1999 W202 Mercedes C250 Turbodiesel for sale

[Tony From West Oz Vice Chairperson of WARFA Find all posts View Profile Close Tony From West Oz]

My wife has decided to buy a Toyota Camry, just like her friend's car.
So, her C250 is up for sale.
Message me on this forum or thru Gumtree if you would like specific photos or to answer your questions.

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/bedfordale/cars-vans-utes/1999-mercedes-benz-c250-sedan/1131967274?posted=true


Tony

[Johnnojack Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Johnnojack]

Re: 1999 W202 Mercedes C250 Turbodiesel for sale

Ahh Tony, I feel your pain. My wife has bought a new Mazda 3 petrol. So the lovely Golf diesel has to go, sob!

[Harvey Member Find all posts View Profile Close Harvey]

Re: 1999 W202 Mercedes C250 Turbodiesel for sale

My wife has decided to buy a Toyota Camry, just like her friend's car.
So, her C250 is up for sale.
Message me on this forum or thru Gumtree if you would like specific photos or to answer your questions.

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/bedfordale/cars-vans-utes/1999-mercedes-benz-c250-sedan/1131967274?posted=true


Tony

For anyone looking for a luxury vehicle, Germany engineering made for alternative fuels I thoroughly recommend Tony's car. They come with a factory built heat exchanger.
Have one myself, and would buy this for the girlfriend, but as per colleagues, she doesn't get the kick out of pouring free waste into the fuel tank we oil barons do.
Wants another new mazda3. Maybe I can get her to buy a diesel and sneak a bit of veggie in it when she's not around hehe

[Tony From West Oz Vice Chairperson of WARFA Find all posts View Profile Close Tony From West Oz]

Re: 1999 W202 Mercedes C250 Turbodiesel for sale

I see 4 others on Gumtree.
$6800 http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/ormeau-hills/cars-vans-utes/1997-mercedes-benz-c250-turbo-diesel/1131574894
$4000 http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/nelso...sel/1127982077
$4000 http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/gordo...dan/1130624321
$3500 1997 http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/mudji...enz/1128303641

Take your pick.

[craigcurtin Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close craigcurtin]

Re: 1999 W202 Mercedes C250 Turbodiesel for sale

Tony what has been done in terms of conversion of this car - are you running it on oil or bio? 2nd tank?

[Tony From West Oz Vice Chairperson of WARFA Find all posts View Profile Close Tony From West Oz]

Re: 1999 W202 Mercedes C250 Turbodiesel for sale

Tony what has been done in terms of conversion of this car - are you running it on oil or bio? 2nd tank?

Craig,
No conversion, just using biodiesel.
We did not have much success using WVO, as the venturi pumps which transfer fuel from the saddle tank halves to the 'anti-splash container' didn't work well with WVO. The high viscosity of WVO (esp. in winter) is the issue.

When I first started making our biodiesel. about 12 months ago, I was not washing the bio, letting it stand for a couple of months. Later, I had some byproduct enter the fuel system and that caused blocked fuel filters. I realised that I needed to improve my biodiesel process and started washing the bio.
Soon after, my wife had a no progress situation and despite my best attempts at fault finding, I had to call on a specialist MB mechanic. The IP had a lot of residue (I presume from byproduct) in it and it was cleaned out. All the O rings in the fuel pipe connections were replaced and the car came back to us. Another week later, my wife was in Perth with a friend and the car again failed to proceed. I towed it to my MB independent mechanic who found that another O ring had failed, allowing air into the fuel system.
We then went to petroleum diesel.
Then a month later, the engine was not shutting down as it should, so I replaced the Shut off valve on the side of the IP. Then it would not start at all.

My wife gave up on the car and wanted a Camry Hybrid like her friend's car. She now has one EXACTLY the same as her friend's.

It turns out that the fuel pump (the lift pump) was not pumping fuel. The valves for the pump are not available from MB, so ~ $800 later and a new lift pump was installed. I looked inside the old lift pump and found that one of the valves was not seating properly (spring dislodged somehow). I could get a replacement valve from a Bosch Injector place if I could be bothered to do so.

Sorry for the long story, but I wanted everyone to know that it is a good car and that I believe that the use of unwashed bio allowed byproduct to cause issues with the IP and fuel system O rings. The IP has been cleaned and bench tested, the fuel hose O rings replaced, and the lift pump replaced.

I don't recommend using WVO in this model (W202 C250 Turbodiesel), but the W210 E300 Turbodiesel with the OM606 engine should be fine (does not have saddle tank).
With quality fuel (eg washed biodiesel), this car should provide long reliable service.

My C250 is going like a dream on 100% biodiesel, although I had used a WVO blend in it previously.
It has an issue with one venturi pump (drivers side), which I believe is blocked, so I can only get just over 1/2 tank usage.
I have overcome that by installing an electric fuel pump to transfer fuel from the Drivers side of the saddle tank to the passenger side where the venturi pump works well. I can now drive until well past the low fuel lamp coming on. Just a bit noisier with the 'tic tic tic' of the pump when the Ign. is on.
I have a idea of how to fix the blocked venturi pump issue on these tanks (it happens with petrol cars also), but I need another fuel tank to test my repair theory. Note: the blockage only affects the drivers side venturi because the passenger side venturi is removable from the fuel tank and can be cleaned. The drivers side venturi pump cannot be accessed at all!

[3DB Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 3DB]

Re: 1999 W202 Mercedes C250 Turbodiesel for sale

It has gotta be frustrating having put all of that work into a car and then replacing it with a Camry. My Mrs likes the idea of biofuels but wants nothing to do with the processing or refuelling side, which is fine - she doesn't have to. I have 2 functional biofuelled vehicles and she won't drive either one. Instead she has a pristine 2007 Honda Jazz with 40,000 km on it that we pay $1,000 per annum on rego plus another $600 on insurance and gets driven less than 2,000 km a year. Extremely uneconomical motoring. I wish I could sell that thing.

[Tony From West Oz Vice Chairperson of WARFA Find all posts View Profile Close Tony From West Oz]

Re: 1999 W202 Mercedes C250 Turbodiesel for sale

At least it is the Hybrid. Interesting to see the engine shut down when doing 70km/h & the car still stays at 70, the A/C still keeps pumping out cold air and then it starts up a minute or 2 later for 5 minutes, then shuts down again. We are doing a mileage check on it at the moment. I will update this post with it's fuel economy figures.

[3DB Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 3DB]

Re: 1999 W202 Mercedes C250 Turbodiesel for sale

The Camry Hybrid seems to be a good thing. You almost never see a Falcon taxi in Sydney anymore (other than wagons) - nearly all Camry Hybrids. My neighbours have had one since they came out and love it. I also saw an article somewhere when they first came out and they did a 5,000 km road test against both a new Falcon & Commodore and the Camry used almost exactly half the amount of fuel over the test. Tony - you'll correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe Toyota also warrant the battery pack for 8 years?

[Tony From West Oz Vice Chairperson of WARFA Find all posts View Profile Close Tony From West Oz]

Re: 1999 W202 Mercedes C250 Turbodiesel for sale

Yes, Toyota have increased the battery warranty to 8 years for all of the Camry Hybrids. My wife's 2010 model has 2 years of warranty still available.

[Johnnojack Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Johnnojack]

Re: 1999 W202 Mercedes C250 Turbodiesel for sale

Tony did you sell the Merc? And how is the mileage of the Camry. The Mazda 3 isn't that economical about 7.5 last trip in the Golf we got over 1000ks out of a tank on a trip to Mildura and back.