'73 220D to run B100

[catfish]

i bought a running, slightly rusty, 220D for $500. it starts, drives, and stops. the body is pretty straight and the paint is good too. it is baby blue with whitewall tires (like in the billy joel song).

i am curious as to whether anyone has had issues with B100 in the W115/220D cars? i haven't replaced the old rubber hoses yet; has anyone done this before? does anyone remember what size hoses are needed and what lengths?

i love this car. i want a new one! -cody

[redghost]

Sounds like Gump, but she is Forest Green and not blue. Got her off eBay for $117.50. I use www.buymbparts.com for all my parts needs. They ship really fast and have just about everything I need to keep Gump running.

I run biodiesel in her and have found the performance to be superb and the engine to be very quiet compared to petro. After 30 years the rubber is all worn out anyway, and the addition of bioD will clean the snot out of the whole system, so get some replacement rubber for everything, as the stuff probably leaks already and this will just make it worse. No need to rush out and replace everything first, just fill the tank and have spare filters. All the accumulated sludge will plug filters and you will want to change them a time or two.

I removed the old garbage fluids all around and replaced them with Mobil 1. ATF, Diff, oil, steering, anything that needed fluid got fresh. Make sure your coolant is MB stuff, not the green junk. MB stuff protects the engine better than the corrosive green. Also get some Diesel Purge to speed the cleaning of your injectors. BioD will over time remove pluggage, but purge will really get the carbon gone. No sense using a superior fuel in a car not cared for.

B100 is not really a good fuel for cold climate use. It does blend well with petro for winter use. If you are in Miami or LA, you can use B100, but when temp gets around 50F, you may find the fuel gelling a little. It depends on what the stuff was made from. Good place to start, once you have gotten a feel for how the car drives and behaves, is to do a B50 tank and work up toward B100 by tank fulls. You will find somewhere around B60 or B80 it may gel.

Enjoy the ride. I love my 220D. Get the books and CD manuals so that you can fully work on the car and make it pretty enough to be almost new.

[catfish]

do you know if the early 70s 240D has a similar fuel line setup as the early 220Ds? i am under the impression that the 240D was teh longer wheelbase, upscale model of teh w115 chassis. i have found replacement fuel lines, in a kit, for the early 70s 240D and i am curious if the hoses would work with a 220D?

fortunately, i live in portland or where the temperature seldom falls below 40 degrees. thanks for the good tips.

[redghost]

Did it not just snow down there last week? Anyway

I have yet to see a longer wheelbase 240D, but am sure there may be something like that out there. The lines should work for use with a 616 or 615. The upgrades may be along the lines of wood dash, power locks and windows and a sun roof

[pch2021]

same stuff between 240 and 220.

hehe, you have MY 220D- mine is baby blue wiht white walls ['73]. fiurst off, see how the car runs on normal diesel. the vacuum pump diapragm and the injection pump diaphragm need to be checked- thery maintian control of engine speed, etc.

do a valve adjustment and check your chain. 220D's are never chain eaters [like the 300D 2.5 turbo] but they need to be examined.

third, beofre you explore you higher speed ranges, get used to the car under 60 mph. you will thnak yourself, trust me.

finally, check your subframe bushings, brakes, cv boots, tie rods and engine mounts. all of these items need to be in order prior to modification.

[catfish]

yep, same car :)

thanks for the advice. she runs WORSE on petrol for sure. it takes well to the bio, and i am keeping an eye on the fluids and filters (i know they will fill up due to the bio's cleaning properties!)

i am very new to these cars and i haven't tracked down a readable manual. looking through my electronic manual i can't make heads or tails. i KNOW the car is using more fuel than it should, but haven't any idea how to check the valves, timing, injection timing you mentioned... yet. i think she deserves a trip down to the Benz shop for a little help from the masters. i'm quite familiar with gassers, but i don't know how these things time.

[pch2021]

most "modern day" Mercedes Mehcnaics are too tupid to know what to do with a 220D.

would you like a tutorial on valve adjustments, injection timing, etc?

cause thats what we do here (:

[catfish]

if you've got any secrets, i'd like to know them! i have a bunch of .pdf manuals i grabbed from the braingears site, but they are all out of order and unorganized. i cannot really make heads or tails of it until i organize it.

[pch2021]

oirganize it and save yourself a couple dollars.

first off, purchase all your flters. mahle, knecht, hengst or mann are fine. anyhting else is garabge. no purolator, fram, supertech...etc.

second, order the follo9ws: fuel filter and primary filter [same german brands as forementioned]
valve cover gasket
transpan gasket and filter for transmission

thermostat
zerex g-05 coolant

ALL of these are needed to "tune" your car up. buy one spare Bosch or BERU GLOW PLUG. glow plug failure is rare.

second, timing belts are very different from chains.

chains RARELY need replacement, especially on these cars.


my 220D, with 355,000 miles and records of most major work, as well as my scrutinizing eye, still has the original chain in it.

second, you will need a feeler gauge and a thin, but precise 14mm wrench [no 9/16!] and a good, thick 14mm- both MUST be accuratley sized and not stretched.

attain these and tell me what you can't fiund.

hint hint: mercedesparts.com

the guys name is robert. he is amazing.

he's cheap too.

[redghost]

Most folks will tell you to ignore the cheesy Chiltons manual, but I like the pictures and it does provide a simple enough guide to doing valves as well as other little jobs. There is enough data to get you familiar with the car and be able to have "Aha!" moments when you see what the book was talking about. A paper shop manual is really great for detailed breakdown of how to do a job.

If able, find a fellow shade tree diesel mechanic and have him help walk you through the jobs. Most of these guys are well versed in the workings of the cars and can point out where and why for doing things that just reading about it does not do.

[pch2021]

if you relaly cna't find a mechanic to help you, i ahve helped more than my fair share of Benz owners learn stuff on the phone.

where are you located?

[catfish]

about 3000 miles away in portland, OR. :)

you know, you all are quite helpful. there is a mercedes shop, MBI, around the corner from me that supposedly specializes in these old cars. i dropped it off Friday to have them poke around and they have been little help. i will give them another day and if they haven't gotten at least as far as you have helped me in less time, i will take her back. not to bad mouth a shop that i have yet to attain a relationship with, but they should get a computer and check in with you!

the WORST part is, i left my car there for a three day weekend, thoughtlessly, and now my baby is locked in a building around the corner and i can't tinker! this is the first, and last time i will do that again!