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I know we all have our favorite cars/trucks, but I recently totaled my vw euro, everyone is fine, now i finaly get to buy a diesel vehicle
I was thinking of an older mercedes, i would like a wagon,need teh extra room, lots of miles a year, about 25k for long travel on highways
Any other suggestions? The reason for me looking at the 84 and 85 is that a mercedes mechanic suggested these. I can spend up to 10k, no need to if i don't have too. Good gas mile, looking for 30 plus mpg.
Thanks for any suggestions, and obviously i will be looking to run biod and or wvo in the vehicle
my main concern is not being able to find it on the road, seeing as i travel most of the year on the east coast
I was thinking of an older mercedes, i would like a wagon,need teh extra room, lots of miles a year, about 25k for long travel on highways
Any other suggestions? The reason for me looking at the 84 and 85 is that a mercedes mechanic suggested these. I can spend up to 10k, no need to if i don't have too. Good gas mile, looking for 30 plus mpg.
Thanks for any suggestions, and obviously i will be looking to run biod and or wvo in the vehicle
my main concern is not being able to find it on the road, seeing as i travel most of the year on the east coast
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Tue, April 24, 2007 - 11:05 PMCan't go wrong with a 300TD. Spend the extra for one in great condition, maintainance records, etc.
William -
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Wed, April 25, 2007 - 9:21 AMthanks william
i am willing to put money into an older one, to get the correct engine. how about any of the newer benz models/engines. like the inline 6
any help is greatly appreciated
I had quit a bit of trouble with the vw euro van (03), and i hear of both side witht tdl vw love it and hate it -
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Unsu...
Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Wed, April 25, 2007 - 8:35 PMI have a '77 240D.
I ::heart:: her.
My beautiful car had 168K on it when I bought her, and I just purchased a new (rebuilt) engine since the last mechanic wasn't exactly a good mechanic...
It was worth it, though - exterior & interior are in perfect condition.
Seriously, I'm so happy when driving that car. A completely different story than my Acura - and road rage.
Live in the slow lane has never been so good.
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Thu, April 26, 2007 - 6:39 PMYeah, the 300td is probably the car you want. 30mpg might be pushing it. I've heard of people with their w123's (the chassis # for these cars) totally dialed in, adjusted perfectly, good fuel, not driving too fast...get to 30 mpg in one of these. My experience (and what seems average) is more like 25mpg. And the difference between highway and city in a diesel isn't that much.
Maybe the slow lane for the 240D, but with the turbodiesel, I have to say I've never spent so much time in the passing lane. It is the slowest car off the line I've ever owned, but once I get there, I'll cruise the highway at 90. It's easy because the car feels like it's floating. It's great.
I think the W123's ended in 85...but any 300td from (I think) 79 to 85 is good. Just expect to do a lot of the work/ maintainance on the car yourself (or you'll be charged through the nose), and if you buy a nice one with good records for say...$5000 (not unlikely), don't be surprised to spend that other $5000 on the car in the next few years...good luck finding one on the east coast without rust problems. These cars usually die of rust before the engine gives out. But these cars are life-changers. I love mine. I've never owned a car I could, but these cars are totally love-worthy. Good luck.
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Thu, April 26, 2007 - 6:41 PMAs far as biodiesel goes, you are more likely to find it on the east coast than out here in Colorado where I'm at.
Here's a list of (not all!) biodiesel filling stations. Click on the state for specifics:
biodiesel.org/buyingbiodi...uelingsites/
Or, you could learn to make your own! ;-) -
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Fri, April 27, 2007 - 8:51 AMthanks, i am aware of this link. and as far as making my own, i will, but i am on the road about eight months of the year, kinda hard to collect oil regulary, but i am looking locally for some help, a small group of us to make it ourselves, which sure beats the hell out of paying $3.50 or close a gallon -
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Fri, April 27, 2007 - 4:16 PMAlso, there is a tribe for the W123:
benzw123d.tribe.net/
Brief intro of model #'s: the 300td is the wagon, the 300d a sedan, and the 300cd a two-door coupe. The 240's are all sedans (?).
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Wed, May 2, 2007 - 9:02 AMWilliam, what U said :-) !
I am saving up for a 300TD wagon and plan to put a Frybrid system in it with a second tank for biofuel. There is a Biofuel plant in the county next door from me and I would like to purchase a 55 gal. drum and hand pump to tank up once a week.
There are still a fair number of 300TDs in Florida and on eBay Motors. IMHO, I had a decent ebay motors experience and I protected myself with a USPS money order for the deposit instead of a Teller's check. That way if anyone screws with you (ie. fishy title from a New Orleans flooded and total car considered totalled and then retitled), you can file a complaint with the US. Postal Inspector and the Feds take up your case. I once filed a complaint with the Postal Inspector for something else (a credit card payment that wasn't credited to my account) and it worked like charm. The bank was totally nice to me and fired the cokehead who stole my payment ;-)
Cheers,
Nan -
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Wed, May 9, 2007 - 3:37 PMI know i was asking about the 84-85, but is anyone running WVO in any of the 90 to 95 benz's?? I think i swing the cash for a slightly newer one, but if they don't run well on wvo, then no need in looking.
thanks for the replies -
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Wed, May 9, 2007 - 10:50 PMWVO will run well on just about any diesel except those with Radial-piston distributor pumps.
Their is a general consensus that it burns better in engines that are NOT direct injection. But I currently am in contact with two folks who have direct injection diesels and they claim that besides working some of the gremlins out of the installation that they are not having any problems.
