Mercedes 813 - Early 80's Diesel - OM 352 Engine

RAW

RAW

Forum Member
Has anyone got one or worked on one or have any experience of these ?
Asking in advance of a possible purchase to have a possible discussion about these Vehicles
 
RAW

RAW

Forum Member
Yeah Fuel consumption not great from what I can tell. Coach diff, dunno used to be a horsebox....
Saying that on Fuel i did a calculation based on what the owner told me and Cost of Diesel and got it to maybe 35 pence per mile which is pretty high, working on a trip distance he said of around 110 miles at £40.00 of diesel
My old Talbot is at 34p per mile on Petrol and 23p per mile on LPG
 
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RAW

RAW

Forum Member
Thinking of buying so thought I would put my plus and Minus here

PLUSMINUS
SpaciousExpensive on Fuel
Fixed bedDiesel and not enviro friendly
ShowerLarge at 29ft long and tricky to find parking
Solar already and 2 Leisure Batteries @90AH eachPoor Solar Controller
Engine bulletproofPoor refrigerator (Electrolux 3 way)
Wood Burner - Good one & Diesel Heater (chinese)Tyres would be costly
2 x 13KG Propane
Decent Gas Water Heater
A lot of Storage
Decent Cooker / Grill / Hob
 

wildebus

Forum Member
RAW said:
Yeah Fuel consumption not great from what I can tell. Coach diff, dunno used to be a horsebox....
Saying that on Fuel i did a calculation based on what the owner told me and Cost of Diesel and got it to maybe 35 pence per mile which is pretty high, working on a trip distance he said of around 110 miles at £40.00 of diesel
My old Talbot is at 34p per mile on Petrol and 23p per mile on LPG
Click to expand...
35p/mile is pretty normal for a truck that size? maybe even optimistic?
my van does around 25MPG which works out to be 22.7p/mile if diesel is £1.25/litre

What you may be able to do with an engine that age - and especially a mercedes - is run on SVO (standard Veg Oil) or, if you can be arsed to pre-filter it, WVO (Waste Veg Oil).
Last time I bought in bulk from the C&C, fresh Veg Oil was around 80p a litre (I think), while Diesel was running at £1.30 a litre. Quite a saving there.
WVO cost depends on where you get it. You may actually be able to get paid to take it away and just need a shed and time to filter it.

Totally legal and legitmate to run a road-going vehicle on Veg Oil, either SVO or WVO and they are exempt from excise duty for a certain amount of miles (around 12,000 rings a bell). Considering unless you get complicated with fuel pre-heaters it is a summertime fuel and in winter you revert to diesel (and spring/autumn is a mix), half your miles will be diesel and taxed, so your annual mileage could still be over 20,000 and you won't pay tax on the Veggie stuff :)
 

wildebus

Forum Member
RAW said:
Thinking of buying so thought I would put my plus and Minus here

PLUSMINUS
SpaciousExpensive on Fuel (maybe run on SVO/WVO? - see earlier reply)
Fixed bedDiesel (run on SVO/WVO? if so, 100% Bio!) and not enviro friendly (reusing exisiting vehicle more environmently friendly than building a brand new one ;) - release your inner Thunberg :D )
ShowerLarge at 29ft long and tricky to find parking
Solar already and 2 Leisure Batteries @90AH eachPoor Solar Controller (move over your current Victron)
Engine bulletproofPoor refrigerator (Electrolux 3 way) (fit a Residential 240V Mains Fridge. Cheap and reliable)
Wood Burner - Good one & Diesel Heater (chinese)Tyres would be costly - They do last a long time once fitted and so unlikely to need new ones often
2 x 13KG Propane
Decent Gas Water Heater
A lot of Storage
Decent Cooker / Grill / Hob
Click to expand...

comments above like this and this :)
 
RAW

RAW

Forum Member
Thanks @wildebus as always - I had completely forgotten about biodiesel and I used to use it !!

So I think if I can find somewhere to park or store her then it may be a go.

Would be a lot better in many ways than what I have now, I wonder on Size though for Rallies.....
 
SquirrellCook

SquirrellCook

Forum Member
Those older Merc engines went better on the old high sulphur diesel, you might find some power loss on veg oil.
It was the 15 year old girls with no driving licence often found behind the wheel I was on about, though I've been told they are trying to stop it now.
Tyre life is not bad if you buy good ones. It's about £1000.00 a set for mine.
 
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SquirrellCook

SquirrellCook

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I use Uniroyal traction and steer. They grip well on mud. Takes some shopping to get a good price. I like to get them balanced when fitted too.
 
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GEOFF

I once bought an air source heat pump (still in my garage) from a chap up north somewhere and whilst telephone haggling the price I said how much it would cost me in diesel to collect. He told me that he filtered old cooking oil that he collected from various local businesses and that if I agreed to his price he would fill my tank to the brim. My 2001 2.8 Ducato ran fine on the stuff, but smelt like a fish and chip shop for months after the event. No more home brewed bio-diesel for me!!! Geoff.
 
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wildebus

Forum Member
GEOFF said:
I once bought an air source heat pump (still in my garage) from a chap up north somewhere and whilst telephone haggling the price I said how much it would cost me in diesel to collect. He told me that he filtered old cooking oil that he collected from variuos local businesses and that if I agreed to his price he would fill my tank to the brim. My 2001 2.8 Ducato ran fine on the stuff, but smelt like a fish and chip shop for months after the event. No more home brewed bio-diesel for me!!! Geoff.
Click to expand...
I visited a friend who told me my camper smelt like a chip shop (used new 100% pure Rape Seed Oil). I never noticed myself as the exhaust was at the back and I drove forwards :D
 
RV2MAX

RV2MAX

Forum Member
If it was a horsebox orig then floor , chassis corrosion a high prob . They are good(reliable) engine , but relatively noisy and slow . If horsebox unlikely to be coach diff , as horseboxes generally travel slowly ! so speed not a big deal .
Not a long distance tourer , but place to place live aboard better . JMHO
 
RAW

RAW

Forum Member
RV2MAX said:
If it was a horsebox orig then floor , chassis corrosion a high prob . They are good(reliable) engine , but relatively noisy and slow . If horsebox unlikely to be coach diff , as horseboxes generally travel slowly ! so speed not a big deal .
Not a long distance tourer , but place to place live aboard better . JMHO
Click to expand...
Thanks for that, on First Inspection the Chassis and Floor all seem good.
For anyone interested in a Take on the Veg Oil, BIO Diesel thing then this is quite a good video
 
mistericeman

mistericeman

Forum Member
We ran some of our Landrover fleet (I fitted a couple of the old uns with 200m300 tdi engines out of scrap discos....
Tried both unused veg oil and used.... Soon got fed up with the pfaff of filling/extra filter changes/smell and reduction in performance and went back to Dino diesel....
Mind the disco Tdi in a series will return late 30s to the gallon....
Unlike the 2 1/4 petrols in the military ones (down to 11mpg on a run loaded with camping gear etc)

And YES it would have to be something very special horsebox wise for me to want to get involved...
Horse piss is like bloody acid to steel and the things very rarely get looked after as the, should....
Often Left parked up for long periods in damp yards/fields etc.
 
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