank and Cleaning the Fuel Tanks Screen (takes a 46mm or 1-13/16 inch Socket).

Startron claims to have an Enzyme that breaks up the dead Bodies of the Organism into pieces small enough to pass through the Stock Filters with no damage to the System. This could save some Money on Filters.

[cooljjay]

You can read through my thread here, might get some ideas from it

My new 300D...plus headache.... - Benzworld.org - Mercedes-Benz Discussion Forum

I had to replace everything from the injectors to the tank. I used a portable steamer hooked up to the hard lines to blow the gunk out. Your going to be in for a reallllllllyyyyyy big headache.....10-1 your rings will be gummed up and you will need a valve adjustment....you also have to do a lot of oil changes and highway driving to get the wvo out of the engine that ran past the rings...

You might get lucky and be able to replace the lift pump, spin on filters....clean out the tank and hard lines...and run some biodiesel through it and it may ungum up the IP....the injectors are more then likely toast...

Sorry to say.,,,you way over paid for the car....98% of us on here will never buy a wvo car.....because people assume you can just pour your frying grease from the kitchen in the tank....I may take one if it was free but I would never consider one again..

[Phillytwotank]

Just to clarify. It's running well except under load with your auxiliary tank setup? Sure putting an electric pump before the filters could not harm.

Depends on how much work you are willing and or able to put in on this.. I belive it could be cleared up.

I work with waste oils professionally and I can imagine some special techniques that you could try.

[barry12345]

You are going to have to completely clean the system out using various solvents etc probably. This before deciding what is good etc. I doubt if there are any short cuts.

[DrLou]

mbolton1990, Congrats on the new car! Sounds like you got a lot of cleanup work to do, but guys here will help you. You'll get it clean. And, replacing the hard lines is not too difficult, if it comes to that. I've had my brake lines rust and pop; may be worth just replacing the fuel lines for good measure.

Don't feel too bad... I'm dealing with a similar fuel starvation problem, and have never used WVO or BioDiesel. Filters and cleaning will be the thing. Thanks, whunter!

[mbolton1990]

Thanks for the input guys!



All sage advice,I've tried getting some of the wvo "tar" and putting it in carburetor cleaner/acetone to no avail,and this stuff is I repeat NASTY..Who in their right mind would put this stuff in their tank!?!?It boggles the mind..in such a nice car that could potentially last a lifetime..and I'm not a big anti-wvo candidate,as long as it's done correctly and you run the best stuff possible(triple filtered,dewatered,high quality pure oil,etc)I'm all for it,but this starts to put me in a different state of mind seeing the aftermath of this...I'm guessing the PO must've put straight unfiltered WVO in it?!

All of this is making sense now,I was kind of wondering in the back of my head if Algae could even get this nasty!Thanks for making some sense of this for me,the pieces are coming together.BTW I already cleaned the injectors it was one of the first things I did when I bought it,albeit I didn't go really deep all I did was remove them set them nozzles down in some STP Injector cleaner for 30 minutes or so and reinstall after cleaning with carburetor cleaner

Tomorrow I'm going to tackle this I've got a few days off and a few cans of bug repellant

Plan:
1)Try hooking up pump to prefilter,pumping fresh diesel see what happens.
2)CHANGE THE MOTOR OIL(omg it's still original oil,I'll send pics if anything crazy is in it..have fresh Rotella T in the trunk,and new oil filter)
3)Your advice?
4)Take pics you'll see, she's worth it

Oh and the satisfaction of bringing a Benz back from the dead is always nice!

Matt

[cooljjay]

Originally Posted by mbolton1990

BTW I already cleaned the injectors it was one of the first things I did when I bought it,albeit I didn't go really deep all I did was remove them set them nozzles down in some STP Injector cleaner for 30 minutes or so and reinstall after cleaning with carburetor cleaner

Oh and the satisfaction of bringing a Benz back from the dead is always nice!

Matt

That is not the way to clean injectors....if you plan on working on this car, do a lot of reading. The only way to clean injectors are to disassemble them, use an ultra sonic cleaner, install new nozzles and pop test them. When ever you remove the injector you MUST replace the heat shield....btw wvo injectors are trash usually they can't be rebuilt...or cleaned...

http://dieselgiant.com/mercedesinjectornozzlereplace.htm

Do not use synthetic oil in this engine....it will cause more headaches....

Beware, you will eventually need a new engine....this stuff tares the hell out of an engine.....when you start to regularly drive the car....you will notice it burning a lot of oil....


Start reading stuff on this page
http://dieselgiant.com/mercedes_diesel_maintenance_tips.htm

[mbolton1990]

Originally Posted by cooljjay

That is not the way to clean injectors....if you plan on working on this car, do a lot of reading. The only way to clean injectors are to disassemble them, use an ultra sonic cleaner, install new nozzles and pop test them. When ever you remove the injector you MUST replace the heat shield....btw wvo injectors are trash usually they can't be rebuilt...or cleaned...

Mercedes Injector Nozzle Replacement

Do not use synthetic oil in this engine....it will cause more headaches....

Beware, you will eventually need a new engine....this stuff tares the hell out of an engine.....when you start to regularly drive the car....you will notice it burning a lot of oil....


Start reading stuff on this page
Mercedes Diesel Maintenance tips

Ya I know it,I figured it'd be better than nothing though! It really doesn't burn any oil and has marginal blow-by,wish I could get a compression test done but none of my gauges fit..Honestly I think this motor is going to be good as long as I can get all that crap out of the IP/wherever else...It runs too good at an idle and revs/sounds great.Any fuel additives besides Starttron that'd be good for removing WVO tar anyone?Im going to grab some Seafoam in a little bit once I get into town and I'll post pics of her once I get that done!

Again thanks a bunch,you guys are great.
Matt

[cooljjay]

Originally Posted by mbolton1990

Ya I know it,I figured it'd be better than nothing though! It really doesn't burn any oil and has marginal blow-by,wish I could get a compression test done but none of my gauges fit..Honestly I think this motor is going to be good as long as I can get all that crap out of the IP/wherever else...It runs too good at an idle and revs/sounds great.Any fuel additives besides Starttron that'd be good for removing WVO tar anyone?Im going to grab some Seafoam in a little bit once I get into town and I'll post pics of her once I get that done!

Again thanks a bunch,you guys are great.
Matt

Once you start getting the car back up to spec, including new injectors....and start freeway driving, you will start to burn the carbon out and the engine will change its tune...

The best thing to run through the car is biodiesel, its a great cleaner....besides that....none of the over the counter additives will remove the tar..