Injection Pump Adjustment for B100
 

I run B100 in my '95 E300D about 8 months out of the year. The other 4 months I run around B50 due to colder weather. Since the cetane rating of biodiesel is quite a bit higher than most dino diesel that I can buy at the pump, I know that retarding the injection pump timing a couple degrees will give me a more efficient, cleaner, and powerful combustion. Most modern diesels with electronic injection do this automatically, but our older MB diesels with their mechanical IPs can not. Has anyone experimented with ideal IP timing when running B100? Unfortunately, on my NA 606 motor I have to remove the giant air plenum and related tubing to even see my IP, nevermind adjust it. While I would love to experiment to find the right setting, it is very time intensive. If someone else has already done the legwork, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks in advance.

Don't do it
 

I believe that the pump timing change was recommended on an emissions basis. IIRC retarding the timing is supposed to reduce NOx emissions. Retarding the timing is likely to result in less power and lower efficiency...
BB

not to mention billowing white smoke if overdone.

Emissions, economy, and power are all related. An engine that is running more effiently runs cleaner and with more power. I have read on this forum numbers from 2% to 3%. Can anyone with B100 tuning experience chime in?

Thanks,

Read this thread: http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/419605551/m/8151020621/p/1
here they suggest advancing the timing..
bb

That's a good link, but it seems to contradict what I've read here. That's part of the problem; it doesn't appear that too many people have messed around with this. Since most newer cars automatically adjust, it's not a big deal. My 3 test cars are a '95 E300D, a '99 F350 with a Power Stroke, and an '03 VW Golf TDI. I run the same fuel in all vehicles. The MB went from 30 MPG to 26 MPG, whereas the Ford went from 19 to 18 and the VW went from 48 to 45. My car saw about a 13% economy hit where the Ford saw a 5% hit at the VW was around 6%. I assume that the computer controlling the electronic injection in the latter two is automatically compensating for the different burn characteristics of the biodiesel, and I figure I should be able to do the same manually on my car.

Still looking for any input.

Thanks again.