ulsd is going to be here soon at every public pump, can we use it in our older cars? sorry to ask I tried looking in the archives but didn't find A straight answer.Iam guessing the diesel we have now will be gone once the new law goes into effect so this will be the only real [PRACTACAL] choice, iam not going to drive 60+ miles for biodiesel. I hope we are not going to get squezed out cause of progress.

I work on diesels for a living. When the lower sulfur fuel came out in 1994??? nobody told us that the lubricity was not up to par with the fuel of the previous years. Consequently we lost a bunch of injection pumps in the fleet I was working for. It took between 3 and 6 months for this to happen. Since then, I've used an additive in every tankful. I have no plans on changing that practice, seems like a small price to pay for a little piece of mind. Stanadyne actually has a 'Lubricity Formula' for a super slick option although Performance Formula is what I use. IMO, ULSD is not the end of the world, it's an improvement. Especially for my TDI.

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83 M-B 300D- daily driver
83 240D gray market
2002 VW Jetta TDI- beater

I was under the impression that Europeans already use ultra low sulphur diesel. Is that correct? If so, they are still driving old diesels over there and I am not aware of any problems. I drove my 85 307d for 3 yrs over there with no additives.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Yes, the ULSD fuel is used in Europe and is no problem for newer cars. The question specified 20 year old cars.

I started dealing with this in the early 90's with my 123 cars. I simply put in about 3 or 4 ounces of cheap, clean engine oil at every fill up. The pump has since gone about 250,000 miles with no problems.

You can use the aftermarket additives, but they are expensive and not necessary. The engine oil in small doses gets the job done. I bought a case of cheap 30W virgin oil really cheap and it lasted for a long time. I may have bought a second and thir case along the way, I don't remember. A few ounces per fill up goes a LONG way.

Just add the small amount of clean oil and don't worry.

Happy New Year,

My point was that Europeans don't seem to bother putting additives in their 20yr or older diesels and I haven't heard of any problems. I have belonged to a European motorhome list and many members drive older diesels. No one has ever mentioned the use of additives with the newer fuels.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

ULSD has been used here in UK since approx 1994. We did have problems with the newer injector pumps on heavy trucks. These were mainly due to higher injection pressures (required for emission controls) causing increased load on pumps, combined with less lubricity of the ULSD resulting in high wear rates. It seems the oil companies have got it under control with additives.
In my experience pump failures on older vehicles are rare. I have been running diesels for the last 15 years (Peugeot 240,000 Miles,VW 150.000 Miles and over 200,000 on the Mercedes) and only use additives before annual test. Personally I wouldn't worry about it.

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Brian

1995 E300 Diesel 124T - 210k

Hmmm. I wonder if that is why my VE pump on the Volvo seems to have died again?

Or was it the plastic "seal" instead of the rubber one letting unfiltered fuel into the pump?

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

What part of Europe are you talking about? I have not been to Eastern Europe, but I understand that there are a lot of older cars there. I have spent a lot of time in Western Europe in the last three years and it is RARE to see a twenty year old car on the road there. Some countries are more prone to having a few older cars than others, but in the countries I've been to, you just don't see many older cars.

I have seen very few 123 cars in Western Europe, even in Germany. I understand that many of them have made their way into the Eastern countries where money is not near as plentiful.

Have a great day,

I don't know about cars, but there are lots of older MB motorhomes in western Europe, Germany in particular. Go to www.mobile.de and do a search on Mercedes wowhnwagens.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Many people I know from the Baltic region of Eastern Europe tell me that there are lots of W123's there. They were picking them up dirt cheap in Germany and driving them back. Even in the Baltics, they are known to be great work horses and they seem to last forever. I don't think they are using any low sulphur diesel there though.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012