Running my Vauxhall Astra on veg oil

Rolandtheroadie

They'll perhaps think twice before they do it again now.

housesitter

worried_jim wrote: »

it is even better when there is a convertible sitting on my exhaust.

With the Astra and it's white smoking when putting your foot down, if someone (usually the Audi / BMW crowd) was tailing gating on the motorway I'd knock it into 4th, put my foot down and give them and enjoyable coating to attempt to wash off the front of their car once it hardend with a bunch of dead insects

Alas my Astra is RIP.
After well over 100K on mostly 100% veg, trips all over the UK Europe and epically harsh treatment it was taking too much work to keep going and stood zero chance of passing the next MOT without pointless major investment.
Only ever really break down in winter unfortunately and there is only so much of dark wet nights working on cars you can take outdoors.

So now in a Passat 1.9TDi AFN.
I would read around a lot if you have the PD engine as even with twin tanking a lot of people have had bad experiences.

The older AFN's ones however use the Bosch VE pump, but electronically metered (a doddle to tune much like the mechanicals).
!!!!!! to start on cold veg (even the other day when it had been sat in the sun all day at 24 degrees!!) so twin tanking it to start from cold although currently gritting teeth when I start it, waiting for my fuel hose to arrive.
Warm starting (engine temp) no issues and is running fine presently without a heat exchanger, although will be fitting one read for winter.

Also now the mrs has a 1.5TD corsa. This like the Astra starts on the veg no trouble, but will be twinning it too for the cold weather.
This is running the exchanger from the Astra. Found that it was having trouble on early mornings, even in this weather. Needed a filter change after only 300 miles after the switch to veg!! Will short change it again after it's done another 1000miles. Filters are cheap compared to her breaking down with it blocked :A


Heaters are taken from combi boilers. I wont take credit for that idea, but makes perfect sense when you have a system in place designed to get rid of heat from the engine...

patman99

If you fit a heated filter in place of the normal fuel filter and wire it to an on/off switch you can improve starting in the cold weather no end. It also improves the combustability of the svo as it heats it on the way into the engine.
BTW, Passats' need twin-tanking as they do not last long starting on svo.

I regret not having £900 to spare, as a twin-tanked Passat came up on ebay the other week. The seller had converted it himself using a heat exchanger from a jet engine along with a heated filter and electronic switch-over system.

worried_jim

Brilliant update housesitter- 100,000 miles on veg- warms me to the core. Good luck with the passat, is it pre '99? Keep us informed with your progress!

Patman you are right about the warmer weather, last weekend when it hit 25c+ here I was flying on the veg (still had a convertible on my bumper).

On my journey home tonight I have discovered 100 litres of ktc rape out the back of a Chinese which I shall liberate with military precision on Friday morning and save it for the end of the summer when it gets a little colder and I dare not chance it on the palm oil any longer. I may have a go at mixing it with 10% petrol to see how that runs.

Glad everyone is still on the road and doing it cheaply!

davemorton

Have just been getting myself a Ford Ranger, 2.5 N/A, year 2000. I believe they have the same engine as the Mazda B2500 and possibly that of a Bongo.
I had a look on the Biomotors site, as mentioned on this thread, and it appears to be a one tank kit. So... does that mean I can just put veg oil bought at tescos straight in the tank??
Also, would I be better off mixing it with dino?...
and how soon should I replace the fuel filter??
Any other pointers would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers !

worried_jim

davemorton wrote: »

Have just been getting myself a Ford Ranger, 2.5 N/A, year 2000. I believe they have the same engine as the Mazda B2500 and possibly that of a Bongo.
I had a look on the Biomotors site, as mentioned on this thread, and it appears to be a one tank kit. So... does that mean I can just put veg oil bought at tescos straight in the tank??
Also, would I be better off mixing it with dino?...
and how soon should I replace the fuel filter??
Any other pointers would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers !

