Has anyone pulled the plug at the bottom of the fuel tank?

Is there a screen there that needs cleaning and is part of the filtering system?

Is it a tough thing to get out?

Frank

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'85 white 300SD - "YCAGWYW" as in: "You Can't Awlays Get What You Want."
'85 gold 300D - "Pain"..for sale, as in..Anyone want to date my Ex-wife... I'll Pay !!
'83 300td - "Tumblin" as in "Dice"
'81 black 300TD Fenix, risen and sold, now residing in NJ

Yes, there is a screen in there. And, yes, it is a part of the fuel filtering system.

They aren't particulalry hard to remove (the strainer on my 300D is tough to get at compared to the one on the TD) but you definitely want to make sure that the tank is empty (or darned close to it) before attempting to remove that tank strainer.

I preparation, I ran the fuel in the TD down to the point where it was running poorly and then dumped a couple of quarts of cooking oil into the tank to make it home. My reasoning was that it would be far more pleasant to be wallowing around in Mazola than diesel when that strainer came out. I was right.

Do you have any idea what a mess a half-gallon of cooking oil makes in your driveway? But, it can be easily cleaned up with a product called "Greased Lightning."

If you decide to do this bit of PM, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a replacement strainer or at least a new rubber gasket on hand because, if the strainer is bad/clogged or, if the gasket is damaged and can't reassemble it, you are essentially dead in the water. The sedan's strainer is cheap; the kombi's strainer is outrageously expensive.

The strainers on my TD and D are plastic cages with (I think) a wire mesh screen. I scrubbed them off in clean diesel and reinstalled them without replacing the gasket. The cheapo solution worked out OK for me (consequently, I have two new strainers in inventory); your results may vary.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Seafood,

Remove the rubber fuel line and drain into a container. That way there will be very little fuel come out of the tank when you remove the strainer.

One characteristic of a plugged fuel strainer is the engine runs good when the tank is full but acts like it is running out of fuel intermittently when the tank is almost, but not completely empty.

P E H

R Leo, Good idea about the Clean Cooking oil. B100 would work too, be cheaper than vege oil retail.

I pulled my strainer a while ago, managed to keep it very neat, but still kind of a PIA job, when i got the thing out, it was completely clean. Actually disappointing to go to the trouble of removing it, not to find any junk to clean out.

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83 240D four bagger stick diesel 276K

Small price to pay for ease of mind.

Louis.

Is number 11 in the picture following the Fuel Tank Strainer? If so, where is it located on an 84 300DT? Do I need to lift the car up to access it?

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Look under the back of the car. It's the big fitting with a hexagonal cavity that's in the middle of the bottom of the tank. You can't miss it.

Make sure you've completely drained the tank and have made arrangements for capturing and containing 3-5 gallons of fuel because there will be some fuel remaining in that tank which will be pouring out the instant you unscrew the strainer.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Frank

You might want to check the short pieces of rubber hose that are on the bottom of the tank and replace them if they show any signs of weeping. There are 2 on the left and if they leak they drip down on your axle boot, not good. One of the hoses is 10mm the other 2 are 8mm if remember right.

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

After the strainer is out, is the fuel that came out still safe to use? No doubt it should be at least filtered before being put back in.

I pour mine right back in. Of course, I'm shameless when it comes to using Mr. "D's" machine to rid myself of used engine oil and various cooking scraps.

Anyway, if you clean the area around the plug, and collect the fuel in a clean recepticle, further filtering seems like overkill. Anyway, when it goes back into the tank it will have to go through all three filters before hitting the IP.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.