BIO-DIESEL help needed !!!

[secret-squirrel]

I have a Ford ranger 2.5 . And now wow I'm confused ! Forget veg oil and all that jazz . Iv found a biodiesel station 5 mile from me 99p a litre !!! How tempting . Iv just rang my local sandicliffe and they have said """ they would not recommend me using biodiesel as my truck is not biofuel ready , especially with its being a older vehicle """"". It's 05/55 I thought only older engines can use it!! PLEASE SOME ONE HElP. Preferably not a armchair mechanic ! then again any one will be more help than Sally at sandiclife reading of a screen . Thanks

[cjm]

Not a dig at you but would you not be better putting this on a motor related forum?

Edited April 11, 2014 by cjm

[martyn2233]

Take a look here. http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/mybbforum/index.php

[B725]

Pure bio-diesel will ruin the seals that is why they are telling you not to use it.

[Rupert]

Bio will attack the seals in your fuel system,require more frequent filter swaps and others have mentioned swapping oil more often and offer reduced MPG.

 

Only maths will decide.work out your cost per mile and see what money you might save(excel sheet so you can play around with the numbers)

 

I run my 95 Mercedes 300d 0n 80% cooking oil straight from Tesco.Returns 3mpg less and costs 90p a liter currently.I only do it for fun really and seeing people staring as I tip tins of chip oil in in the car park.

 

Folk I know have returned to mineral derv because when everything was factored in over a year the headline saving per liter was eroded to a point where it was not practical.

 

The biggest saving on any fuel bill is you,driving style and habits.

[secret-squirrel]

Thanks lads . Looks like it's going to be run on the expensive white stuff . With a hint of red.ex every so often . Top answers

[pycoed]

There's a load of confusion here:

 

1. biodiesel is DIESEL, DERV, WHITE. Any diesel you buy in UK is currently about 10% biodiesel. Its just diesel that has been made from a vegetable oil (or indeed an animal oil). Any engine in a vehicle currently sold in UK HAS to be able to run on this - again it's DIESEL. Red diesel is just the same (i.e. 10% biodiesel) with a red dye added.

2. Veg oil - new from Bookers/Tesco's wherever. NOT SUITABLE FOR COMMON RAIL DIESEL ENGINES i.e most post 2000 diesel vehicles sold in UK. This is not diesel, its simply filtered oil pressed from organic crops (rape, sunflowers, soya beans etc etc). To run on this you have to be lucky with the type of diesel engine your car has & the injection pump fitted to that engine. Do some research on veg oil forums to find details for your car. Some engines love the stuff. Some cars require diesel for starting or special fuel heating arrangements others you just tip it in & drive away. May require a couple of filter changes until the veg has cleaned all the old diesel **** out of your tank & pipes. If you can't find new veg oil then simply fill with diesel they mix quite happily. If temps below say 2-3 deg C then use at least 10% diesel with the veg.

3. Waste veg oil (running on waste motor or hydraulic oil is illegal in UK) Collected from pubs/cafes/ canteens/restaurants etc. This is veg oil that has been used for cooking & will contain scraps of food & other wastes. If filtered well it can be used as fuel same as new veg oil. May need to change filters more regularly & need a bit more than 10% diesel in winter. You will need to arrange collections & pay say 20p per litre for it. Expect to get gazzumped &/or have your containers regularly stolen etc etc. You also need to dispose of the gunge you have filtered out.

4. Home made biodiesel - usually made from waste veg oil which is filtered & chemically treated to turn it in bio diesel. Requires quite a bit of subsequent cleaning & filtering before product is fit to use, but it then becomes DIESEL.

 

If your car will run on veg oil then it becomes really good news. You can buy it for less than 80P a litre in 20l drums from Bookers/Costco etc & occasionally on offer at Tesco/Asda. You can quite legally use up to 2500l per annum (need to keep a log of usage) before having to pay any duty. 80p versus £1.35 per litre is well worth taking advantage of.

 

To sum up :- biodiesel is not veg oil: Veg oil is not biodiesel.

[The Essex Hunter]

A little off track, however some time back the HM Customs tank dippers seemed to take delight in the darkish liquid they drained into there container would give them cause to issue me with some form of paper work...The little guy (who's high viz jacket was to big for him) appeared to be the boss, started barking words at me of not using the correct fuel etc. Then mentioned the colour of the fuel.....I informed him it was bio-fuel and he said where were my receipts? I said I don't have them and he starts to look very smug to his partner, with that I replied they are with my accountant....so I jumped in the van leaving them to catch fly's as both of their gobs were wide open....

