Okay, this might sound like a terrible idea and laugh me to scorn you MB purists out there but I have a cracked #1 injector hard line (can't even see the crack,but it's spraying fuel out pretty good from the nut on top of the injector, is not a return line) on my 190d and was wondering if any possible roadside repair would be worthy enough for a limped 200 mile drive back home. Halfway through the trip what started out as a small leak has turned into full blown spurting..

Now,now the really cool tow truck driver dropped me off at a Walmart and I have already exhausted my AAA 200-mile tow so that's out the window.. But I have essentially all the items in a typical Walmart at my disposal to possibly rig this to get it home. I was considering getting a piece of fuel tubing and putting a hose clamp on the top part of the injector to stem the flow.. The other option this might sound crazy but was to set up a catch bottle by that cracked line. Unscrew the top part of the injector and put a piece of tubing on it and run it towards a bottle far far away from the engine..


I know this is making many of you cringe at the thought of this but there's got to be a way of doing this without putting things in huge jeopardy. I was driving unknowingly for the good part of a half hour with the problem and then started to smell fuel and pulled over.

The other option is to walk a few miles to a parts store and see if they can get a new injector line for me but I know that'll take a few days before it comes in.. I doubt any major parts store has one in stock..

Crap why couldn't the om60x engines get the super beefy lines the om61x got.

fuel lines ae under high pressure,so hose won't work.You can seize piston if no fuel too.,Maybe a parts shop with machine shop can make a braided steel hose with right fittings if you take your old line with you.

__________________
1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

I am not familiar with the 190D setup. The OM617 has clamps between the fuel lines. Those clamps are essential to damping vibrations that would soon crack the fuel lines at the fittings as your have done. If your engine is designed for them, I would get a set ASAP.

The repair suggested by oldsinner is a good one. The best source is a hydraulics shop but there may be some machine shops that can make up flexible high pressure lines. In fact, I would be tempted to change all of my lines to that type and never worry about such a failure again.

Where are you located. I have possible spares.

You're dealing with pressures of 1900psi plus so nothing "normal" is going to work. The only thing I can think of that might work is some epoxy and fiber glass cloth (6oz).

What I'd attempt as an emergency repair is to clean the line really, REALLY good. Cut your fiberglass in 3/4 X 6 in strips. Paint the line with a relatively quick setting epoxy (10 or 20 minute epoxy would be ideal - 5 minute way to quick) then tightly wrap the strips of fiberglass around the line adding more epoxy as you go, ensuring that the cloth is completely wetted out but with the minimum epoxy required to do so (excess epoxy just makes the repair weaker). Work in small batches so it doesn't kick. Extend the "repair" 2-3 in. and continue building up glass and resin to the level of the nut on the line, then continue wrapping until you've got 6-8 layers over the nut - might as well do the top of the injector as well. An acid brush would work good for wetting out the glass. A good tip here would be to wet the glass on a piece of Saran Wrap, then carefully wrap that around the line. Obviously you'll want to wear gloves. Finally take a length of fuel hose and slit it so you can spread it and wrap it around the fiberglass "repair" with just a smidgen of room to spare (a 1/16 to 1/32 gap should be perfect) and add back-to-back-to-back hose clamps and cinch it down. Assuming 10 minute epoxy, let it cure for 2-3 hours and give it a try. Fiberglass-epoxy has a tensile strength of up to 150000psi so it's definitely strong enough.

Who knows, it might just work....

Good luck

Whatever you do keep your hands away from any fuel spray as it can literally cut you deeply and fuel in the body does nasty things - Google it if you want to be grossed out.

Here's a basic how-to to illustrate what I'm talking about in terms of process - http://www.dpdillon.com/cozy/tipstechniques/howtolayup/

__________________
Current Stable

• 380SL (diesel)
• Corvette C5
• Manx
• Baja Bug
• F350 Powerstroke
• Auburn Boattail Speedster replica

Cheap room and overnight shipping. Saturday delivery will be expensive tho. I could send out something tonight, settle later.
Which engine?
602 2.0 - 4 cyl
602 2.5 - 5 cyl

Which cylinder? 1 is front, 4 or 5 is back.

Or find a parts yard get a line yourself

car-part.com may find you lucky with something a lot less than 200 miles away.

Or, duct tape a catch hose around the leak, and collect it or just drain away from any hot parts.

__________________
CC: NSA

All things are burning, know this and be released.

