I finally did it!
 

Well I finally did it. I got the 300D running on WVO this weekend. It wasn't the easiest job I've done on the old car but it looks like it was worth it. I did a two tank conversion, main tank on dino diesel and a 18 gallon auxillary tank on WVO.
The hardest part of the job was plumbing the switchover valve with inline coolant type fuel heater without cutting a single line. When running the switchover occurs smoothly with nothing noticable other than the car runs smoother and quieter on WVO and the smell out of the tail pipe.
Now the test is how reliable the system will be over time.

Congratulations, feels good doesn't it? I have been out of town with my car and have been running on diesel for the last couple thousand miles. I need to filter some veg oil and get back to running on veg.

Post some pictures when you get a chance. What are you using for heaters?

I'm using a "Diesel-Ease", think that's the spelling, inline fuel heater that uses engine coolant to heat the fuel. It was specifically used with the 3.0L diesel MB engines, it has a MB part number. I bought it from one our members that had it listed on ebay. Works great.

More and more I want to look into doing this....since there is no shortage of resturants and wvo sources around here.......plus, with my college income and the diesel prices.... :eek:

Congratulations!

THANKS!

I waited doing mine until I had some reliable WVO sources. Lots of places were already taken! :eek:

I made my "maiden" voyage two days ago and the car ran great. It runs so much smoother and quieter than it did on dino. I use diesel to start up and then just before stopping for the day. I start up on WVO if I more than one trip during the day and it does without any misfire or extended starting. Once warmed up to about 60C, I switch to WVO and the transition is seamless and I have not noticed any loss of power. I've had it up to 75 and it ran effortlessly all the way. :)

Undecided
 

Sure wish that I could figure out which way to go, dual tank straight heated WVO or make my own biodiesel. I have two cars to feed so 20 gallons plus a week is ballpark for me. I hate paying 2.46 for Dino ! Did you use a kit system or did you build it yourself from parts ? I have a source for peanut oil just cannot decide if I want to lay out 1K for a conversion or mess with the methanol. :confused:

I brew my own biodiesel, but I am seriously contemplating doing a WVO conversion this winter. I really hate working with methanol and lye in my garage, so going straight WVO makes sense. I'll still brew some bio for the
bio-burban' and for the start up/purge of the WVO system, but it wont be nearly as much.

Mine was no kit. I pieced mine together from various sources, ebay, a big box hardware store, auto parts store and even a consignment shop. I think I spent somewhere between $150 to $200 to get mine done.

WVO conversion
 

Thanks for this post, lietuviai. I am about to convert my car to WVO. I went the kit route this time, but once I am more knowledgeable I'll attempt to do what you did (no kit) on other cars. How do you manage the collection and filtering of the WVO? To me, that will make it or break it....

'84 300 SD

Collection and filtering was very easy. The restaurant I get my oil from leaves me the oil in the 5 gallon cubes every week. I then filter the oil using several filter bags hung over buckets. I then filter the oil one more time with a filter bag into my 55 gallon drum that I store my oil in. I then use a barrel pump to pump the filtered oil into my fuel tank.

been contemplating the switch
 

I have been contemplating doing the same, but am way behind you guys. Do you have to change your injectors out? I think I understand the duel tank and heater setup. I thought about saving some $$ and just buying the greasecar kit from grease car.com

My main question is about injectors. Thanks for the info.

No changes on the injectors were necessary. You won't save money with a kit, maybe only time.

Congrats Lietuviai!
 

Feels good burning a renewable fuel, huh?

I've got about 5,000 veggie miles on my 190D. I'm currently suffering transmission problems and am working through it with help from others on this forum.

General question regarding the fuel heating: My engine has a built-in fuel heat exchanger for the diesel that is controlled by a thermostat. When the temp drops below 8 deg C the fuel is diverted to the Heat Ex. Is this on most MB diesels, and has anyone utilized it for the veggie oil pre-heat? I imagine it would be reasonably easy to eliminate the thermostat so that the veggie would always be directed to the heater.

The fuel diagram can be see here:
http://mb.braingears.com/201_DISK1/PDF/70006.pdf
go to page 07.1 10.1-010/2 (hey, I didn't number the pages)

Enjoy your new ride!

Paul