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Car Forum / Mercedes-Benz Cars / November 2005biodiesel in CDI engines
Does anybody have experience in running Mercedes CDI engines (specifically E320 straight six CDI) on biodiesel? I am considering using initially a small proportion (5%) of biodiesel and gradually increasing as the crud accumulated from mineral diesel is disolved, and prehaps replacing the fuel filter after the first couple of tanks. Presumably this fuel will not have the damaging effect on the fuel pump that even a small amount of gasoline is reputed to have. This site may have an answer: www.biodiesel.org > This site may have an answer: www.biodiesel.org Thanks for the url: I had not come across it. What I am really after is any first hand experience of using biodiesel in the Mercedes CDI engines. The materials used for hoses, gaskets, seals, elastomers, glues, and plastics that come in contact with the fuel will determine suitability. More importantly I am anxious about the expensive components, namely fuel pump and injectors. You are wise in being cautious, a UK CDI owner experienced an expensive repair when someone mistakenly added gasoline to his car's fuel. On the other hand, commercial vehicles' contemporary diesels seem to run well on Biodiesel. But I too would like some first hand experience before proceeding. > The materials used for hoses, gaskets, seals, elastomers, > glues, and plastics that come in contact with the fuel will > determine suitability. More importantly I am anxious about > the expensive components, namely fuel pump and injectors. Given the worry involved about the stuff's possibly deleterious effects on engine components as well as the additional expense of the fuel itself, it's never been clear to me why anybody would want to bother with this hippie juice. "It's, like, really organic, man!" Geoff  Signature"It's a real conflict for me when I go to a concert and find out somebody in the audience is a Republican or fundamental Christian. It can cloud my enjoyment. I'd rather not know." -- Linda Ronstadt celebrates diversity "Nihil" <SpamNihil@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message > Does anybody have experience in running Mercedes CDI engines > (specifically E320 straight six CDI) on biodiesel? I am considering > using initially a small proportion (5%) of biodiesel and gradually > increasing as the crud accumulated from mineral diesel is disolved, and > prehaps replacing the fuel filter after the first couple of tanks. Don't do it, Cdis are fragile enough just running on diesel, even people who've run Sprinters and 300TDs on cooking oil have had problems... >even people who've run Sprinters and 300TDs on cooking oil have had problems... New Sprinters and 300TDs or old ones? We've got six old ones, including a sprinter and they seem to run fine on cooking oil. cp > "Nihil" <SpamNihil@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Don't do it, Cdis are fragile enough just running on diesel, I would second that. There does seem to be a high failure rate. High pressure common-rail pumps also have a generally higher than acceptable failure rate when installed in all Marques. My experience of failure is with the four cylinder CDi and Nissan vehicles but I doubt if these are different to others. Huw Where bio-diesel blends are available at the pump, it is usually no higher than B20, which is 20% bio diesel, 80% petroleum diesel. > Where bio-diesel blends are available at the pump, it is usually no > higher than B20, which is 20% bio diesel, 80% petroleum diesel. A local outlet normally sells B100 (I know it is unusual) but at the moment, due to cold weather, it is selling B70. What I really would like to hear of is any first hand experience of using any dilution of biodiesel in a CDI engine. >A local outlet normally sells B100 (I know it is unusual) but at the >moment, due to cold weather, it is selling B70. > >What I really would like to hear of is any first hand experience of >using any dilution of biodiesel in a CDI engine. ========== I don't know specifically about a CDI, but the GM Duramax 6.6 liter turbodiesel engine has a Bosch CDI type injection system. GM recommends no more than 5% biodiesel, but I know there are people with these engines running up to 20%. I think that the concern about high concentrations is that there is no real uniformity to biodiesel right now, and nobody is quite sure what some formulations in some concentrations may do to hoses, seals and the like. So most of the recommendations now are conservative. |
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