 

TEH

[hodge911]

imho its not worth the risk putting this poop in your vehicle ....

I speak from experience here there was a bio diesel seller in birtley a while back just down the road from Bradford stalker firearms .

any how as he was advertising it at £1 per ltr delivered to your door I thought id give it a go I had a 1.5d pug 106 my son and nephew both had fiat scudo vans so we all put £25 in [at the same day/time] and hey ho all was well until on the 3/4 batch [we up,d the amount to full tanks] and within 2 days all 3 vehicles were goosed with knackered pumps .

 

ps

forgot to say we were filling up with pump fuel in between the bio stuff

needless to say the place is no longer trading

Edited May 4, 2014 by hodge911

[vmobiler1]

This topic has always amused me , people will always doubt it and find the bad points. Normally people not doing any research or making bad batches of bio.

 

I have ran several vehicle on waste veg oil and others on bio diesel, if done properly you will have no problems and save money if you have a regular supply of waste oil.

 

I have been using veg/bio for probably over 10 years now, filtering my own oil and making my own bio diesel.

 

If your vehicle is not suitable for svo it will run on well made bio. The quality if the bio is what counts.

[shaun4860]

I have a sticker inside my fuel flap saying

 

NOT FOR BIO FUEL

 

Seat Diesel (VW)

 

[vmobiler1]

I have a sticker inside my fuel flap saying

NOT FOR BIO FUEL

Seat Diesel (VW)

You are putting bio fuel in it at the pumps as they have a % in.

 

I was told it would ruin the pump in my old 3.2 shogun as it was not suitable for bio fuel, so people (anti bio) were very pleased when the pump failed at 160k miles ..... I am not a qualified mechanic but if something was bad for my engine it would have failed a long time before 160k miles, surely that was just wear n tear...... But no I was told it was the bio...... Looked it up and some pumps were failing with far less miles having never seen any bio.

 

I had the pump reconditioned and sold the truck at 196k miles, and it's still running now!

 

If filters are clogging using bio it's the gunk out of the tank and fuel lines left by diesel doing it not the bio as the bio will clean then out.

 

I never bother telling people they can use it purely because if they wanted to they would have, they find all the bad points and use that as not to use bio..... Then go to the pumps and put a % in anyway ha ha

[secret-squirrel]

I have found a local supplier of bio diesel . He doesn't make it in his shed he buys it in from the same company that' sells to a major fuel company. He is a fully legal legitimate bussiness .i Have now ran a good 4 full tanks threw the ranger . Falutlessly . I'm payin £1.15 a litre . When I brim my tank saves me 13£ compared to at esso and I'm using a tank a week . So a nice saving for Me . He has told me a few things about bio diesel . Aparently every diesel car that is sold or being used on the roads in the u.k has to be able to run on bio diesel because every petrol station uses bio to water down there white standard diesel . Apparently they can put up to 24.9% bio in without stating it has it in . 25% and over you have to be told . Yes maybe not all can just use 100% bio . But every one that fills up at the pumps is putting it in there tanks without knowing .he also said he is no chemical engineer which is why he buys it in and doesn't try to make it. But every "ibc" he gets in he has to take a 1L sample so that if any body decides to say it has f'd there vehicle he can send a sample to trading standards to prove the quality . All sounds good to me and like i say np issues so far .

Edited May 4, 2014 by secret-squirrel

[secret-squirrel]

All he told me to do is after a few tanks . So probably now I should change my fuel filter as "VMOBILER1" has stated it dissolves all the **** sludgy stuff in the bottom of your tank and in your lines and burns it out the exhaust . Aparentky it also has better lubricating qualities. Don't quote me on any of this stuff . All I no is its working for me. Any one in Nottingham are I can give you his company name via pm if your actually interested in his services . He's a top bloke

[islandgun]

Iv'e been running a 94 shogun 2.8 for a few months on bio diesel, I think its cleaned up the injectors and there are no more flat spots(as there was at 2300 revs on pump diesel ) plus it's 40p cheaper per ltr

[archiebald]

My landy 90 with 200 TDI disco engine runs better (and quieter) on biodiesel. I currently pay £1 a litre and am very happy. Fuel filter change takes 2 mins and £2.50 so I change it every couple of months to be careful.

