Running my Vauxhall Astra on veg oil

worried_jim

scotsman4th wrote: »

My central heatings kerosene as well, price is now at levels where it would be worth looking into firing bio into the tank (64p a litre last fill) but it seems a waste when you can be saving on the £1.30 diesel costs.

Everyone I know think I'm nuts, (and I may well be) but my thoughts are 10 years from now.

How will I heat and light my house? What will it be costing me? Can I do things now to lessen the blow?

Fitted a multi fuel stove, initially was going to have a back boiler but it was a 3 month wait at that time to get a fire that could run the central heating.
Was going the whole hog with a dunsley neutraliser to connect the oil and stove together.
Wish I'd waited now, but its done.

This thread just gets better and better, I just can't wait until I can run a car on ice cubes, any suggestions?

Rolandtheroadie

Dont know about ice cubes, would water do?
http://www.spiritofmaat.com/archive/watercar/h20car2.htm

The internet has a lot to answer for lol.

Rolandtheroadie

Results in, a rather poor 34 MPG.
I suppose it's not too bad when you factor in most of the 238 miles I covered were in short journeys round town with nothing ever over 12 miles in 1 go.

worried_jim

Filled my tank this morning with 40 litres of brand new lovely golden clean ktc veg and 10 litres of dino ready for my first veggie trip of the year to Leicester for my parent’s 40th wedding anniversary. Normally I just run wvo through the summer months (with no issues for two years now) but with high fuel prices I thought I run some svo and save a few bob.
The RAC recovered me after 17 miles on the A27. At first there were no issues but I soon discovered that it was a bit sluggish on the slopes but then on the flat I couldn’t get it above 2500 revs or 50mph. I pulled into a lay-by and as soon as I put the clutch in it stalled, whilst still moving I put it into gear again and it started again and it revved freely. Oh well I think, the moment has passed so I press on, 400 metres(and back on the dual carriageway) lately and it was game over.
I call the RAC (thank god I am still a member) and within 40 minutes a top bloke is with me, a quick tow to safety and I confess all to him, he has a look at the filter and I can see the congealed fat blocking the fuel line. Top RAC bloke explains that he cant fix it and explains that my cover is only for a tow 10 miles from home and I am 17 miles away, but not too worry as he can see that I am a decent chap and not like some of the “nob heads” he has to deal with and he’ll give me tow back to my local garage (where they have fell about laughing at the “chip fat” story). RAC bloke even waited and gave me a lift home from the garage.
I am going to drop some cubies round so when they drain it I can save the fuel for summer use. A valuable lesson learnt today, always be a member of a breakdown service, be nice and polite when they turn up, say please and thank you and know a friendly garage that will tut and smile but say not to worry we can fix that for you – d'ickhead.

Farzackerly

I find that a minimum of 50/50 vo/dino is the winter mix for me - I've been there, done that, but luckily was within stop/start distance of home.
Summer, I generally run 70wvo/30dino.
I made a simple fuel filter heater by wrapping a washing machine feed hose around the filter and taping it all up so it formed a coil, then tapped into the feed and return lines for the heater. When changing the filter, the coil just slips off. The same can be done with soft copper pipe.

goldspanners

Farzackerly wrote: »

I find that a minimum of 50/50 vo/dino is the winter mix for me - I've been there, done that, but luckily was within stop/start distance of home.
Summer, I generally run 70wvo/30dino.
I made a simple fuel filter heater by wrapping a washing machine feed hose around the filter and taping it all up so it formed a coil, then tapped into the feed and return lines for the heater. When changing the filter, the coil just slips off. The same can be done with soft copper pipe.

i read this thread often,but don't write on it much as i can't do the WVO with my petrol focus.

but i was thinking,as a cheap tank heater could you not fit 12v heating elements to the fuel tank? i was thinking along the lines of those 12v elements you can get to heat up a cup of tea or coffee.
hard wire a few of these into your tank and help keep it a few degrees warmer in the colder weather.
i know some of the councils used to cover the fuel tanks with expanding insulating foam to save thier gritters diesel tanks freezing in the winter and insulated all fuel lines aswell.

Farzackerly

goldspanners wrote: »

i read this thread often,but don't write on it much as i can't do the WVO with my petrol focus.

but i was thinking,as a cheap tank heater could you not fit 12v heating elements to the fuel tank? i was thinking along the lines of those 12v elements you can get to heat up a cup of tea or coffee.
hard wire a few of these into your tank and help keep it a few degrees warmer in the colder weather.
i know some of the councils used to cover the fuel tanks with expanding insulating foam to save thier gritters diesel tanks freezing in the winter and insulated all fuel lines aswell.

Yes, easily done, especially if it's a seperate tank. If you google for the vegoil experiences of Yellowstone National Park fleet of trucks, you'll find they did all that sort of thing during the past twenty years.
Heated tanks, fuel lines, filters, etc. It all works. The trick is to get the VO at the necessary viscosity to work properly and not stress the pump or clog filters.
There's a lot of information out there about it.

worried_jim

All fixed and back on the road. Have kept all the fuel in cubies for summer use or when I pluck up the courage to do it again. Mechanic has shown me how to change a fuel filter, the old one was full of crap and I shall invest in a spare one at the weekend.

Inactive

As you have told us on 3 threads, looks like SPAM to me.

NeverInDebt

Gill22 :spam: