Diesel RVs: 08/04/15

Thanks for posting this. I bought a second tank at the "recyclers," also. I was going to gang my tanks so that I could run various fuels but I haven''t done it yet. This write up gives me an idea of what to expect.

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On Mon, 8/3/15, Nate vwnate1@yahoo.com [diesel_mercedes] <diesel_mercedes@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Subject: [diesel_mercedes] 240D Fuel Tank Up Grade [5 Attachments]
To: "Replies 126DieselList" <126diesel@yahoogroups.com>, "diesel_mercedes@yahoogroups.com" <diesel_mercedes@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Monday, August 3, 2015, 2:41 AM

[Attachment(s) from Nate included
below]

O.K.;
Let's
see if I can do this :
Our 1981 240D's 17 gallon tank is simply too
small ~ we travel and tour in the car a lot so I wanted to
find a 300 series fuel tank .
It appears that the gasoline cars use the same
tank , just a different fuel outlet screen .
I found a clean 1984 300CD in a Mercedes Junk Yard
and bought the rust free tank out of it , they were very
nice and allowed me to grab the hardware the yard ape
scattered all over as he yanked it out , bending the filler
neck a bit
.
Most of the hardware was sitting in the pool of
greasy water in the spare tire well , I grabbed the special
pinch clamps off the fuel return and vent lines as well as a
small tool kit wrench that wasn't yet rusted
.
The W-123 fuel tanks come out through the trunk
after you go underneath and disconnect the three hoses ,
fuel out , fuel return and vent .
There's a simple firewall that comes out after
you remove four sheet metal screws then the four nuts and
washers that hold the tank in place .
This 240 had a plastic tank , I don't know how
common that is , it's worthless to me in case
anyone wants it before I bin it .
The last month or so I have been fighting a bad
fuel fungus infestation and had to disassemble the fuel
sender and scrape about a tablespoon of black crispy sludge
(fungus) out of it as the new tank came sans sender
.
I parked the car with the right two wheels up on
the curbstone so I could easily scrootch underneath it to
reach the fuel hoses and clamps yet still get into the trunk
to take the tank out .
Sadly this meant I was working under the direct
sun and I nearly passed out on the sidewalk , soaked on
sweat and old black Diesel fuel .
I drained out about three gallons of coffee
colored (fungusy) fuel and placed it into clean waste oil
containers , I don't think it's any good so I'll
discard it next trash day .
Removing the old tank allowed me to get a good
look at the back side of the fuel filler depression ,
there's a hard plastic drain hose in there that
wasn't properly on the nipple , I re attached it and
I'm pretty sure that's where the occasional Diesel
fuel smell inside the trunk and occasionally the passenger
compartment , was coming from .
No matter how carefully you remove the old tank ,
some fuel spills out , I was careless and spilled a good
pint or more in the trunk so once I had the old plastic tank
out , I unloaded the rest of the trunk and got busy with
some Simple Green and a rag and garden hose , washed
diligently and runsed well , now it's all squeaky clean
again and no dust , no fuel smells at all .
The new (old , steel) tank went in easily , I
wiggled it into place then scrootched underneath and
connected the hoses before botling it down , this may or may
not have been correct as it moved around a bit as I fiddled
with hoses , clamps and the special rubber dust boot the
Junk Yard ape of course destroyed by being careless ,
I used my narrowest steel spatula to *carefully* scrape the
rubber seal off the old plastic tank for re use .
I re installed the firewall with it's carpet
and re loaded the trunk , connected the fuel sender wire
through the first aid kit hole in the parcel shelf (only two
# 2 Phillips screws hold it in place) , replaced the dirty
clear plastic intake fuel screen , poured in 1.5 Gallons of
fresh , clear Diesel fuel and puttered off to the gas
station and tanked it up , the low fuel lamp went off , 21
Gallons total filled it .
The '84 300CD tank I bought , has an unleaded
gasoline filler restrictor welded into it , factory , my
'84 300CD Coupe , doesn't . an '85 300D I found
in the Junk Yard the next day , also had this same gasoline
typ fuel tank , I don't understand it as once in a blue
moon I get stuck in a truck stop that only has the BIG
BERTHA fuel nozzles that barely work with the car's non
restrictor filler neck .
Since then (Thursday) I have driven slightly over
200 miles and no fuel smells , no leaks so I am happy
.
The filler neck gasket disintegrated , I found a
passable one from the '85 Sedan but have not yet fooled
with it as I found a new filler neck rubber gasket
OnLine , bought it and expect it to arrive Friday 8/7
.
Pic. # 1 looking in the trunk , firewall removed
.
Pic. # 2 the old 17 Gallon plastic tank and
seriously fungussy sender , tools etc.

Pic. # 3 dirty clear plastic intake fuel screen
.
Pic. # 4 new , clean fuel intake screen
.
Pic. # 5 plastic tank full view .
-Nate