E300 Turbodiesel & veg oil

[dirtymonkey29]

Been reading with interest about running diesels on veg oil.....will an E300 turbo diesel run ok on it?

 

[Bolide]

Yes

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Yep. Just so long as you're not running it neat in cold weather.

 

[Tontastic]

Be careful!

I recently ran a mix of about 1 part veg to 3 parts diesel in my W210 1999 E300TD ... and i killed my fuel pump with it leaking fuel out from several places. That is a £2000 part from mercedes ... so would take a lot of miles to make up for that kind of benefit.

I have a whole thread on the problems i had ... but it ran fine for about a week before it died on me.

 

[pcman_jh]

E300 and veg oil

Suspect Tontastic was unlucky, especially with the low ratio he was using.

I've been running my '99 E300TD since Feb 2006 on various ratios in the tank 23% - 75% veg), until Sept 2006 when I converted to 2 tanks (cold start diesel tank, then switch to main tank containg veg oil (from Costco) although I have been adding about 10% diesel to aid combustion.

Read my threads on the issues I've had, but it's not let me down (touch wood). The main issue I continue to have is the 1st 5 miles (even on diesel) are subject to fuel starvation due to gelling of the residue that's in the filter, but read threads for a modification which helps.

Note HMG are going to do away with duty payments for any user who uses less than 2500 ltrs - and this starts this summer, exact date to be announced. All you'll need to do is check your insurance company covers the modifications if you go for a 2 tank system, which I'd recommend.

Interestingly my '94 C250 didn't suffer the cold gelling fuel starvation and it's basically the same engine without the turbo and one less cylinder. Answers on a postcard...

 

[jibcl500]

yes runs very well on veg oil, add £10 of diesel in the winter to help cold starting, if you dont declare that you use veg oil and pay the .27p duty per litre and get caught your car will get crushed and you will be fined £5000.

jib

 

[Parrot of Doom]

I recently ran a mix of about 1 part veg to 3 parts diesel in my W210 1999 E300TD ... and i killed my fuel pump with it leaking fuel out from several places. That is a £2000 part from mercedes ... so would take a lot of miles to make up for that kind of benefit.

I have a whole thread on the problems i had ... but it ran fine for about a week before it died on me.

Wheres the thread? I'd be interested to know how veg oil could cause this, unless it was really cold and gunky for some reason.

 

[Tontastic]

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=28120

I've no idea if it was because the car is high mileage, or if i am just the unluckiest person or if it was coincident. But after 2 years of driving the car with no problems the car failed to start just a week after adding veg oil. The pump is leaking from the plate that the stop solenoid attaches to.

 

[Telegraph-Hill]

Hello Folks,
Here some of my 10 years personal experience driving with rapeseed oil.
Later Mercs with a Lucas Injection System are quite dangerous as the injection system is quite expensive and used ones rarely find on Ebay .
A 2 Tank system for the newer models are possible but in one out of ten we dicovered problems after a couple of Kilometers (50.000 - 100.000). There is still a risk...

The later W124 4V Diesel series are OK as long as you are not driving 100%. Especially with the Turbo we heared about mechanical failures while driving hardcore Oil in winter...
The early W124 series (2V) as the 200, 250 and 300 are excellent with V Oil. I'm driving a W123 series for 10 years now without any problems next to a blocked fuel filter. So may have always a fuel filter in the boot and learn how to change it

Cheers,
Oliver

 

[Parrot of Doom]

I think you've been unlucky Tontastic. I've not read of similar problems before now. Did you fix the leak?

 

[Tontastic]

I think you've been unlucky Tontastic. I've not read of similar problems before now. Did you fix the leak?

I've got a new pump in my boot and hopefully will get fixed this week. I was going to go down the repair route, but its important i get it done quickly, so sourced a 2nd hand one.

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Once your new pump is in, it would be fantastic if you could pull the old one apart and take some pictures of the innards. I'd love to see what serviceable components there are, particularly behind those panels.

One word of warning though, don't touch the delivery valves if you intend on keeping it (the 6 valves on top) - just leave them be, they're apparently very sensitive to adjustment and don't take kindly to it.

 

[Tontastic]

Don't know if i will get time to do that ... but if anyone wants it they are welcome to it ...

 

[dolmen]

I recently ran a mix of about 1 part veg to 3 parts diesel in my W210 1999 E300TD ... and i killed my fuel pump with it leaking fuel out from several places. That is a £2000 part from mercedes ... so would take a lot of miles to make up for that kind of benefit.

I have a whole thread on the problems i had ... but it ran fine for about a week before it died on me.

I too tried bio and svo I blamed it for causing many fuel leaks, but now I got them all sorted the car runs great with a 25% svo in the tank.

