I have no experience with alternative fuels, figured I'd run this past you guys who understand this stuff. I have a mercedes 300D I got for free (not running) and I will either put the engine in my bronco 2 or a scout, haven't decided yet. Problem is that it has been sitting for almost a year after being run on oil because the filter is full of it and I can see it gelled in the fuel lines. This vehicle never had any kind of a conversion heater system on it. I want to make sure it starts and runs fine before I bother with the swap but don't have a clue as to how to go about it. I assume that stuff needs cleaned out of the system or thinned down before it can be started, lol, 20 degrees outside and motor does not have a cooling system to utilize the block heater. Don't know if the block heater would even do the job... More importantly, I need to know if this scenario can cause damage to the injection pump, injectors, cause me to have to take in pump to be cleaned and so on. Though I got this car for free it doesn't mean I want to spend money on parts or labor, considering the cars go for fairly cheap around here. Hopefully you gents can educate me a little. Thanks for the help.

 

Welcome to the biofuels forum. It's not going to be easy, but you may get lucky. The whole car/engine needs to go into a shop where you can warm it all up. As long as it's gelled already it's not gonna flush out. Turning the IP over with gelled oil can cause damage also. I would warm it all up and try and flush out the lines, then remove the IP, take out the plugs, and try and turn the IP over by HAND! Remove the injectors and hand clean and inspect. Leaving WVO in contact for long periods of time can cause corrosion from the acids that develop. Since you got it for free you don't have a lot to lose by trying to clean out the system.

 

Thanks for the reply. Supposing I get it cleaned out and everything starts and works fine, can there be some unreliability left over from corrosion, something that may turn up down the road? It will be a while before I can get it in the garage and warm it up unfortunitly.

 

Since you don't really know the history of the engine, you won't really know........

How well did he filter and remove the water out of his oil? How many miles running on unheated oil? I would just give it a try and see how it goes. IP's and injectors for those engines are cheap...

 

Yeah, who knows what it has been through. I'll see if I can bring it back to life. Since it will be another month or two before my brother gets his mustang project out of my garage, would it be possible to take off the pump and injectors and heat them up real hot by themselves and try to flush them out? I could stick them in my easy bake oven... I'm glad I don't have to worry about the fuel tank or lines back to the tank, don't need that stuff.

 

Good idea. You could pull them and clean them up and then get a better idea of their condition. Post up here with your results, always helpful for other people that might face the same problem.

 

Good idea, don't have those very often . I'll be sure to get them in the microwave on defrost as soon as possible lol. Tomorrow I'll pull off the parts and post how it goes. Thanks again.

 

Good luck, and your more than welcome. That's what it's all about. Helping others...