Breakdown on I-5, Oregon, near Eugene - Page 4 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

cmac2012 · #46 10-30-2019, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

You need to treat your diesel tank with biocide to kill the bacteria.

That's worth doing but this stuff looks like rust.

But hey, enough with the gnarly pics.

t walgamuth · #47 10-30-2019, 01:34 PM

Actually that looks like bacteria....worst case I have seen yet.

cmac2012 · #48 10-30-2019, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

Actually that looks like bacteria....worst case I have seen yet.

I read once about biocide being hard on small diesels. Are there varieties to avoid for these motors? Or rather ones to look for?

Jareb · #49 10-30-2019, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmac2012

I read once about biocide being hard on small diesels. Are there varieties to avoid for these motors? Or rather ones to look for?

That looks like a fungus or bacterial problem to me also. I have had that happen in my car and also my boat. I use Biobor JF. Good stuff and won't hurt your diesel. Buy the small bottle; you only add 1/4-1/2 oz to a tank of diesel.
BTW, The decrease of sulfur in diesel is the cause of this.

vwnate1 · #50 10-30-2019, 02:58 PM

Biobor JF is the good stuff .

With a fungus infestation that bad I'd buy the gallon .

You'd be wise to take the fuel sender out and apart too, it'll be full of crud, easy to clean, BE GENTLE with it as they're delicate !

.

' If I get all the bugs out could be worth a few pennies. "

If this is your true plan get rid of it now before it drives you crazy and breaks your wallet .

cmac2012 · #51 10-30-2019, 04:09 PM

I appreciate the feedback and will get some of that and try it. However, I’m still wondering about what’s going on. This particular filter is not easy to find around here. One out of five O’Reillys or AutoZone outlet have it on the shelf. I’m thinking to buy 10 of them from pelican, better price, better brand, I’m buying something else anyway so hopefully shipping will not be any extra.

In the meantime, I have experimented with cleaning them out and reusing. The spray WD-40 seems to work, and the stuff that comes out looks like rust and has a hard grittiness to it. I’m not sure bacteria or algae would have that feature.

Regarding “worth a few pennies,“ I don’t expect I’m going to turn a profit on this. But I think there’s a chance I could recoup my investment. Depends on the compression ratio, need to do that soon. But even if that is poor, when the filter is clean, power is decent enough, it will be good enough transportation until I find that 300SDL I’ve been dreaming of. Or resuscitate my stranded in Oregon one.

Diseasel300 · #52 10-30-2019, 05:26 PM

It sounds like you've been spoiled by the power, refinement, and torque of the 603. If you ever drive a "rod bender" prepare to be even more spoiled, they scoot around town so much better than the 3.0L 603 or any 617 ever dreamed of.

hercules · #53 10-30-2019, 10:05 PM

The algae grows between the fuel and water in tank. No water no algae.

vwnate1 · #54 10-30-2019, 10:28 PM

Pep Boys stocks them in the Purolator line, you'll have to go open a few boxes, I don't know the P/N .

I always carry at least one pare, they're dead easy to clean out with liquid soap then tap dry and keep in the glove box .

Gritty crud IS NOT FUNGUS RESIDUE . it looks like tiny coffee grounds if you dump it in your palm but is soft & squishy .

It takes very little humidity to grow the fungus, no water droplets necessary .

The tank is bulky but not overly difficult to remove then you can easily and cheaply clean it out using a dilute phosphoric acid mix .

Resist yanking on the tank as you remove it, the filler neck is long and easily bent .

BillGrissom · #55 10-30-2019, 11:21 PM

Sorry I didn't read all, but caught a few things. Last Saturday I put a new radiator in my 1985 300D, a Spectra ~$130 from rock. I have been working several years to fix an overheating issue which keeps getting worse. I also replaced the water pump housing + pump in case that matters for some reason (replaced water pump at least once before). I already tried another used radiator and both flowed water out fast in a garden hose test. The last one got a cracked hole at the top nipple so I figured the plastic was bad everywhere. Haven't driven enough to test if it works. I have tried everything else (many citric flushes, heater core is bypassed, several T-stats, swapped temp sensors w/ my 1984, IR gun to confirm, ...). If still bad, the head will come off. I wonder if a strange problem like the head gasket corroded thru in a place where it supposed to block off core openings (I had a Dodge slant six which was like that).

