SVO...poor acceleration and stalling problems

I have a question about my 1982 300SD 240K that's been converted to run SVO. Please respond especially if you're knowledgable in the veggie oil systems world. The symptom: The car has extremely poor acceleration - you have to floor it for about 4 to 5 seconds to get it to move from a dead stop. In the first half hour of driving though, once the car is actually moving, it does have some power. However, after things warm up a bit, it quickly starts to lose power, and when you come to a stop, the engine will stall. My mechanic noticed that the fuel pump in the trunk for the veggie tank was excessively hot, whereas it should only be getting warm to the touch. How likely is it that a stronger and more efficient fuel pump would solve the acceleration problem? Does it make sense that the car would progressively lose power if the pump was getting overheated / overworked? Also, it may be significant to note that i'm unable to switch the car back to diesel at this point, most likely because the solenoid switch is broken. So, it is starting and stopping on veggie at this point, which seems like it might be fine in the summer months. The previous owner was the one who did the conversion...

work that has recently been done by my mechanic (who doesn't understand veggie systems):

replaced timing chain removed diesel tank and tank filter and cleaned them cleaned diesel fuel lines spent a month and a half not doing too much at all with my car

Reply to
dougcullen
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Didn't you post about this car earlier?

If so, what's been done since?

IMHO there are two problems:

  1. There's a problem with the engine that needs to be fixed so it runs well on #2 diesel (so there's a base line)

  1. THEN deal with the problems created by this conversion.

The engine will not get sorted out the way it is - too many possible variables - and no factory specs for non #2 diesel operation.

The car is dangerous to drive this way, so don't.

Reply to
T.G. Lambach

Obvious things first, have you cleaned the banjo fitting?

Reply to
Richard Sexton

It sounds to me that the fuel filter is clogged. You just did the conversion and SVO or WVO will loosen all the gunks and clog up the filter immediately.

Haven't got to conversion yet, but understood the principles.

Reply to
Tiger

Yes, this is the same car and nothing has changed recently. Its true that i have to first get the system to run on diesel and then re-evaluate.

Reply to
dougcullen

we've tried replacing the filters...that didn't seem to do it....

Reply to
dougcullen

Suggest you start by running it on diesel #2. The motor's specs are for diesel #2, anything else is a variation on that theme - and this batch of bio-fuel could be lousy, compounding the problem(s). If the fuel selector valve is broken just by pass it - ignore the valve and connect the diesel supply hose directly to the engine's supply line, plug the bio line.

I'm trying to determine what happened to the motor.

Was the motor in this condition when you bought the car? Or was it OK then?

If OK what was done (to it) that caused the problem?

Conversely, if you bought it in this condition, the field of possibilities is open and will be costly - unless YOU do the wrench work.

Seems to me that I outlined a diagnostic approach the last time - read that again.

This motor ran well for many miles and it can do so again so don't give up.

Reply to
T.G. Lambach

The system was in the same condition when i originally purchased it. I showed your list of diagnostic steps to my ex-mechanic, and i'll be keeping those things in mind when i bring the car to the next mechanic who seems trustworthy. Its hard to even find a mechanic who's willing to work on old diesel cars. Yes the next step would be to send diesel #2 directly to the engine and see if we can get it running. Thanks!

Reply to
dougcullen

Stalling? The only way I know to make them stall is to screw in the rack damper bolt too far.

Reply to
Richard Sexton

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