Dear Steve, No need for the Kevlar suit. I appreciate your comments.
1. First your concern about people taking what is said casually as if it were gospel. I make a point, more than anyone else on this list, of confessing my newbie-ness and general ignorance. I hope nobody reads one of my posts and decides it's perfectly fine to use bacon grease in their car. I already have something of a disclaimer in my signature...the AKP-Wagen is specifically named and translated as "Alternative Fuel Test Vehicle". I would NEVER do this with my excellent SD. NEVER. I bought a $500 rust bucket for this. I think I have made that clear in nearly all my posts and have been asked to keep people updated, which I am doing. I respect all the feedback I get BECAUSE people like you are on the list with lots of experience. I myself have read many posts of people adding all sorts of things to their fuel (even Marshall uses motor oil as a "tonic", truckers regularly add ATF to their fuel, another man on the list filtered used motor oil and put a quart per tank in his car for decades. Luther is running a 60/40 oil/diesel mix...this all fascinates me and that's why I decided to see what really happens, hence this rust bucket test vehicle. So I am a certified ignoramous, but still had the sense to NOT do this to my nice SD...so if I figured that out, I bet most people can. This is a DISCUSSION group, not an official MB "here is the Black Forest engineers exact recommendation on everything list." Although, I will say, that I am all for doing everything MB says on my SD down to gleitungspaste for my sunroof, M1 for my engine, green grease for my bearings and Zerex G-05 for my coolant. We can't limit our discussion to absolute "automotive truths" becuase there might be an idiot on the list. The example you give from last week is an opportunity for a knowledgeable person like you to say, "hey buddy, that's dangerous." 2. "never heard of anyone running gear oil through their diesel fuel system." I had never heard of anyone running anything but diesel fuel through their system till I started talking to people. ATF is not motor oil, is not gear lube, is not veggie oil, is not bacon grease. Some are reported to work, maybe some don't. I'm trying to figure that out. 3. difference between used oil and garbage - well, I don't know. It's filtered, it has a relatively low flash point between diesel and veggie oil and it burns. It's not being used as a lubricant anymore, so for fuel purposes, I don't know. 4. I realize that IP's have very tight tolerances, on the level of MICRONS. The fuel does not lubricate it (and even if it did, grease certainly lubricates better), so it's a question of purity and filtering, not what exact oil it is, be it fuel or cooking. 5. "the day that anything that cooked out of something else in a frying pan goes into my car, filtered, remixed diluted, or whatever, will be when social conditions have hit the Mad Max level." You may here be speaking of the bacon and not veggie oil, for example. If it's the former, fine, I agree, it's pushing the envelope. If it's the latter, then I wonder what you think, in general, on the use of vegetable oil as a diesel fuel. Perhaps you are more concerned becuase of my single tank approach rather than a double tank one. I don't know. 6. IP repair complexity. It's a 30 year old car. If it gets ruined, replace it with a $100 used one from the P&P. 7. "propagating questionable practices" I'm not propagating anything, I'm testing. Alternative Fuel TEST vehicle...note the change to my signature. well, it seems that your main point was about newbies taking my experiments as SOP. Fine. Agreed. DISCLAIMER: DONT TRY THIS AT HOME, YOU MIGHT KILL YOURSELF OR YOUR CAR. LET CHRIS MCCANN DO IT FIRST AND WE'LL ALL HAVE A GOOD LAUGH AT HIM. okay, a bit of a flame, but if the consensus of the list is that they don't want to hear about my experiments for fear of Kaleb getting sued, I'll quit posting about it. Seriously. Christopher McCann, Raytown, Missouri -1985 300SD, 209K miles, "Wulf" (http://www.pictureblogger.com/My-1985-Mercedes-Benz-300SD) -1976 240D, ManyK miles, "AKP-Wagen" (Alternativen Kraftstoffs Prüfenlastwagen = Alternative Fuel Test Vehicle) DISCLAIMER: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! I AM A PROFESSIONAL IDIOT, I THINK. -1998 Toyota Sienna CE, 99K miles, "The Van" --- Steve MacSween <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > 1. what is so different about gear lube than other > > oils - motor, ATF, etc? that makes it so bad. > > Nothing, inherently, that I am aware of, makes it > BAD. Though I have never > heard of anyone running gear oil through their > diesel fuel system. Also, it > obviously has different properties to ATF and