B100 on the local news - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Diesel Giant · #16 12-07-2005, 02:29 AM

The hoses need replaceing every couple of year anyway, which ever fuel you use. Rubber deteriorates with age and use.

http://dieselgiant.com/mercedesfuelhoseinstall.htm

Elktonjohn · #17 12-07-2005, 04:51 AM

Ok, no arguement that fuel lines break down after a few years...well, I'd argue that it's not a worry on my 71 Cutlass but ok. I'm real new to diesels, and especially new to biodiesel. I'll run b100 on my SD once I get her dialed in close to specs on plain diesel. When I finally get there I'll run my own homebrewed b100 just so I know the quality is right, or at least consistant. I'm a little spooked to see 2 different opinions about fuel lines already 'tho...and I'd love to know for sure which way to go...BUT.
My real dilemma lies in the decision of whether to go with b100 homebrew, and how to make b100 at home, large scale VS heated wvo systems like Frybrid but that aside for now let me ask this...you guys running b100, do you buy it or do you make it yourself?? I ask because there are like 4 issues with biodiesel that I fret over. One, and this is easy...Methanol. It is not a good thing in a diesel but it's easy to get rid of...just heat it to it's BP of like 150^ or so, if done at home no worries so one down. Two, lye should fall out of solution with washing, if the b100 is washed 3 times volume with clean water then theoretically no problem. 3 is the glycerine...if allowed to settle for 24 hours at, say, at 100^F that should? should be enough...I think from what I've read...but not positive...ideas??? and 4th..the water in the oil. This worries me a lot. The water in the oil. It can be helped out by filtering, then heating and allowing time to setle out...but there always seems to be a white layer (saponification?) during the washing at some point and that points, possibly, to suspended water in the oil during processing or washing. I worry that it's not all out of the final product, and I worry about buying b100 on the market for the same reason. As I understand it, suspened water in your fuel, once it reaches the turbulent environment of yout IP, produces a cavitation which WILL damage the mechanisms of your injection pump. As I understand it this is a given, and while a car like mine will take a lot of abuse at the business end of the fuel system....that aint gonna last long before it goes belly-up and bang.
I might be all wrong here, I've been looking at all this stuff from accounts of others and have zero practical experience. From what I have read no one has the real answers....what happens over time seems to be the real question. I guess what I want to know is....the perfect truth. But I'll settle for a few solid opinions based on experience...I'm not picky. The issues regarding b100 are many and we all need more information, using wvo is where I want to go but I have one serious question about that. I mean it looks good at Frybrid and greasecar and all those sites but...where does all the glycerine go? Anybody who has brewed their own b100 has had a layer of crap left over...glycerine. Anyone thinking of burning that wvo in their diesel has to think about what happens to that crap and where it goes. It's just junk, or gunk and it's got to go somewhere and I've never seen anyone explain it's fate yet. Maybe it will burn and convert in the 30:1 or so...I don't know. I hope I find a discussion somewhere that hits some of these points...I think it's kinda important...

biopete · #18 12-07-2005, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elktonjohn

The issues regarding b100 are many and we all need more information...

This is misconception is exactly what i was attempting to alleve with my post.

I obviously did a poor job. My point was that fuel line breakdown is generally a non issue if you know about it. For whatever the cause of the breakdown, (and note I said that it was just a "theory" that the old D2 formulas were a factor more so than the biodiesel, and also note old300D knows infinitely more than me on the subject and when he says biodiesel breaks down rubber, I believe him), Those little fuel lines are not going to dissolve over night with B100 use. They will slowly breakdown over months and years. And it is probably the case that they need to be replaced anyway . Use Viton if you like but the regular braided stuff will work too. The jury is still out on how long the braided stuff will last but since my several year old ones lasted almost 2 years of high biodiesel use, I figure new ones will last at least 2 times that long. Other people on BiodieselNow.com are using it too instead of Viton. At any rate the worst that happens is the car wont start and you get a piece out of the trunk and replace the broken one.

HTH and
Check out www.biodieselnow.com if you have not already for all your biodiesel questions. It is a great forum.

Matt L · #19 12-07-2005, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J. R. B.

Blown head gasket--Old style head bolts
Broken crankshaft--ether used? I have seen ether break the main bearing caps.
Failed seals in the IP--The only problems I have seen with the pumps on these are the plastic governor drives which were updated to metal ones and the advance plunger and housing on them will gall which can be re-sleeved and new plunger installed.
Broken piston--ether or maybe water got into the intake and down through into a cylinder. When the engine was turned over maybe the piston slammed up against the water. This happened to one of mine because the air filter cover wasn't seated down properly and water got inside a cylinder from melting snow. That one was my fault not the engines.

Ether had been used on #1, but that was well after the crankshaft failure, which happened in sunny Florida. Same with the head gasket failure. Chevy paid for both of these repairs, fortunately.

#2 failed in decent weather (no rain or snow), soon after starting, accelerating onto a highway. The engine was certainly not fully warmed. I do not know if ether was ever used in this engine; certainly not by us.

These are the only two Olds 5.7's that I've ever driven, but of course two is a much-too-small sample size to mean much.

I don't mind being contradicted on the quality of this engine, especially in later years, as you do seem to know of what you speak. So now for a question: when were these problems resolved?

I'm a bigger diesel fan than I am a MB fan, and that Chevy Silverado was a decent vehicle, even with its troubles. 30mpg highway and held 40 gallons of fuel. I drove that vehicle more than 1000 miles between fuel stops on more than one occasion.

Old300D · #20 12-07-2005, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by biopete

This is misconception is exactly what i was attempting to alleve with my post.

I obviously did a poor job. My point was that fuel line breakdown is generally a non issue if you know about it. For whatever the cause of the breakdown, (and note I said that it was just a "theory" that the old D2 formulas were a factor more so than the biodiesel, and also note old300D knows infinitely more than me on the subject and when he says biodiesel breaks down rubber, I believe him), Those little fuel lines are not going to dissolve over night with B100 use. They will slowly breakdown over months and years. And it is probably the case that they need to be replaced anyway . Use Viton if you like but the regular braided stuff will work too. The jury is still out on how long the braided stuff will last but since my several year old ones lasted almost 2 years of high biodiesel use, I figure new ones will last at least 2 times that long. Other people on BiodieselNow.com are using it too instead of Viton. At any rate the worst that happens is the car wont start and you get a piece out of the trunk and replace the broken one.

HTH and
Check out www.biodieselnow.com if you have not already for all your biodiesel questions. It is a great forum.

We are on the same page. The problem I had with new rubber (nitrile) line was I had 10 feet of the stuff. Enough dissolves off the insides to constantly plug a factory spin-on filter, and sometimes big chunks will plug the inline. There is only 2 feet of rubber on the feed side when using the factory lines, 1 foot at the tank and 1 foot to the lift pump. I ran new nitrile lines there before I switched to Viton, and didn't plug any filters. You can get by with it, but if you want trouble-free, throw down $50 and get Viton.

And I've never used any unwashed B100 save my very first 25 gallon batch of homebrew. Mercedes are very tolerant and will endure cold veggie and soapy B100 full of alcohol without much complaining. But I daily drive mine, and I intend to make it last, so I'll use nothing but the good stuff, be it washed homebrew or ASTM commercial B100.