Use Vegetable Oil If You Have A Diesel Car

BAILIFFCHASER

GarethK wrote: »

It would say that, but then biodiesel is different to veggie oil as its been modified to make it thinner like diesel.

My handbook says nothing about biodiesel use. However that doesnt mean it cannot run it!

If anyone seriously considers using veg oil in there car, the best place is enthusiast forums for your type of car.

I've happily done 7000 miles in the past 4 months using a mixture of vegetable oil, diesel and small amounts of petrol in colder weather. Car runs better than ever!

I agree with this. you must find out from a forum that relates specifically toyour car. Also if you are driving an import then do not forget to get the correct model for it as well.

nickm_2

Hi all,

I have a 94 Fourtrak which I have just started running on Bio Diesel, this is rapeseed and costs just 74p/L initial observations are a) SAVES MONEY! b) truck runs more quietly c) exhaust fumes smell nicer (roast potatoes) & no discernible loss of power, Any probs I'll let you know...:T

shown73

Ambled round Asda today, and was amused to see a large stack of 15ltr veggie oil cans in amongst the normal ones. Price is £10.50 for the cheapest. Nothing discreet about it, but why should there be, I suppose. I expect there must be a lot of chippies in my area!

GarethK

shown73 wrote: »

Ambled round Asda today, and was amused to see a large stack of 15ltr veggie oil cans in amongst the normal ones. Price is £10.50 for the cheapest. Nothing discreet about it, but why should there be, I suppose. I expect there must be a lot of chippies in my area!

What asda is that? I've tried many including a 'Walmart' superstore and never seen the 15 l containers!

anewman

GarethK wrote: »

What asda is that? I've tried many including a 'Walmart' superstore and never seen the 15 l containers!

I guess they have them where the Asians live, probably for their restaurants. They definitely have big massive cans of veggie oil in Tesco Extra Bradford Forster Square, that I haven't seen in any other Tesco Extra store.

Murphy_The_Cat

shown73 wrote: »

Ambled round Asda today, and was amused to see a large stack of 15ltr veggie oil cans in amongst the normal ones. Price is £10.50 for the cheapest. Nothing discreet about it, but why should there be, I suppose. I expect there must be a lot of chippies in my area!

If you're going to go down the veg oil route then £10.50 for 15lt is a complete bargain -- compared to what the price will be next month and the month after and the month after that.

payless

I would be interested BUT wouldn't it be much eaiser if local filling station sold veg oil on tap ! , the thought of having to fill up with say 50l of veg oil whilst on my drive puts me off

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

There are a few myths in this thread, but one or two people have pointed out correctly that vegetable oil in an older diesel presents few problems.

There are several issues, none really major.

One is that veg oil is more viscous than diesel, so in colder weather your fuel pump and injection pump will be pumping thicker fluids, with the result that the seals will be under higher pressure.

Another is that biodiesel and vegetable oil tend to clean out the crap from your fuel tank and fuel lines, whereupon it ends up in the fuel filter. This isn't a big deal though, its a 5 minute job to change most fuel filters and they're cheap.

Another problem is coking of the injectors, because the vegetable oil doesn't burn quite as easily as normal diesel. This isn't a problem so long as you're running sensible ratios of veg oil/diesel.

I run a Mercedes E300TD, not a common rail engine. I have run vegetable oil through it in ratios of no higher than 10% in winter, but I've also put much more than that through in the summer (50% is fine). I have had several failing seals around the fuel pump but the car is 10 years old and failure of these seals is a very common fault on this engine - the use of veg oil just exposed the weak seals anyway. Repair of these seals was an easy job, we're talking o-rings that cost pence.

My engine presently has 199,000 miles on it, emits no blue smoke, burns no oil, mixes no coolant, pulls like a train, and is pretty much as good as it was the day it left the factory. The engine has had no work done whatsoever (the timing chains don't need replacing on these unlike a cambelt driven engine). It just goes on and on like the proverbial Duracell battery. I expect it to last well into 400,000 miles before anything serious happens.