oil, > otherwise you would not > have a situation where some manual gearboxes can be > damaged by using it, > where engine oil is specified. > > However, you yourself described how 'used up' it > was, in terms of colour and > smell. IMNHO, any used lubricant does not even > belong in a waste oil > recycling stream (I say that advisedly, given the > recent dire warnings being > given to shops about contaminants in the oil they > dump into their recycling > tanks), let alone in the fuel supply of an > automotive diesel engine. Any > more than, for example, used engine oil from the car > of some dim bulb who > left it in for 50k miles without a change. There is > a difference between > used oil and garbage, right? > > > 2. bacon grease - filtered, simply, but hardly > > refined. It blends perfectly fine with diesel, so > why > > should it cause a problem in the injection > > pump?...it's not like it's corrosive to metal or > seals > > or gets cold in the pump and "hardens the > > arteries"..proportion of bacon grease to diesel is > > probably 1-2%. I can see obvious jelling issues in > the > > winter if the proportion were too high. > > Well if there's a chemist, or chemical engineer, or > lubricants specialist in > the house, now would be the time to stop lurking > ;-). > > The Bosch inline diesel injection pump looks from > the outside like a robust > piece of kit, but on the inside it works as well as > it does because it's a > precision instrument on the order of a Swiss watch. > In particular, it relies > upon the lubricating qualities, and general purity, > of the diesel that runs > through it. > > The equipment to properly service or rebuild one is > expensive and there are > very, very few people really qualified to do it > and/or who have a solid > track record. I have been on Mercedes lists for more > than a decade, and I've > read countless posts from people qualified to talk > about it. To say nothing > of what I've heard in conversations with diesel > mechanics who have decades > of experience on these engines. > > YMMV, but the day that anything that cooked out of > something else in a > frying pan goes into my car, filtered, remixed, > diluted, or whatever, will > be when social conditions have hit the Mad Max > level. > > Now of course you are free to do what you want with > the car, it's yours and > good luck with your experiments. That is not really > my point. > > HOWEVER, my concern is wider than this issue, and > comes up because I almost > posted a rant a week ago on another subject. That > is, that the vast, vast > majority of people who read list content we never > hear from or know what > they take away and do with the information. On most > lists, 5-10 percent of > the membership contributes 90 percent of the > traffic. Some people only read > part of threads, or only join the list for a short > time and may not even > take away the collected wisdom of an entire thread. > > So I get uncomfortable when I hear stuff like this > being discussed as though > it's all harmless weekend shits and giggles, that's > all. Much like the > thread a week or so ago about welding up a stressed > bar (anti-sway bar), > then someone posting an anonymous pic of a homemade > repair using some metal > sleeve. There is a difference between sharing > information and propagating > questionable or dangerous practices, and it would be > good if we all kept > that in mind and put prudence before raw enthusiasm. > (To say nothing of the > fact that some clever legal beagle could probably > hold Kaleb responsible for > suggestions on this list that result in mishaps.) > > Ask any shop owner how many cars he has seen towed > in, completely FUBAR-ed > by someone who's bigmouth BiL or know-it-all > neighbour, or whomever, gave > him advice about how to work on it, or substitute > parts, or whatever, and > got him in so deep the car is now a mess. I have > friends who run shops, I've > seen it. > > Okay, end of sermon, putting on my Kevlar suit. > > Mac > > > _______________________________________ > For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For new parts see www.buymbparts.com > For repairs see www.oldworldauto.com > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://striplin.net/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_striplin.net > Christopher McCann, Raytown, Missouri -1985 300SD, 209K miles, "Wulf" (http://www.pictureblogger.com/My-1985-Mercedes-Benz-300SD) -1976 240D, ManyK miles, "AKP-Wagen" (Alternativen Kraftstoffs Prüfenlastwagen = Alternative Fuel Test Vehicle) DISCLAIMER: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! I AM A PROFESSIONAL IDIOT, I THINK. -1998 Toyota Sienna CE, 99K miles, "The Van" __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
