w124 tank strainer

[bladecrazy]

when i bought the 300d it had 3/4 of a tank of diesel already in it and i thought how kind, anyway i have been putting the odd 10er in but this week ran her down to a quarter and she died, 15 minutes later and she was fine, then died again on the next outing, looking under the bonnet the new inline filter i had fitted was jet black and completley empty as if she,d ran out of fuel, pulled the line from the tank and barely a trickle , so today removed the whole fuel thank which took around 3 hours as everything was ceased, nothing prepared me for the amount of black sludge that was inside the tank. this is the intank filter, no joke i think i got around 2kg of this black looking gunk out. absoloute horrid job and the reason the car was running bad.

 

[Uncle Benz]

Looks like diesel bug to me

 

[Doug1234]

Yes diesel bug.
Options wash tank out and eventually rinse it with a gallon of petrol to remove traces of water.
Now after having run veg and biodiesel for years I can recommend Startron Starbrite diesel enzyme treatment as the only bug killer worth using and this is simply because it kills the bug and dissolves slime in fuel system but its the only one that does not block filters up with dead bug/ slime , the enzyme in Startron lets the junk pass through the fuel system and burnt off in cylinders.
One bottle should sort you out and then a capful every month to keep on top of it.

Star brite Startron Fuel Treatment 250ml Gael Force Marine

Startron is the worlds first treatment based on naturally occuring enzymes. It stabalises and improves fuel, removes biological growth and disperses water. Improve fuel economy by up to 15% and reduce emissions by up to 90%. • Eliminates alg .... £24.49.Gael Force - suppliers of the best and...

www.gaelforcemarine.co.uk

 

[bladecrazy]

yes definatly a mess, all my new filters were no good so replaced again, washed her out with detergent followed by 1 gallon of petrol until everything run clean , will be adding starbrite for sure , still cant believe the amount of black gunge that was floating around the tank.

 

[Doug1234]

What helps it keep running is the plastic bell shaped device at base of tank , the tank filter is sitting inside this and the return line feeds back into it so any fuel that gets returned is straightaway returning off to the engine.
This is why the old trick of swapping fuel and return hoses over up at the bulkhead where steel line meets rubber fuel line works so well.
Have you had the fuel level sender apart to clean out ?.

 

[bladecrazy]

hi doug i did wonder about that, how does it come apart? as it would make sense as everything is clean.

 

[Doug1234]

DIY w/pix -- W124 fuel sender disassembly/cleaning/testing - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

This DIY is based on a W124 car but the W123 cars have a similar fuel gauge sender. It applies to gassers as well as diesels. When I removed the fuel

www.peachparts.com

 

[bladecrazy]

brill didnt realise , my next job sorted

 

[bladecrazy]

The sender came apart easily and it was full of the black gunk, all done now thyanks for that. next job lifters.

 

[Doug1234]

Have a search on the forum in the link I posted for info about the lifters