Re towing, it isn't hard to flat-tow a 300D. I did that once from Sacramento to San Diego (600 miles), behind our 2002 T&C minivan (w/ factory tow package). I was bringing a 300D there to swap my son's 300D w/ a problem. It towed so smooth that I kept forgetting and would get mad that some idiot in a M-B was tail-gating. I unbolted the driveshaft at the rear rubber coupler and wire-tied it off. We pulled one side up on a curb at a Walmart lot early in the morning so I could re-connect it and drove the rest of the way. I already had the tow-bar, but had to remove the front bumper and make brackets to attach to the car's bumper bolts, using trailer shackle parts. I used temp tow lights I already had.

cmac2012 · #56 10-31-2019, 02:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diseasel300

It sounds like you've been spoiled by the power, refinement, and torque of the 603. If you ever drive a "rod bender" prepare to be even more spoiled, they scoot around town so much better than the 3.0L 603 or any 617 ever dreamed of.

I'd like to drive one. I met a Vietnamese mechanic in Redwood City when I took my Bimmer in for a smog test. Really likeable guy, he says that Mercedes diesels are huge in Vietnam, any mechanic there gets well schooled in them. He has two of this item:

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/d/vallejo-sd-mercedes-diesel/7002518860.html

Oh man, I'd like to try one. Bound to weigh a bit less than the SDL. I'd like to buy this one but it's not to be. OTOH, something is sketchy here perhaps. He says a new engine has 90K and he wants to sell it for $3000?

BTW, I am really on the fence about having my SDL sent down. One buddy here says the heat may have damaged the head gasket of something else in the head. I dunno. Pretty sure I caught it when the light came on, the gauge was heading to pegged but not there yet. Maybe I'm not rational but I think it could easily have another 50K on it. Spending $800 or so to get an SDL for 50K? Not bad. I spent $2800 for my first 50K.

cmac2012 · #57 10-31-2019, 03:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vwnate1

Pep Boys stocks them in the Purolator line, you'll have to go open a few boxes, I don't know the P/N .

I always carry at least one pare, they're dead easy to clean out with liquid soap then tap dry and keep in the glove box .

Gritty crud IS NOT FUNGUS RESIDUE . it looks like tiny coffee grounds if you dump it in your palm but is soft & squishy .

It takes very little humidity to grow the fungus, no water droplets necessary .

The tank is bulky but not overly difficult to remove then you can easily and cheaply clean it out using a dilute phosphoric acid mix .

Resist yanking on the tank as you remove it, the filler neck is long and easily bent .

I really need to pull it and do just that. I can get a 46mm socket from Home Depot for about $12, takes about a week IIRC. This for the fuel gauge sending unit. One imagines that needs to be removed.

jay_bob · #58 10-31-2019, 07:09 AM

There is not a lot of torque on that big nut for the fuel sender. Channel locks will do the job nicely.

Pro tip- remove the back seat bottom and back rest first. And put plastic down. You will thank yourself later.

Once you have loosened it pull up some and then listen for the dripping. Wait until you don't hear it dripping anymore before pulling it the rest of the way.

Once you have the sender out then look at the bottom, there is a slotted nut that needs to be removed. It may be totally buried in crud. It needs a forked tool to remove. I ended up using a pair of small snap ring pliers to work it loose.

Take everything off and lay it out in order. Slide the tube off the frame. Be very careful, there are 3 fine wires running from the top to the bottom.

There is a slider at the bottom that rides on the wires. 2 of the wires are resistance wires. The slider shorts across these so as the fuel level rises, the resistance is decreased, this is measured by the fuel gauge.

The other wire is a plain copper wire and it is for the low fuel light. When the slider is all the way at the bottom it closes a contact between the frame and this wire to turn on the low fuel light.

Clean it all up with mineral spirits and put it back together. Once it's back together, before you put it back in the tank, plug it back into the car, and you should be able to verify it works by tilting the tube while it is outside the tank.

t walgamuth · #59 10-31-2019, 09:33 AM

If it is gritty it may be a mixture. The bacteria will dissolve and get out through the filter after being treated.

OM617YOTA · #60 10-31-2019, 10:08 AM

I had fuel filters that looked exactly like that, it was rust. Replacing the fuel tank took care of most of that issue.

I didn't bother using the MBZ specified filter in that location, just whatever inline filter fit the hoses and was cheap at the local auto parts or hardware store.