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Benz Veggie Conversion: The Nuts and Bolts Page 2

7 1,870 views Nov 20, 2008

Colin Veg Conversion #2

Colin Veg Conversion #2

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#5) 12 volt auxiliary fuel pump. As vegetable oil is a bit thicker than diesel fuel, a pump such as the one picture above helps ensure adequate fuel pressure to the engine compartment. This pump is mounted between the fuel tank and underhood injection pump.

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Colin Veg Conversion #3

Colin Veg Conversion #3

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#6) Two Fuel Switchover Valves. These are activated by the Continuous Duty Solenoid (#4) described above. When activated, they route fuel from the vehicle's fuel tank as opposed to routing it from the purge tank. This system allows startup and shutdown on diesel fuel or biodiesel, eliminating the possibility of cold starting problems associated with thickened vegetable oil stuck in fuel lines underhood.

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All the parts and pieces are ready to go. Stay tuned as I install them this weekend, the final step before I am able to run the 300TD on nothing but pure, used vegetable oil from local Atlanta eateries.

Departure from Atlanta is set for December 5, when my best college friend Hugh and I will be driving more than 2,000 miles to Los Angeles on clean-burning waste vegetable oil.--Colin Mathews




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Comments (7)

  1. Ed Posted: 11/21/2008 5:41pm PST

    With gas below $1.50 in several states already, I'm sure many will go thru that lengthy nightmare to convert their Mercedeses into an insect-infested truly grease-monkey!
    NOT!
     
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  2. colin Posted: 11/21/2008 5:55pm PST

    Yeah, perhaps not Ed, but $0.00 per gallon still beats $1.50 in my book. And it's only a lengthy nightmare to the non-mechanically-inclined. It's a fun saturday project for a die-hard car communist like myself ;-)
     
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  3. JKD Posted: 11/21/2008 10:25pm PST

    I haven't seen diesel for $1.50 anywhere (and I'm sure I never will), so it's time to kick the habit before that stuff eats through your brain, Eddie...
    Great project btw. Will you be begging Taco Bells to spare you some oil in the middle of nowhere or are you taking a big drum full of vegetable oil with you?
     
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  4. colin Posted: 11/21/2008 11:26pm PST

    thanks JKD - actually, I just got a donation of 90 gallons of waste vegetable oil from a local greasy spoon. That should get me about 2,500 miles by my calculator, and yes I'll be toting it all in the back of the wagon in plastic drums. The load-leveling hydraulic suspension shrugs off the extra weight, about 650 pounds. I'd rather get my oil across the country as I think it's a better story, but restaurant owners give you a pretty weird look when you ask them for their old oil...why, do you know any restaurateurs on old US-80?
     
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  5. JKD Posted: 11/22/2008 10:19am PST

    It makes sense to take it with you. I recall a similar drive/project where a guy converted his RAM and had drums and drums of this stuff sitting in the back of the pickup.
    Would you call this "biodiesel"? It is/was huge in Germany for many years but they're departing from it and reducing the amount of it in regular diesel now since it does have negative long-term effects in newer cars but your Benz will just eat this stuff up with gusto I'm sure.
    650 lbs. sounds like Ed's mother-in-law, so the weight is not going to be a problem :-)
    Can you put regular diesel in case of emergency on the fly if needed?
     
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  6. Ed Posted: 11/22/2008 12:44pm PST

    I wrote, CLEARLY,
    "With gas (NOT DIESEL!!!!!!!!!) below $1.50 in several states already, "
    And I was 100.00% CORRECT,, and you can prove it for yourselves on GASPRICE WATCH.COM, RIGHT HAND TOP CORNER, NATION-WIDE Minimum gas price was $1.47 and FALLING in INDEPENDENCE MO, when I CORRECTLY wrote my piece.
    But you can COUNT on a 100%, USDA choice moron like JERKD to not understand it.
    Colin, give the idiot some more kudos.... they may help him obtain some self-esteem.
    And what is that about a grease monkey being a... communist, Colin? HELLO????
     
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  7. JKD Posted: 11/22/2008 5:36pm PST

    Ed - I believe you may not be accordsforall after all - you're much dumber than that guy though I could have sworn he hit the bottom :-)
    Let's analyze your comment:
    "With gas below $1.50 in several states already, I’m sure many will go thru that lengthy nightmare to convert their Mercedeses into an insect-infested truly grease-monkey!
    NOT!"
    A person has an old Merc diesel (or any diesel) and wants to save money (or save the planet) by converting it the way Colin did... Then they see the prices of gas dropping down to buck fifty and reconsider??? How's that for a reasoning of a two-year old? Has the acid done that much damage already?
    Get back on the topic or get lost. Hi-jacking every thread with your pro-Honda or anti-domestic or anti-anything comments needs to get you kicked out, foo'
     
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