I have a considerable amount of rust on the fuel neck and the fuel cap (which is less than a year old) has rust on it, as well. I notice a considerable amount of rust flakes in my primary filter after 3000 miles of driving.

The odd thing is that the rest of the car does not have much rust at all. The outside of the tank is fine and does not leak fuel. I do get some leakage near the top of the fuel neck even though I have replaced the gasket.

The car is an '82 300TD Turbo and I have never run biodiesel or WVO in it.

Can anyone tell me what might be causing the rust?

How concerned do you think I should be if the car seems to be running fine and the secondary fuel filter is not getting clogged up?


Thanks a lot,
Sasha

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82 Mercedes 300TD Turbo

I do not see this in cars that are driven frequently. If the car sits in a humid environment for a long period it will gather moisture in the fuel tank (unless it was completely full - not likely!) rust will form then flake off the surfaces (including the filler neck) and settle into the tank. I had those symptoms on my 124 project car. The fuel was crappy after sitting for a year and a half on empty in the fog belt.
I replaced four primary filters before rust stopped appearing in large amounts in the filter. I carry a spin-on filter just in case it gets plugged. I changed it once and thats all.

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

dieseldiehard,

does that mean that you don't think this constitutes a thread to my engine? i can just keep changing out the primary filters and not worry about the rust?

thanks for the wisdom,
sasha

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82 Mercedes 300TD Turbo

Shouldn't be a problem. I'd carry a few spare primary filters with me just on general principles. Any time the car won't be driven for a few weeks or so, fill the tank before parking it.

It sounds like condensation to me, but of course, you should also be buying your fuel at volume dealers where there is less of a chance of getting some water in with the fuel.

Wes