I had to change the short rubber fuel lines from tank to metal lines on my 85 TD today. Since I had no easy way to drain the tank, I resigned myself to losing some fuel in the process. I put on a pair of tight fitting nitrile/latex gloves and set to work. First I clamped off the old fuel lines and removed end from the steel line. Then I installed a new line on the steel line. I knew I'd lose fuel when making the quick switch from the old line to the new line on the tank. In the process, the gloves got wet with fuel.

A few minutes later I noticed the gloves had increased substantially in size and lost all elasticity. They had been skin tight but now they were drooping everywhere. It was hard to work in them anymore so I ended up taking them off. Why did this happen? Has it always happened when diesel fuel and nitrile/latex gloves meet or is this a result of ULSD? If it is the result of USLD I can see why we are running into problems with fuel lines and leaks.

Any chemists out there who can shed light on this issue?

Anyone with accesss to ULSD and non-ULSD who can put a glove on each hand and stick each hand into the different fuels?

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

That is odd.. I don't use gloves.. but maybe I should now...

As a young motorhead, you may want to consider gloves. There's a fair number of carcinogens in the fluids on autos that are better kept off the skin.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

That is odd. I use nitrile gloves (the blue ones) all the time and get diesel fuel on them. They don't change in any way or form.

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1991 300D 2.5 Turbo (185000 miles)
2002 BMW 330 cic (65000 miles)
2000 Vulcan Classic 1500 (47000 miles)

Mine were the blue ones also. In this instance, they didn't just get some diesel on them, but got drenched. Perhaps that was the difference. I had never noticed it before.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Kerry, next time you change tank fuel lines, try sticking a shop vac hose into the filler neck a little. Turn the shop vac on. This way when you pull the hoses you'll suck air through the hose barbs, and you won't loose any fuel out of the tank. I've done this several times it works awesome.

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Great idea.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Good advice, it's probably too late for us old guys to worry about it. When I was in high school and college I worked in my family's manufacturing business. We used to spend half our time up to our elbows in solvents (like trichloroethylene) without a second thought. I will be amazed if that stuff doesn't eventually catch up with me.

Are you talking about changing the 1" fuel lines on the bottom of the tank? I can't picture a shop vac capable of that much suction. Maybe we are talking about two different things?

Another way is to use a pair of hemostats or locking vise-grip pliers on the rubber fuel lines before disconnecting and attaching to a drain hose.

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )

I have yet to see a shop vacuum that doesn't warn not to use it near flammable vapours. Diesel might be okay, as it's not so volatile, but I sure hope no one tries this with gasoline. Electric motors can make sparks, and that leads to explosions, which is best avoided, in my opinion. I'd rather deal with some lost fuel than take that gamble.

As for nitrile gloves, they're not all created equal. I've had some that swell up from diesel, and some that don't. The el cheapo nitrile gloves I buy at Harbor Freight don't react to diesel at all, but they do react badly to Castrol SuperClean.

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- K.C.Adams

'77 300D Euro Delivery
OM617 turbo / 4-speed swap
404 Milanbraun Metallic / 134 Dattel MB-Tex

Current status:
* Undergoing body work

My '77 300D progress thread

They were the cheapo Harbor Freight versions.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

The two layer ones with latex and nitrile layers? I only use the straight nitrile gloves. Latex allergy. The multi-layer gloves may be different somehow.

__________________
- K.C.Adams

'77 300D Euro Delivery
OM617 turbo / 4-speed swap
404 Milanbraun Metallic / 134 Dattel MB-Tex

Current status:
* Undergoing body work

My '77 300D progress thread

Yes.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I use the blue nitrile gloves from Lowes and I've never had any issues with diesel fuel including ULSD even when I was drenching them while rebuilding and cleaning my injectors. They don't do very well when using strong solvents though, like the brake parts cleaners. That stuff seems to get through the glove material.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

JetA used on commercial Aircraft does the same thing to the gloves, you just have a few minutes with fuel on them before they behave like you describe.

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1979 300D.