1976 Mb 300d

[seawolf676]

Hey - I finally got the MB I talked about a while back. I took it to the dealer in Phoenix to get a 32 point inspection and get a list of items I should be watching in the future. Everything was good as far as the dealer saw but one of the techs told me something interesting as I was leaving. I wanted to ask you if there is any merit to this. He said the next time I fill up, I should first add 2 qts of any brand of ATF to the tank and then fill the tank normally. He said within 12 miles I would notice a huge difference and the car would run better. He said I wouldn't have to use any additive again and to repeat the ATF treatment every 6 months. I know the previous owner has religiously used a "Red Line" type additive every tank and I was told to do the same. Since this is my first foray into the dieseling world, I was asking the advice of hard liners. Please advise.

[psfred]

If the PO routinely used RedLine, AFT won't do a thing. I would personally never use AFT in the fuel -- I don't trust it to be free of zinc steate, and I'm convinced that zinc oxide dust (from the combustion of the zinc stearate) eats cylinder walls. May be just personally sillyness, but I think the RedLine is all you need. This is one of the reasons I use Mobil 1 in all my cars -- stearate free.

You will need to try various supplies of diesel and find the one that suits your engine the best -- diesel fuel is pretty crude by modern standards, and considerably more variable than gasoline. Some fuels will burn cleaner than other in your particular engine -- I cannot use the local Circle S (Phillips) in any of mine, I get low power and excessive smoke. The local Amoco is fine, as is the Shell, but others report different results. May depend on where you are and the source of the local fuel.

Peter

Peter

[seawolf676]

Peter - Thank you. Your advise is very helpful.

After I posted this I went back through and found all the other posts relating to ATF as a fuel additive. I am sorry I didn't read first.

Thanks again -

[psfred]

Yeah, I've heard the AFT in the fuel thing a lot. I've also seen recomendations to put a quart of motor oil in per tank of diesel to help with injector knock, too -- not that I'm going to, mind you!

If RedLine or Diesel Purge, etc doesn't "fix" a knock or smoke problem, it most likely isn't a varnish/crud problem, but mechanical. Regular use will keep an engine shiny clean (check out engatwork's pics of the insides of his 300D turbo!

Peter