Most people just don't understand how engines work. They're not rocket science, and diesels are normally incredibly robust. You're not going to crack any pistons, or blow the exhaust up, or have steam coming from the bonnet, or anything silly like that. On a standard non-common rail diesel engine, you can put pretty much whatever you like into it. I've put engine oil in mine (to save me from running dry at a silly time of night when no stations were open), power steering fluid, veg oil, olive oil, etc.

You're not going to destroy anything by using vegetable oil. The most harm you can do is to either the fuel pump or the injection pump.

Best advice is in winter use a ratio of 10% veg oil to 90% diesel, although if you're on a long journey where you'll fill up you can increase this ratio somewhat as the engine will be hot enough to warm the oil a little before it reaches the injector pump (warmer veg oil = less viscous = easier to pump). In summer you can use 50%, even 100%. Just be mindful that the engine may be slightly harder to start on a cold morning. I get around this by filling the car up with diesel once my journey is over.

Don't put used engine oil in by the way - it contains small elements of metal particles from the engine, and I wouldn't like to think about the damage that they could do.

BAILIFFCHASER

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

There are a few myths in this thread, but one or two people have pointed out correctly that vegetable oil in an older diesel presents few problems.

There are several issues, none really major.

One is that veg oil is more viscous than diesel, so in colder weather your fuel pump and injection pump will be pumping thicker fluids, with the result that the seals will be under higher pressure.

Another is that biodiesel and vegetable oil tend to clean out the crap from your fuel tank and fuel lines, whereupon it ends up in the fuel filter. This isn't a big deal though, its a 5 minute job to change most fuel filters and they're cheap.

Another problem is coking of the injectors, because the vegetable oil doesn't burn quite as easily as normal diesel. This isn't a problem so long as you're running sensible ratios of veg oil/diesel.

I run a Mercedes E300TD, not a common rail engine. I have run vegetable oil through it in ratios of no higher than 10% in winter, but I've also put much more than that through in the summer (50% is fine). I have had several failing seals around the fuel pump but the car is 10 years old and failure of these seals is a very common fault on this engine - the use of veg oil just exposed the weak seals anyway. Repair of these seals was an easy job, we're talking o-rings that cost pence.

My engine presently has 199,000 miles on it, emits no blue smoke, burns no oil, mixes no coolant, pulls like a train, and is pretty much as good as it was the day it left the factory. The engine has had no work done whatsoever (the timing chains don't need replacing on these unlike a cambelt driven engine). It just goes on and on like the proverbial Duracell battery. I expect it to last well into 400,000 miles before anything serious happens.

Most people just don't understand how engines work. They're not rocket science, and diesels are normally incredibly robust. You're not going to crack any pistons, or blow the exhaust up, or have steam coming from the bonnet, or anything silly like that. On a standard non-common rail diesel engine, you can put pretty much whatever you like into it. I've put engine oil in mine (to save me from running dry at a silly time of night when no stations were open), power steering fluid, veg oil, olive oil, etc.

You're not going to destroy anything by using vegetable oil. The most harm you can do is to either the fuel pump or the injection pump.

Best advice is in winter use a ratio of 10% veg oil to 90% diesel, although if you're on a long journey where you'll fill up you can increase this ratio somewhat as the engine will be hot enough to warm the oil a little before it reaches the injector pump (warmer veg oil = less viscous = easier to pump). In summer you can use 50%, even 100%. Just be mindful that the engine may be slightly harder to start on a cold morning. I get around this by filling the car up with diesel once my journey is over.

Don't put used engine oil in by the way - it contains small elements of metal particles from the engine, and I wouldn't like to think about the damage that they could do.

Advice is corect however the people who do not follow it are doing so at their own risk. I took a big gamble on a diesel lucida. it worked. At the same time i tried it on a r plate mondeo and i had problems. People need to go out and research.

GarethK

BAILIFFCHASER wrote: »

At the same time i tried it on a r plate mondeo and i had problems. People need to go out and research.

not a surprise. 1.8 TD's have Lucas fuel pumps and siezed up/destroy themselves with more than one bottle of veg.

Gareth