Yes Bobby ;
THERE ARE NO STUPID QUESTIONS ! .
This one in particular is very good ineeed as the primary fuel filter is a cheapo plastic thing but it's *VERY* important in thr big scheme of things , this is why M-B designed it to be clear , not translucent and have a fine mesh screen inside it ~ it's the primary check point for your car's fuel filtering system as some chunks & stuff can get past the in tank screen .
It's designed to be cheap so Mechanics will just toss it out instead of trying to clean it like I do on the side of the road , in the middle of nowhere or in front of the nice Korean Church in Sunday Morning.....
This is why it's critical to never ._EVER_ swap the feed & return lines from the fuel tank " just for testing " : the Injection Pump and Fuel Injectors both have tiny calibrated orifices that are smaller than Human Hair and one bit of dust size crud getting past the in tank screen , primary intake screen filter and so on , can co$t you plenty of $$ and headaches .
Oops ~ gotta go .
-Nate
Bobby wrote:
>
> Nate, (Stupid question) You said "clear filter screen". Just to
> make sure I got this right - I think our cars come with three filters
> 1. Inside the fuel tank is a screen on the fuel pickup. 2. About half
> way from front to back, near the bottom of the engine is a small clear
> filter that looks like an add on filter from AutoZone and much too
> cheap to be on a MB. It is called the primary filter. 3. Near the
> front of the engine and high up is a big filter that looks llike it
> goes on MB. It is called the secondary filter. The one you are
> talking about is the primary filter. Is that the one you were
> talking. (Reality note - my MB, like many others, has another filter
> added by a previous owner.) Bobby
>
> On 10/5/11, Nate <vwnate1@...> wrote:
> >
> > Obviously you've never looked under the hood of any of the junkers I drive ,
> > dirty engines drive me crazy so I work assidiuosly at stopping oil leaks &
> > keeping them clean .
> >
> > Really , a NA Mercedes Diesel in good nick , should begin moving from a dead
> > stop to 35 MPH peppily , not fast but enough .
> >
> > If not , it is time to begin the tune up regimine , the order in which you
> > approach it is just as important as what you do and how you do it .
> >
> > Fist & foremost , look at (& take & post pix of) the clear intake fuel
> > screen ~ the fuel inside it *must* be clear , then the screen shouldn't be
> > clogged nor should there be tiny chinks of coal looking stuff , shiny bits
> > of metal , red bits of rust , brown bits of mud & dirt & so on ~ -any- crud
> > in the intake screen *instantly* reduces power & performance significantly .
> > many cars come with the wrong intake screen ,it's translucent instead of
> > clear so it looks fine until the car runs poorly , the you *might* notice
> > some silt settled in the bottom of it .
> >
> >