Someone told me that the vo softens all the old seals and they start to leak, so just be aware!

 

[chill61]

hello all,
Vehicle; '93,W124, E300D, 201k miles
Thought i would add my experience of using Veg oil. I finally decided to try it whilst returning back from a trip to wales, when i put in 18 litres of morrisons veg oil, at 66p a litre, dearer than i expected it to be. The car completed the journey without any hiccups, running at least as smoothly as usual, possibly a little smoother? I then used it daily commuting to work, 10 miles each way, topping up here and there with veg oil, probly getting near to 100% veg oil in the tank.
After about a week, i had one morning where i had a bit of trouble starting as it had been a bit chilly, but i also noticed for the first time a small drip/leak after parking up. Then i had to do another longer journey of around 120 miles, so after setting off and having say 18 trouble free miles, put in 30 litres of diesel, as i had been a bit worried about stories from work colleagues about the extra strain on fuel pumps, etc due to the increased viscosity of the oil. After about five miles of putting the diesel fuel in, the engine died on me, in the dark lanes! i did manage after a few goesto get it running again, and continued. For that entire (scary)journey, the car cut out every 3-9 miles, quite randomly. I did get back home and have now changed my fuel filter and can see that the leaks are from the (clear)fuel lines coming out of the fuel filter housing. So, i am going to purchase some new o rings and hope that this will cure the leaks. I am assuming that the stopping problem was either air getting into the system or the filter blocked, although it was changed about 15,000 miles ago? Needless to say, my initial enthusiasm for veg oil has diminished somewhat, especially as the savings are not tremendous unless you are a high mileage driver. Having said that, i may persevere, as the engine itself seemed absolutely fine running on it, perhaps my o ring seals were just about knackered anyway? Any thought or comments will be gratefully received and i will hopefully report that the car is back to its 100% reliable old self pretty soon

 

[240D 3.0VNTi]

If you use Biodiesel bought from a retail station/pump, you can run it fine as-is.

WVO/SVO MUST me heated before it enters the injection pump, that means a 2-tank conversion.

 

[Juddian]

Well at least that sorted out my car replacement policy for the future, i shall never consider another used diesel vehicle, wouldn't risk mazola in a vehicle the cost and complexity of the sort we drive, and won't be taking the risk that someone else has.

I can understand somebody risking it in a car worth say less than a grand cos if you get 12 months out of it and it goes phut you have probably made a profit, but not for me otherwise.

I read a lot of forums and i know many people are considering this veggie oil.

I'm not convinced, but keeping an open mind, and waiting to hear the tales of woe as they occur.

Funnily enough bought my first new vehicle ever this year, its diesel, looks like it's the way i shall be going from now on.

 

[Parrot of Doom]

hello all,
Vehicle; '93,W124, E300D, 201k miles
Thought i would add my experience of using Veg oil. I finally decided to try it whilst returning back from a trip to wales, when i put in 18 litres of morrisons veg oil, at 66p a litre, dearer than i expected it to be. The car completed the journey without any hiccups, running at least as smoothly as usual, possibly a little smoother? I then used it daily commuting to work, 10 miles each way, topping up here and there with veg oil, probly getting near to 100% veg oil in the tank.
After about a week, i had one morning where i had a bit of trouble starting as it had been a bit chilly, but i also noticed for the first time a small drip/leak after parking up. Then i had to do another longer journey of around 120 miles, so after setting off and having say 18 trouble free miles, put in 30 litres of diesel, as i had been a bit worried about stories from work colleagues about the extra strain on fuel pumps, etc due to the increased viscosity of the oil. After about five miles of putting the diesel fuel in, the engine died on me, in the dark lanes! i did manage after a few goesto get it running again, and continued. For that entire (scary)journey, the car cut out every 3-9 miles, quite randomly. I did get back home and have now changed my fuel filter and can see that the leaks are from the (clear)fuel lines coming out of the fuel filter housing. So, i am going to purchase some new o rings and hope that this will cure the leaks. I am assuming that the stopping problem was either air getting into the system or the filter blocked, although it was changed about 15,000 miles ago? Needless to say, my initial enthusiasm for veg oil has diminished somewhat, especially as the savings are not tremendous unless you are a high mileage driver. Having said that, i may persevere, as the engine itself seemed absolutely fine running on it, perhaps my o ring seals were just about knackered anyway? Any thought or comments will be gratefully received and i will hopefully report that the car is back to its 100% reliable old self pretty soon

First mistake was to run it pure in these temperatures.

The engine cutouts could be the filter - it could be gunked up with all kinds of rubbish from the tank, many people say that veg oil is good at loosening these deposits (although I'm not sure myself).

The fuel lines, well, they've done 200,000 miles so they may as well be changed. Mine went at 170,000.