82 Benz 240 D, Kuan Yin
12 Ford Escape 4wd

You're four times

It's hard to

more likely to

concentrate on

have an accident

two things

when you're on

at the same time.

a cell phone.

www.kiva.org It's not like there's anything wrong with feeling good, is there?

This happened to me once on my OM602 2.5 5 cylinder car (euro car - non turbo).

I disconnected the hard line and bent it around into a large coke bottle that I cable tied into the engine bay.

I drove for 400 miles that way, on 4 cylinders, stopping every 50 miles to pour the contents of the coke bottle back into my fuel tank.

When I got home I bought a new line and it worked fine just as before - no piston damage done. Drove the car for another 30k miles before I crashed it.

So, not sure if the same idea would work on an OM601, because 3 cylinders might not be enough. Mine was seriously down on power and struggled to get up hills.

__________________
1991 W124 250D - 130k Miles

Thank you guys for all the help!!
I'm located near Daytona Beach, and there's also a lowes within walking distance according to my smartphone. My buddy who works on these cars (they're Danish and have a whole yard full of various older Mercedes) said in a pinch a om61x line will fit, he said he's used them a bunch of times.. But I don't have access to any unless I can get my father to bring me some he's 3 hours away..

In the meantime I was going to try what Habanero said on this post ( http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/122256-serious-thoughts-about-injector-lines.html ) and try a compression fitting on the end of the line going into the injector. Apparently they're the same as the IP side and it should work.. All the other ideas sound great as well, and I really appreciate all the help! The idea with the coke bottle sounds great as well,but I'm worried about they cylinder not getting fuel..

Oh and I've got a '85 190D 2.2 by the way, sorry I would post more but I only got a few hours sleep last night in the walmart parking lot and typing a lot on these small smartphone screens gets challenging for me!

I lost an injector line on a Cat diesel years ago, took it off and pounded it shut on a manhole cover, re-installed, and drove the remaining 75miles to my brother's house on the remaining cylinders.

I don't believe that the loss of fuel to the cylinder will have any negative effect on the dry cylinder, it is lubricated by engine oil, ... and being colder than the rest (assuming proper coolant flow) shouldn't cause problems if you're not running the other cylinders too hard. If you're driving the other cylinders too hard and one cylinder dry however, I'd be concerned only for the thermal stresses on the aluminum cylinder head.

Just my opinion. If you were talking about a 2-stroke it'd be a different conversation.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

If the fuel is exiting out of the top of the injector at the connection (collar nut), the line may not be cracked rather the connection tip (nipple) surface is worn or nicked.

You can attempt to smooth the fuel line end surface. Should be convex shaped like an upside down bowl. That surface gets worn from vibration.

Try getting some Walmart fine grit wet sand paper i.e. 220 grit wet with fuel and gently buff the line tip. Maybe even take the very tip down a smidge so the line will seat in the injector at a wider point.

Then when you reattach the line, play with different collar nut tightening torques and maybe find a sweet spot were the leaking either stops or slows enough to drive.

I've milked a couple extra miles out of worn (cracked) 603 fuel lines in the past by doing the above "extended use maintenance".

__________________

1986 300SDL 440,xxx

Get someone to overnight you everything you need.

__________________
84 300SD
85 380SE
83 528e
95 318ic

Crap,
I forgot to update this post.. I did the 3/16" brass ferrule method that I linked to and it worked like a charm. That fixed the leak 100% and I made it home without any problems! I strongly suggest everyone that doesn't have the injector line clamps installed to carry a pipe-cutter and some 3/16 brass ferrules (Advanced auto had everything I needed for $15)

It saved me alot of headaches, I didn't make it to Miami but oh well..
Thanks again for all the suggestions everyone, it's much appreciated!

__________________
04 Sprinter 3500 - 310k
"Ich mag die Dieselgeräusche"
https://youtu.be/YjrxHqNy5CQ
✞

Excellent! Glad you made it back.

__________________
Current Stable

• 380SL (diesel)
• Corvette C5
• Manx
• Baja Bug
• F350 Powerstroke
• Auburn Boattail Speedster replica

Yea what's funny is I showed the repair to a buddy of mine in Sweden and he said that he did the same repair to one of his friends Mercedes in August and it's still holding strong!

Apparently in other countries it's a more well-known repair method.

__________________
04 Sprinter 3500 - 310k
"Ich mag die Dieselgeräusche"
https://youtu.be/YjrxHqNy5CQ
✞