vegetable oil

pesky2

There was a guy at my local tescos collecting cases of it the other day i nearly said i think i know why you need that much !!! Guessed it was a good price too.

abomb1969

Can the guy with a Mondeo do a lot of googling before he puts veg in his tank. The Mondeo has a Lucas pump and will break. You might get away with 10-20% in the short term....

You need a Bosch pump or Japanese copy. Lucas is piston based and does not get lubricated by veg oil and breaks!

nephilim

my stepdad does this, he does it on an 80% oil /20% diesel mix, and does it with rapeseed oil. it burns at a higher temp compared to vegetable oil, sunflower oil etc, so he gets more mileage with it.

If you get the chip oil, you have to go through several distilations of it to get it "pure" and is time consuming, so buying it is probably better for your engine.

mdbs

You have to look at the specific gravity and the size of the molecules of the oil you are thinking of using before you can use it in later engines.

ALL Common Rail type ijection systems will HATE it as the molecules are too big for the fine injectors.

There is a concern of lack of lubrication, which can be adressed with UCL or similar.

Also, older Diesel engines will not like to start on veg oil in the colder weather, but a mix with Diesel addresses this (little or much).

It does not need to be heated before it can be used in the more milder spring, summer and autumn months (but some people say it must).

AFAIK

in_debt_again_but_dealing_with_it

KazLA wrote: »

Thanks again I'm going to try to get some oil tomorrow - do you mind me asking where you get your oil from?

We get 15 ltrs from Asda for about £10.50, its gone up by over £2 in the last six months - think they're cottoning on :rolleyes: !!

cubegame

Anyone who wants to consider running a car using vegetable oil should know that the exemption on 2500L per year doesn't actually apply unless you process the fuel to conform to biodiesel standards. Therefore any caught sticking 2500 L of vegetable oil into their car will be liable to pay the full full duty rate (not the reduced biofuels rate either).

Volcano

Hippygirl wrote: »

This is really interesting.I've been thinking about exploring this for a while. We have a mate who runs his on central heating oil. Is there anywhere which lists which vehicles can run on veg oil? Any idea whether its OK for a 6 yr old Vauxhall Zafira?!! Thanks!

Just to let you know:

Heating oil has a reduced level of tax on it and is dyed (similar to 'red diesel', though I believe the colouring is yellow). If you are caught running your vehicle on this, the penalties are the same as for red diesel: A fine somewhere around £500-£1000 and seizure of your vehicle on the spot.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7037678.stm

vaio

Hippygirl wrote: »

........ We have a mate who runs his on central heating oil.........

Really really risky, he can expect a big fine and to lose his vehicle if he gets caught on one of the increasing number of roadside “dip” tests

snax

abomb1969 wrote: »

Can the guy with a Mondeo do a lot of googling before he puts veg in his tank. The Mondeo has a Lucas pump and will break. You might get away with 10-20% in the short term....

You need a Bosch pump or Japanese copy. Lucas is piston based and does not get lubricated by veg oil and breaks!

Everybody looking to try this oil, oil/diesel, chippy fat or whatever thing, needs to to A LOT of research into their engine and it's components first otherwise a lot of you are gonna be back on here in a while saying how repairs have cost you £££. That would not be Moneysaving?
It is not suitable for all.
Just tipping 20l into the tank is asking for trouble.
Lucas pumps WILL break [usually when pulling away from a stop ... lights, roundabouts, give-ways ... you will be stuck!].
Some rubber components [hoses, seals etc] are perished by veg oil.
Veg oil will miraculously 'clean' the inside of your fuel tank and send all the bits of crap to your fuel filter which will need watching and changing otherwise your vehicle will 'fail to proceed in an orderly fashion'.
The advice about tax is correct - the 'fuel' you produce needs to meet biofuel standards to be classified for tax breaks. C&R can and have turned up at private addresses very early in the day to 'dip' tanks for testing.

Do your research and don't waste ££££ to save a few pence.

hope it helps.

smoky_joe

heating oil is a big NO NO never mind that its ilegal there is no lubrication in heating oil and it has a higher flashpoint than diesel you would be lucky if your fuel pump lasted the week out,
as for running on veg oil all i will say is be carefull no modern car will get on well with it and older cars will not last for long unless it is converted properly with twin tanks and heaters a 50/50 mix will be alright for some cars but any more than that can cause gumming off the rings which requires an engine rebuild,