Well I guess it was envisaged by the engineers/designers that the fuel lines
would have been replaced at the first sign of ageing. Although in the real
world the situation is somewhat different. I would think to be any real
threat you would have to be driving the life out of the car before the
exhaust pipe back there would get hot enough to ignite Diesel. I am not sure
what the flashpoint of Diesel is but it is fairly high, well a bit more than
room temperature anyway.
If you want to pick design faults look no further than the fuel injected
(petrol that is, or gasoooleene as you might say) Mercs (and loads others),
consider that they have a much more flammable substance being pumped around
one side of a motor while on the other is a hot exhaust manifold, plus there
is lots of electricity to make a nice bright spark. I also know that the
pressures under which petrol is being pumped is not inconsiderable, so if a
fuel hose blows there is a nice spray of fuel going just about everywhere
under the bonnet and if there is arcing somewhere you have the ingredients
for a big fire. All this right in front of your nose.
Hmmnh maybe that is why a lot of Mercs come with a fire extinguisher.
Hendrik
who needs to put a fire extinguisher in the new beast of burden
----- Original Message -----
From: "andrew strasfogel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Mercedes Discussion List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com>
Sent: Monday, September 25, 2006 10:42 PM
Subject: [MBZ] Leaky fuel onto a hot exhaust! 123 design flaw?
I wrote last week that her 1985 300CD exudes a strong smell of diesel
toward
the rear of the car. There was a leaky fuel hose under the hood, but more
alarmingly, the tail pipe was WET with diesel fuel as she drove into the
garage! The fuel lines from the tank are situated directly above the
exhaust pipes and were dripping diesel right onto the hot pipes. Yikes!
Question: Isn't this an obvious safety hazard/design flaw? Beyond that,
is
there anything I should plan on replacing other than the large fuel lines
leading from the tank? Is there a seal on the fuel tank sending unit that
could also be leaking?
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