Fuel Management

In the course of flushing out my gas tank - which was much needed - I noticed that the swirl pot lid was rattling around in the tank. I have no way of knowing if it was knocked off during the flushing or had come off sometime in the past. Regardless, it's a bear to put back in place through the fuel level sender hole. Is it the end of the world if it stays off? Doesn't seem likely, but who knows. Thanks!

Dave

1977 450SEL 6.9, No.923

I didn't know that the 6.9 tank pot had a lid. The one in the 6.3 doesn't.

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Originally posted by Art Love

I didn't know that the 6.9 tank pot had a lid. The one in the 6.3 doesn't.

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Apparently mine does. But if the 6.3 can live without it then I guess my 6.9 can too. Thanks for the info!

Dave

1977 450SEL 6.9, No.923

not needed, mines was pulled out no problem

Well, let's go back to the beginning. If the swirl pot in the 6.3 gas tank did not require a lid, and, if the 6.9 gas tank functions well without this swirl pot lid, then why did the elves in Stuttgart decide the 6.8 gas tank should have the aforementioned lid? Must be a reason. These elves didn't anticipate playing jokes on guys 50 years later.

Jack English
300SEL 6.3 #4768

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Originally posted by Jack English

Well, let's go back to the beginning. If the swirl pot in the 6.3 gas tank did not require a lid, and, if the 6.9 gas tank functions well without this swirl pot lid, then why did the elves in Stuttgart decide the 6.8 gas tank should have the aforementioned lid? Must be a reason. These elves didn't anticipate playing jokes on guys 50 years later.

Jack English
300SEL 6.3 #4768

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Ugh, exactly what I didn't want to hear. Of course the same thing occurred to me as well. It seems pretty clear to me that the lid's purpose is to prevent fuel sloshing out of the pot during hard cornering with little gas in the tank. I'm thinking the Ronin chase when running on fumes.

That's why I futzed around for 2 hours trying to get the damn thing back on through the sender opening. The lid has a small hole in the middle, say 3/8" which allows you to fish it around and a small flange around the perimeter that seems to snap it in place on top of the pot. Seeing what you're doing while manipulating a stiff wire to get it in place and then trying to snap it back in place proved impossible. I was also afraid of breaking the swirl pot by pushing too hard - getting even pressure on the lid through the hole is all but impossible too. Short of cutting open the tank or fabricating some kind of crazy Z-shaped tool I just don't see how to do it.

So.... I was beaten, said "screw it" to myself and reinstalled the tank. Now I can only hope those elves were being overly detailed in their thinking. Or maybe they learned that hard cornering by a 6.3 with a very low fuel level could cause starvation and thought "We won't make that mistake again on the 6.9!" Whatever the case, I shall now live with it, cause I ain't buying a new tankcause I can't get the lid back on. If anything terrible happens I'll report back.

Dave

1977 450SEL 6.9, No.923

Thank you, Dave; we will await your report.[:D]

Jack English
300SEL 6.3 #4768

let me just say this, i am no expert on the 6.9 but i have had mines for a while and i have put the car through the paces and absolutely no problems, not only that, here in my home town is an old guy mechanic / engineer who owns about 200 european cars sitting in a field over 40 mercedes some 6.9, i went to him to have my tank rebuilt and i asked him about the swirl pot, he said he could build one out of stainless but the pot was not needed, i took his word for it. again not a problem

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Originally posted by Jack English

Thank you, Dave; we will await your report.[:D]

Jack English
300SEL 6.3 #4768

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...and here it is. Drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon last night on 1/4 tank of gas. This is a mountain road rising from about 5000ft to 8400ft with Alta and Snowbird ski areas at the top. [By coincidence the profile is almost exactly the same - 8.4 miles, constant 9.2% grade - as the brutal Tour De France Alp D' Huez climb, just without all the switchbacks.] It's curvy but not so much so that you can't hold 60mph for much of it IF it's dry, there's no traffic and you're willing to corner fairly hard. It was, there wasn't and I am.

Result: no fuel starvation. That's good enough for me. So I'm now officially putting my swirl pot lid concerns to rest.

ps - couldn't hear the lid rattling in the tank either.

Dave

1977 450SEL 6.9, No.923