Greasecar Kit on a 240D - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Lonesome · #1 09-10-2006, 08:28 AM

Have any of you guys installed a Greasecar kit on your car? I have an 83 240D that I put one in and I just cant get it working right, whenever I switch to grease the car will die after a few seconds, I then pull over on the side of the road and prime the hand pump about 15-20 times then I'm on my way and the car runs perfect. Does anyone have any ideas? I've been working on this thing all summer and it's driving me crazy! I've checked all of my connections over and over, replaced the leaky fuel return lines, replaced the leaky hand primer pump and its still doing the same thing. All comments and suggestions would be appreciated, thanks!

Josh

engatwork · #2 09-10-2006, 08:38 AM

I converted a 300D over with the Greasecar kit earlier this summer. It sounds to me like you are getting air in the oil side when you are on diesel. I would have to be there and study the system to help you out anymore than that.

biobenz240d · #3 09-10-2006, 08:44 AM

hey I had a problem like that once. It drove me nuts , turned out to be a bubble in a

high point of a line. Each time I would use the hand primer ,it would clear the bubble in the IP. I resolved the problem by forcing diesel fuel back from the filter connections to the fuel tank ,thus forcing any bubbles out of the line .

Blevinsax · #4 09-10-2006, 12:48 PM

I'm working to resolve the identical problem on my '91 350SD with a GreaseCar system. It runs GREAT on WVO once I can get it running, but it does the same thing you mention - chokes up and shuts down when switching to grease from diesel. If I can figure out the problem, I'll post my results here.

Everyone else with the same issue, please do the same!

Lonesome · #5 09-10-2006, 08:23 PM

Yeah, its been driving me crazy and the Greasecar website and tech support are no help! Somebody???

ne2i · #6 09-10-2006, 09:43 PM

maybe the switch valve is leaking in air....
could be a low quality switch......

Lonesome · #7 09-10-2006, 10:28 PM

Thats kind of what I'm thinking.

greasybenz · #8 09-10-2006, 10:57 PM

Try asking the guys on the greasecar forum. They should help you out with that.

Blevinsax · #9 09-11-2006, 01:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ne2i

maybe the switch valve is leaking in air....
could be a low quality switch......

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lonesome

Thats kind of what I'm thinking.

I have been thinking along those lines myelf - they already had to send me a new fuel gauge because the one that came with the system was defective. I've also already had a boost lift pump installed and it still isn't exactly right, so I'm thinking it is getting air in the line somewhere - and a faulty switch seems to be a likely culprit.

Don't get me wrong about GreaseCar, though - they have been pretty helpful; they sent that fuel gauge immediately when I told them it was defective. They also had a lot of suggestions before they sold me the boost lift pump, and were genuinely helpful and courteous and always prompt with their response to my questions.

I'm just hoping I can get it straightened out soon - I'm getting tired of leaving my car in the shop to have this stuff done! I want to be driving the darn thing!! Hopefully I'll be able to get the car back for my mechanic tomorrow, so wish me luck!

Lonesome · #10 09-11-2006, 08:16 PM

Anyone else?

biobenz240d · #11 09-19-2006, 09:10 PM

Run homemade biodiesel at .68/ gal ,you can't go wrong.

jshadows · #12 09-19-2006, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by biobenz240d

Run homemade biodiesel at .68/ gal ,you can't go wrong.

who are your sources to get the price down so low? Don't know anyone who can do methanol under $3/gallon

orthotomeo · #13 09-20-2006, 11:49 AM

Is greasecar still looping the veg line? if they are looping it back on itself the only hope to clear the line is to alternate between veg and diesel every 4 or 5 seconds. This will purge the air to your diesel tank.

Alternatively, if you have the know-how I would recommend plumbing a return line for the veg right to the veg tank.

Re Biodiesel for cheap. Buy Methanol by the drum. It's as cheap as a dollar a gallon that way.

Diesel Dan · #14 09-20-2006, 01:54 PM

Josh,
I see you found your way to this forum! I should have told you about it before - much more helpful than the Greasecar forum!

Good luck to you, and let me know if you solve the problem.

Update on my same problem: I bought a brass "T" at Home Depot to replace the lame plastic "T" provided with the Greasecar kit. I also bought a facet electric pump, and I'm going to try to find a 12volt fan that I can mount in the engine compartment to cool the facet pump, and thus hopefully prevent premature burnout due to heat. Lastly, I'm going to get some 1/4" fuel line to put from the lift pump to the injection pump, since the 5/16" hose is pretty loose on those fittings. All this will be installed sometime in the coming days, so I'll let you know if it works.

I'm starting to think that our cars should run fine without the aux elec. pump, but if you have an air leak, and can't resolve it by other means, the extra fuel supplied by the aux elec pump may counteract the air leak.

fireman1073 · #15 09-20-2006, 06:09 PM

Lonesome

I do not have a greasecar system but i have a home built system and experienced the same problem.

I ended up putting the filter on the pressure side of the lift pump and running all my fuels through a single spin on type filter.

Oil is never left in the filter so i do not have to heat the filter as diesel flushes it at change over.

For some reason when the filter was on the suction side of the lift pump it would suck air in and cause stalling and rough running during change over of fuels.

This solved the problem of sucking in air although it extends my change over time a little.

It now works flawless.

I did loop the returns sort of.

The diesel is looped right at the pollack valve to avoid oil getting in the diesel and the oil side is looped at the rear tank so it gets heated on the suction hose in hose and return HIH.

Tough to explain the whole system but if i can draw a diagram and figure how to post it i will.

my system really works good getting the oil to around 170 degrees.

I am thinking of adding a second selector valve and filter to keep the oil and diesel filters seperate.

I did away with the stock filter and used a 10 micron spin on full flow furnace filter.

The filters are 6 bucks cheap at the local plumbers supply and last a long time.

Steve