What is the ideal setup for installing a water seperator? Whats everyone using? I want a drainable seperator.

While I am at it, what is the purpose behind the cigar hose, why not just a standard hose? When I first got the car, I thought it was a bloated hose, so I replaced it with a standard hose, seems to work fine.

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81 300SD daily driver/project
86 420SEL (sold)
85 380SE(in the graveyard)

Some Members are using a Stanadyne (spelling?) FM100 but my guess is 90-95% are using no Water Seperator at all. Of course Racor and I believe Dahle also make small units that could be used.
To get some idea what is available do an Ebay search for "Water Seperator" or the same with Diesel in front.
If you are interested in the threads with the FM100 use that number and search this forum.

Here are some threads:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=221226&highlight=lower+micron+fuel+filter

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=225004&highlight=lower+micron+fuel+filter

If the hose you replaced the Cigar Hose with is working ok I would not worry about it.The Cigar Hose is supposed to deal with the return fuel pulsation and a Member said reduce some noise the pulsation caused.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I have ordered these two water fuel separators.I haven't had any time to put them in. But now in retrospect I'm at the point of asking myself if its all worth the deal! In my view I think its overkill.I know several members have installed there own and I'm sure its works fine,but what about the primary and secondary fuel filters on the your car now wouldn't they be sufficient?
On the other hand the fuel station where you get your your fuel might have problems of there own,like water in the tanks etc.
Now the cigar hose...The added diameter dampens the fuel return pulses as the fuel is hot coming back from the injection pump,so yes it needs replacement.
Hope this helps you .
Good luck
Big Dan
Vancouver Canada

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Big Dan MEng

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So if its needed, what problems will arise without it. I have not had it for about 4k miles and it seems fine, but then again I didn't really drive the car before I changed it.

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81 300SD daily driver/project
86 420SEL (sold)
85 380SE(in the graveyard)

The need today is not as great as it was then, in 1981, but you can still get watered diesel. It has to do with how diesel is created during the refining process.

Diesel is always checked for 'haze' to determine the amount of water in suspension. If the diesel is too hazy it cannot be sold.

A water seperator uses the force of the diesel passing through it to swirl the fuel so the water is knocked out and, being heavier than the diesel, it falls to the bottom where it can be drained off. You can also get automatic drainers but these are usually float devices that can get stuck so I would not advise them.

Most Mercedes engines have no trouble with a bit of water. Most VW engines do. Not the new VW engines; the ones from the era of the 1980's and late 1970's would blow up with just a bit of water in the fuel. They really needed seperators.

You might check in junkyards for these as a lot of owners of GM trucks at that time ordered them since the truck was a business tool and not something you could be without for long. A water seperator was seen as cheap insurance against water.

You might also check with any hydraulic supply house to see what they have. They would normally sell a higher grade of seperator, but they might not have the seals needed to withstand diesel fuel.

Pooka

The question of need is about the cigar hose.

I know a water seperator isn't needed, but its a nice addition. Having a diesel ford truck with a water seperator from the factory makes me want one on the benz.

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81 300SD daily driver/project
86 420SEL (sold)
85 380SE(in the graveyard)

What is the reason you think a regular hose was not used in the first place? Until you can answer this question, it's always better to trust the MB engineers, especially with a car that they still built with the engineers thoughts first, sales and marketing second. A new cigar hose is less than $15 and ought to last at least 15 years. It's not a regular hose for a reason.

The stock fuel filter is also a water seperator, for normal use its overkill. If I had a poor source of fuel I'd probably plumb in a baby Racor with a clear bowl.

IMHO insted of going through all the trouble of changing a very good stock system its cheaper and simpler just to use good fuel. If you buy from truck stops you should never have a problem. I know when I empty out my spin on even after 15k miles its still perfectly clean. Once I got a little bit of water but I think that was my fualt. I put some power service into a container that had a bit of water on the bottom.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

X2, my theory is if you put everything back to factory and maintain it the car will last forever. The MB engineers knew what they were doing and how to build a car that would be reliable in whatever country it was sold in.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Thats the question I want to know. I changed my good cigar hose thinking that it was a bloated regular hose. I plan on changing the regular hose with another cigar, but don't you ever wonder why? I am not looking for someone to tell me its ok to use a standard hose, just the purpose behind the cigar. I agree 100% with your guys theory about factory engineering. Theres a reason these cars go for a half million miles.

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81 300SD daily driver/project
86 420SEL (sold)
85 380SE(in the graveyard)

Guess I didn't realize the stocker was also a water seperator. In my mind a water seperator has a drain, but I know that some don't.

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81 300SD daily driver/project
86 420SEL (sold)
85 380SE(in the graveyard)

Apparently, you are a lot better than most of us when it comes to spotting contaminated fuel in an underground storage tank.

ha

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the cigar hose is meant to "dampen" the pulsing of the injection pump's return line. Without it the fuel is pumped back to the tank, then the flow stops (for a fraction of a second) and the fuel, which now has kinetic energy, has to stop to. This causes a hydraulic "slamming" effect. The cigar hose is there to soften this "slamming".

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1981 300SD 512k OM603

I get it, makes more sense now.

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81 300SD daily driver/project
86 420SEL (sold)
85 380SE(in the graveyard)