[CaptainBeaky]

I have run my Surf on and off with various veg oils for the last 8 years and 60k miles - WVO and SVO. WVO gets filtered through a 25 micron bag filter and washed with water to remove acidic oxidation residues.

 

So far, so good...

[pestcontrol1]

i have run my hilux vx on bio for some time now i normaly put £10 in at the pump then go 500 yrds around the corner and fill up with bio at the company that makes it gave it a full service after 2 full tanks. The only thing that i have noticed is a slight lack or power no noticable change in mpg. Price wise i have had it at 75p - £1.15 L at prezant its £1.10 bio and £1.33.9 at the pump

PS

watch it in cold weather as it all thickens up and they start to struggle to start thats when i go 50/50

[MB1]

I'll ran my 2003 tdci mondeo for about 2 years doing about 70,000 miles and never had a problem with home made bio-diesel, use to put 40 litres bio and 20 litres of shell diesel, and ran no problem, use to pay 70p a litre and save a fortune with it

[Land Crab]

Hi Guys,
I have used a ratio of 20 litres of Kerosene /Heating oil to ( MIN) 5 litres of virgin cooking oil (25 ltr. polyprop 'Cubie' cans are ideal for mixing) in a Landrover 300TDI and a PD Range Rover (BMW 2.5 six cylinder) with an analogue tuning box with no issues. These Rangies were so under powered (To overtake = long straight road with a steep hill in your favour ) the box made it actually O.K.

The genuine MPG actually improved, but the critical MP£ gave the equivalent of 60 MPG. You do smell like a chip van though!

I ran the TDI for about 5 years on kerosene / veggie oil and had her up to 200, 000 miles with no issues. With higher ratios (50/50) of cooking oil in warmer months (Cooking oil was about 60p. per litre from Lidls at the time) and the engine ran smoother, the turbo improved and lower exhaust smoke. Not only that but at 200K she barely used any engine oil! I recon it would still be running today were it not for hitting a diesel spill on a bend and taking out 15 ft. of a stone wall.

The PD Range Rover was just as good, I had it for about 4 years and it had three owners after me over the next 5 years. I think it died from a transmission problem.
Older engines seem fine,old Toyota Hi Lux / Hi Ace will run on anything! I recon if you got it started and poured in gloss paint they would keep going... but all the newer engines are suffocated with emission control, particulate filters and stuff like Sulpher detectors.

(A) I wouldn't have a late motor again, and (B) They suffocate on DERV, the particulate filters on KIA sportage's are about £400 a pop + fitting so, any D.I.Y. fuel will have you / it in the knackers in a heart beat.
I always have a transparent "In Line" fuel filter under the bonnet and anti syphon device (perforated Zinc) in the filler pipe. If you get a pull from the "Ministry", just open the bonnet and let them see the "Bio Diesel" in the clear fuel line and filter, so far that has been enough.....

I'm on DERV at the moment, but what I will add is that I have had my diesels all fitted with a DTP tuning box. These are great kit because they just plug in and you get the box set to what parameters you want. A Jeep 2.8 CRD over the past 3500 miles has averaged 38.2 mpg. this included 1,000 loaded up motorway miles at 59mpg!

And, you can unplug it when you sell the vehicle and fit it to your next motor and get it re programmed, usually for free if you buy one new.

"Terra Clean" is also well worth while, it runs the engine on it's own fuel compound that burns all the $h1T out of the cylinder head, cleans the injectors, fuel lines and pump.

Even if you are on road fuel it really improves winter starting and fuel economy if you have a motor with say, over 80K on the clock, gives a 2-3 MPG improvement.
I used another company (Again on the Jeep) that claimed to use a Hydrogen process, but it was **** and made no difference.
Happy trails!

[Twistedsanity]

What company Did you use for the hydrogen process?

[ditchman]

Pure bio-diesel will ruin the seals that is why they are telling you not to use it.

 

 

quite right..................the landrover i have when i first got it........i got it cheap 9 years ago cause they said it was over running....which indicated a hole in the piston..........when i got it home i checked the boost diaphram in the injector pump...............they had been running it on bio stuff...i say stuff as it might have been dodgey stuff and the diaphram had dissolved letting pure fuel into the turbo-charger

 

 

as said by other posts ....if your vehicle is not proofed for bio fuel then DONT USE IT...........ring the agency to see if it was made with the new generation of seals in it...

Edited March 30, 2017 by ditchman

[bornfree]

I have a ssangyong korando with a Mercedes engine it has a Bosch inline injector pump and it will run on anything that burns.