This is a cutaway of a Bosch VP44 Radial Pump tinyurl.com/9euao
The VP44 is flawed by design and it has no tolerance for shortages of fuel or low fuel pressure. Plus it is my opinion that the viscosity differences between petrol-diesel and WVO cause the pump to hold the fuel solenoid open longer (to build more pressure to spray the high viscosity fuel in) this exploits a design issue in the pump and often times leads to failure. It's not 100% accurate, as feed stocks and temps and probably a handful of other factors are at hand. Their is no national database of failures for WVO and known causes and all the other variables... just something to keep in mind.
But I digress.
Short and simple answer, you shouldn't have trouble running WVO in any model year diesel MB. I would advise against any model that is direct injection at this point in time because their is not enough data that indicates that their will not be problems. Normally the folks who are on the bleeding edge can afford to replace major components or the entire engine and try again. I admire ppl like this for their lack of frugality, they provide very valuable data. -
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Fri, May 11, 2007 - 4:19 PMThank you. I too, admire those folks leading the experimental runs. but like many folks, short on funds, so i'd prefer to know of anyone currently run these, which you answered. the more i think about "any" engine with over 200k, makes me a bit nervous, although there are plenty of benz's running way past that, that's the 80's model 300td. i'll start surfing the net for various set ups for the WVO. I may just purchase the first one, then maybe next time fabricate something my self.
thanks again.
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Sun, May 27, 2007 - 7:21 AMWe've had a 300SD, (aka 126 chassis) for a few months. The car is truly over engineered. It feels like a tank and drives like a locomotive at highway speed. Once the engine rpm's get high enough to engage the turbo, the car really moves. The later 300D's (123 chassis) and the 300SD share the same 3.0 turbo diesel engine. We don't get 30, but we do get 25, get to use locally produced bio from veg waste oil and drive in comfort, safety and style. Moreover, these cars seem to lend themselves to DYI. We fixed our driver's electric seat yesterday by removing the door panel and re-seating the three plugs that go into the back of the power seat unit. The materials used on these cars seems of excellent quality for the most part. There's quite a market for these cars now. If you don't like it, you wont have trouble selling it. Take care.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_W126 -
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Sun, June 10, 2007 - 5:10 PMAlrighty then, just a quick flight down to FL and i have my 1985 300 tdt wagon. it's a freinds how lives in fl and it's a cherry, great shape. i was trying to avoid the flight down, but it's too good to pass on.
now, if i can only do a quick wvo conversion before hittin gthe road for the summer, otherwise i'll take care of it in aug when i have some spare time.
thanks for the help -
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Sun, June 10, 2007 - 5:16 PMWhat's the pros and cons on running regular diesel about half the time and bio or wvo the other half? i would think the clogging of the fuel line/filter going back and forth
thanks -
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Mon, June 11, 2007 - 11:33 AMMixing diesel and bio is actually a regular practice. Biodiesel is something of a misnomer, since it doesn't really mean much. B5 is "biodiesel", and so is B100. That's a huge difference in my book. What seems to be "normal biodiesel" is B20. That's 20% straight biodiesel, 80% petro-diesel. In other words: you're already mixing diesel and biodiesel.
The clogging of the filter is usually when you start using biodiesel and it loosens up years of accumulated gunk. Once that's gone, it's slow to return, even if you're using straight petro-diesel.
As for WVO, it too is usually used in conjunction with diesel/BioD when the engine is started and stopped. In fact, some folks even have a swich/solenoid that routes their fuel return lines to the WVO tank so at shutoff, the remaining WVO doesn't get in the Diesel tank. This means diesel goes into the WVO tank. A problem? Nope.
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Mon, June 11, 2007 - 8:05 PMthat makes sence. thanks.
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Tue, June 12, 2007 - 11:38 PMwell said marshall!
Having said that allot of the issues attributed to running alternative fuels are often the result of misinformation, inconsistent practice or just plain bad fuel sources. Bio Diesel and WVO/SVO systems are not for everybody, certainly not if your looking for a fuel that will be 100% convienant or accessible as petrol fuels with their 100 years of research, development and refinement.
Science is only recently beginning to understand how to make a better, cleaner greener and more reliable fuel for the masses under most conditions....
Like anything green thats not mainstream it requires a certain amount of patience and dedication and ability to dedicate financial resources toward your beliefs to make things happen.
Thats not to say bad things cannot or will not happen, but understanding the cause and adapting for it are two major key things here. Also the ability to understand scientific method and some minor engineering knowledge is required. The best most successful and cheapest to operate conversions I am aware of have been done by those geeks who posses this knowledge.
Anyways good luck on your adventures! -
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Wed, June 13, 2007 - 7:03 PMWell, I made it from Ocala FL to Va and it ran great, looks great too. I was talking to the mechanic about the car on th edrive home and I mentione dthe bio d and wvo, he said i might just want to mix srtaight veggie oil (clean) into the tak with the regular deisel. This would be the easiest thing on the road. I could jsut stock up on some oil from a cosco or such and throw in a three gallon jug with every fill up. If and when i run into biod i can use it as well.
fuel filters in the engne have just been replaced, i just need to drop the tank and replace the filter in the tank and should be good
thanks again -
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Thu, July 19, 2007 - 7:20 AMthe tank strainer is accessible from underneath - I don't think you need to 'drop the tank'. It does require a very odd sized wrench that you will need to find in advance -
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Fri, July 20, 2007 - 6:22 PMthanks
i'll be happy when i am off the raod to work on it some.
i've driven it from Ocala Fl to VA to Lake Placid NY to Northern Michigan, about five thousand miles and running great. so far just started adding B100, about a gallon or two for every fill up. conversition will be in aug when i slow down
peace
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Re: 84 or 85 benz biod
Wed, July 18, 2007 - 9:04 PMGood gas mileage is not happening in these tanks. Go with the 84! They made a bunch of changes in 85 (engine) for the worse. 84 is bulletrproof. If you want high mpg get a TDI VW.