If biomotors state single tank then you can run on svo/wvo. I would introduce the svo into your fuel system gradually, start with a 50/50 mix then go 25/75 and then 100% svo. I would recommend changing your fuel filter after your first tank of of 100% and also carry a spare with you. Before you do this just check and make sure your fuel pump is a bosch and NOT lucas.
Let us know how you get on!

Rolandtheroadie

Will be back on the veg from tomorrow as well with 50 litres of cold filtered to 100 microns due to get pumped through a 1 micron filter into the tank.
I'll then have to do the rounds for more oil with only around 250 litres sitting thats probably only good for bio (garage is very cool, might stick it in the greenhouse for a day or 2 and see how it goes).

New filtration systems the order of the day based around a B&Q pump. Much research and get it right first time hopefully.

Reading on vegoil, it seems bio gets less MPG than veg so perhaps some mods to get the astra onto veg all year round would be an idea too.

worried_jim

I would definitely put your oil in the greenhouse for a day, the heat will really help all the solids drop to the bottom as it will be as runny as water. I melted 30 litres of solid palm oil in about 4 hours just by putting the barrels in a black bin liner and leaving them in the sun. I read recently that someone with a Peugout 406 was getting mid 50mpg on a run on wvo but only 40 mpg on bio.

Rolandtheroadie

Had the tank of veg then back on bio, I've done a mileage check again. 35 MPG.
Needing a tyre, I've just noticed the fronts are 195/65/14 whereas the rears are 175/65/14. I'm thinking that will throw out my speedo and mileage so i've got 2x175's on the front now, and hoping to get another 2 today for the back (BIL has astra van lying with 175's on it).

One of the leak off pipes started to, well, leak but not in the way it was supposed to. Must be the bio perishing the rubber. £4 for a kit gave me enough to replace them twice including new blanking rubbers.

housesitter

patman99 wrote: »

If you fit a heated filter in place of the normal fuel filter and wire it to an on/off switch you can improve starting in the cold weather no end. It also improves the combustability of the svo as it heats it on the way into the engine.

I disagree, mainly from experience.
Whilst the heater filter helps once the car is running it wont help at all for starting. The fuel you are starting on is sat inside the pump.
The common fuel heaters which sit inline on a bosch style filter head heat the oil flowing in from the tank, not the fuel in the fitler. So you'd still have 200ml or so of cold oil in the filter and fuel lines before the oil touching the heater would be flowing through the pump. Even then, it all needs to get up to temperature.

I've found the best thing to aid cold starting is upgrading your wiring. Earth leads normally especially small. Direct earth to starter helps a lot.

The other thing is switching your glow plugs to run off a switch (via the relay!!). Starting from cold in the astra with plugs on verses off there was a 200-300rpm difference in the idle and a lot less shuddering.

BTW, Passats' need twin-tanking as they do not last long starting on svo.

It's not happy about it even now on 100% but it's the Bosch pump, same family as the Astra IIRC. But with electronic control of the plunger (oh I forge the technical name for it) rather than pressure.
I'm lead to believe that it should be ok as it's not the PD engine and due to the pump technology.

But I'm not risking it with a 1500quid vehicle (and VW prices are high for parts).
The Astra was 350 or so and I had an entire engine plus an extra pump spare for 70 quid.

So it has been twin tanked and now starts on derv.
FPHE warms the veg and I have about 200ml of warming veg (FPHE after filter) mixing with about 50ml of the derv on switch over before the output of the FPHE rising from 30C to 80C starts flowing into the pump.
Looped return for the derv, back to tank for the veg via the rather nifty air removal venturi filter that VW fit.
Hapy days for summer. Winter is obviously the real test.
Might end up doing a looped return for teh veg. Just have to see how it performs.

What I have noticed however is that the VNT turbo isn't so happy with the unburnt cold fuel flowing through it. As most diesels will not fully combust on wide open throttle you will get some fuel passing through it. Perhaps it's coincidence, but the vanes are starting to stick on occassion. So a clean is need there. Probably a function of the cold starting when plumes of white would eixt from the back of the car. Soot and veg oil make for a rather good goo.