steve m
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| posted on 24/1/11 at 11:54 AM |
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Biodiesel questions ?
Hi
I currently have a 2.0 Mondeo diesel (common rail i believe)
I have a friend who has a good supplier of biodiesel that i can purchase, but he informs me my car being common rail is
a big NO NO, as it will screw it up, as the fuel is too dirty,
Is this right?
can the fuel be filtered to rid of the dirt/particles ?
Should i stay with normal "high price" fuel
Steve
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coozer
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| posted on 24/1/11 at 12:08 PM |
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I used it for a bit in my Shogun until it ground to a halt. Fault was found to be the solvent effiecency of the bio had 'cleaned' the tank
and lines until the filter couldn't take any more.
This all happened quite quickly over a few weeks and left me in the lurch.. lines had to cleaned and primed with a new filter to get it going again.
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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Strontium Dog
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| posted on 24/1/11 at 12:09 PM |
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Hi, Your mate is talking bollocks! I have been making and running bio for about 4 yrs and have run it in several common rail engines. They run better
on it than on pump fue with better power and tourquel. I do make proper methyl ester bio fuel using methanol and potasium hydroxide to react the used
veg oil though and properly wash the end product so that it contains little or no soaps or caustic. Under no circumstances try running just filtered
oil through a common rail system or on any car with a Lucus pump as it will end in tears!
I am happy to give you more information if you need it. I am stopping doing this as I am having trouble getting enough waste oil and so have converted
my car to LPG and will be selling my 2.8TD Pajero and running the GT4 instead. It tows very well so should not miss the truck too much!
PM me if you need more help or info and I'll send you my no.
Cheers Si.
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Strontium Dog
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| posted on 24/1/11 at 12:11 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by coozer
I used it for a bit in my Shogun until it ground to a halt. Fault was found to be the solvent effiecency of the bio had 'cleaned' the tank
and lines until the filter couldn't take any more.
This all happened quite quickly over a few weeks and left me in the lurch.. lines had to cleaned and primed with a new filter to get it going again.
Oh yes, and cary a spare filter when you first start to use bio as this will probabaly get you otherwise
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ChrisW
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| posted on 24/1/11 at 12:59 PM |
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This is something I've been looking into too. PPC magazine recently ran a feature on how to make proper biodiesel as has been mentioned, ie not
just filtering old cooking oil.
With the price of fuel I'm seriously considering investing in the kit to produce it. At £100 a tank to fill up my Audi it'll soon pay for
itself. I just need to get a source for the oil - need to go round the local pubs and see if anyone is willing!
My big concern though is messing up my engine. I've got a 2008 Audi, common rail of course, and it'd be expensive to fix if it all went
wrong. Has anyone got any experience of running such a new car on this stuff?
Chris
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designer
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| posted on 24/1/11 at 01:17 PM |
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Aren't you supposed to alternate between biodiesel and normal diesel?
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John Bonnett
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| posted on 24/1/11 at 01:18 PM |
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A farmer neighbour of ours is producing proper bio-diesel as stated with methanol and sodium hydroxide and I've been using it for a number of
years in my Hilux without any problems at 100%. I had no trouble with waxing even in the coldest weather and the truck definitely runs better on it
than on pump diesel.
However, my son who had a modern diesel Focus at the time filled up with bio when he was staying with us and it ran really badly. I know nothing about
modern diesel engines but somebody said they have an ecu which recognises and is adjusted for pump diesel. For whatever reason, bio was no good in his
car.
We also had a 405 which ran well on bio-diesel. After about a year on bio-diesel the Lucas fuel pump failed catastrophically which I think may have
been due to excess methanol in the diesel attacking the seals.
So, these are my experiences, some good and some bad, which may well confuse you. Sorry.
John
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skydivepaul
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| posted on 24/1/11 at 01:52 PM |
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I've been looking at using it for a while now
had a look on this site which gave me some answers to my questions
linky
my main concern in knackering the fuel pump in the car (wifes Rav4)
looking at the info it says that you should use a mix of fuel for the first few fill ups then change the fuel filter as it will have all the crap from
the tank and lines that the bio fule will clean out.
with the price of fuel at the moment seems like a good option
look forward to hearing experience from other users
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marcjagman
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| posted on 24/1/11 at 01:57 PM |
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I used to be a courier doing 80k+ miles/year and I used to use pure veg oil mixed with diesel. Lots of people say you shopuldn't do it but my
Ducato never let me down even at 400k on the clock. TOP TIP: If you go abroad take RED diesel with you if you can, it's only illegal in England,
just make sure you use it all before you get back.
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