Vegetable Oil Conversion of an 85 Mercedes

Update

muchocheko — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 03:24:49 +0000

Well, it’s February of 2007 and obviously I haven’t done a good job updating the blog, so let me give you the skinny.

I still have the Mercedes and it still runs well. I’m on my 3rd Veg oil filter and have probably gone 1500-1800 miles so far. I’m really happy with this conversion and love free fuel and being one of the cleanest cars on the road.

I recently purchase a diesel Ford Excursion and plan to start the conversion process this weekend. The kit I purchase is from Golden Fuel Systems and uses the stock fuel tank for oil and came with an aux 24 gallon tank for diesel. Other than that, it’s pretty much the same idea as the Greasecar kit. Heat the oil up, use a switching valve and run on grease. I guess they’re pretty much all like that.

That’s it for now. I plan on keeping the Mercedes until I’m done with the conversion, then it’s going on ebay. After that, I will replace my wife’s gas van with a smaller diesel, probably from the VW family and convert that. I’ll try to keep this blog a little better updated with progress on the Excursion.

Smooth ride

muchocheko — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 19:16:17 +0000

During my trip to Michigan and just around town, I have noticed a lot of vibration and noise in the cabin. In my research, I have determined that the easiest and most econimical fixes are to replace the engine mounts and shocks. I checked the mounts and they are pretty much gone, so that’s probably why I get the car shaking so much while idle.

Of course like many other parts for this car, I had to order the motor mounts, but got the shocks today. Hopefully it shouldn’t be a big job, and I plan to do this on the weekend.

Also this weekend, I am going to replace the AT fluid filter and of course the fluid. I’m hoping all of these will help get a smoother ride.

Trip to Michigan on grease

muchocheko — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 19:11:46 +0000

Well I took my first real trip on grease last weekend. I think it was probably about 150 miles, and it ran great. I had no problems at all and I love the smell! I continue to get a lot of positive comments on the conversion. People are really amazed.

At this time, I have no further plans for the grease system, other than getting a better filling system for the grease into the tank. Pouring grease from a container into a funnel and into a hose, is pretty messy and is a two person job.

Conversion process done!

muchocheko — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:45:03 +0000

Ok, so maybe you are wondering how I went from putting rebuilt axels on, to being done with the conversion process. Easy; I skipped the part where I update my blog. Sorry, but I sold my other car and had to get this done. I will attempt to go back and explain what I did.

Here are some shots of the finished fuel and coolant lines. The kit that I got from Greasecar.com had enough hose to do the job, but I cut one of the wrong diesel lines and had to buy more fuel line from Autozone.

To view larger, right click and select View Image.

Anyway this picture is from the drivers side and shows the heated veggie filter with the copper line going around it. This provides heat to the veggie oil before it enters the fuel injector. On the far left, you can see something with two hoses coming out of it and a number 7 written on the top. That’s one of the soloniods that switches between diesel and veggie oil. I found out that it’s a good idea to label the bracket, so you know where the different outputs are without taking the solonoid off.

No rebuilt axels available

muchocheko — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 16:32:33 +0000

Well, I was planning on just purchasing rebuilt axels for about $100 each, but no one had them in stock, including many online retailers. Back to plan A. I spent a litte more time, and managed to reassemble both axels and got them back on the Benz. I was so happy when I was done.

I just need to put the differential cover back on, fill it up, and I should be ready to put in the time necessary to do the actual conversion to WVO!!

Rear Axels have beaten me

muchocheko — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 03:16:49 +0000

Well, they really didn’t beat me, but I did run out of patience. I managed to get both axels off, one joint totally removed from each axel, and repacked one side of one axel with a ton of grease.

I started to repack the other side with also included reassembly of the joint, and just couldn’t get it together. The thing slipped out of my greasy hands about ten times. I’m sure all the neighborhood kids are running around saying the F word if they hadn’t heard it before. The last few times, I just started laughing, repacked the joint and started again.

After the last time, I decided to cut my losses and just buy rebuilt axels. It’s not a totally difficult job, but someone with more experience or time or patience could probably do a better job.

If you’re in the market for some axels in pretty good shape that need a little prep work before they’re installed, check on ebay for 300D axles. I plan to start the auction on 7/24.

Getting the car Road Ready

muchocheko — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 16:05:33 +0000

I still haven’t done a lot on the actual conversion. I have been busy with getting the car to a state where it can safely provide transportation.

My first job was getting new brakes (from the brake line back) for the rear of the car. The driver’s side wasn’t working at all and the other side needed replacing. I got that done, but in the middle of that, I noticed that the boots on the rear axels were leaking or badly cracked, so I got new boots and am in the process of removing the axels and determining whether they need to be replaced or not.

Driver’s side rear brake. Nice huh?

Anyway, that’s the hold up. Wish me luck; hopefully will be done with this project this weekend.

Diff cover removed. If you ever do this, get an oil pan. I though I could catch it all with a smaller containter and I was wrong.

A Brief History of Veggie Oil and the Benz

muchocheko — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 03:09:11 +0000

The original diesel engine designed by Rudolph Diesel was made to run on peanut oil, so it seems natural that the engines can run on vegetable oil. The oil is either new from the store, or used from restaurants or other sources of waste vegetable oil. If used, the oil is filtered and the waste products removed before it’s used in the vehicle.

In the vehicle, the oil must be heated to a certain temperature before it can be used by the injectors. Most of the time, the oil is heated by using the coolant and running it through hoses throughout the vehicle. Many vehicles also have seperate fuel tanks for the veggie oil and regular diesel.

The actual conversion isn’t that difficult, but it’s the fine tuning that I have heard many people complain about.

Welcome!!

muchocheko — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 16:44:57 +0000

Welcome to VeggieBenz! This is a record of the trials and tribulations of converting an 85 Mercedes to run on vegetable oil instead of diesel fuel. There are many different approaches to this process, so this is by no means an authoritative guide on how it must be done, but rather a record of the process that I have used.