Are You Ready For Diesel Yet?

Rover were the first to do this, more than 50 years ago. I've seen the car in their museum.

My LPG Waggy 13 miles/imp gal costs me less to run than my TJ 23 miles/imp gal. Its almost midnight, and although I usually translate all our measurements into yours, I've had a few glasses of wine with my g/f and I can't be bothered :-)

Dave Milne, Scotland

He's back in Georgia AFAIK. Nice guy, not a great president.

Some veg oils can be run straight without heating. However these are expensive for general use. When a cab company I know of bought two diesel engined Checker cabs in the 70s, drivers bitched that there weren't enough fuel places. After a couple ran them dry out of spite, they gave each driver two gallon jugs of Wesson Oil, which they could carry in their trunks for emergency fuel that didn't stink and was legal to carry in a commercial vehicle. It ran fine and never caused a problem, but they never burned that much of it.

Using used cooking oils in diesels is done in two ways, either by fitting a second tank heated with engine coolant or by converting the used oils into proper "biodiesel" via what is called "transesterification", which beaks it down into the biodiesel fuel and glycerin.

Does it make economic sense for large numbers of people? I don't think so. But if only a few do it they can get rid of waste grease and amuse themselves at the same time.

Rover's "JET 1" was the first, and it still runs, but it was a straight aircraft style engine. They later built some very successful automotive designs but never eclipsed Chrysler.

LPG mileage is poorer than gasoline for two reasons: propane has much lower heat content per gallon, and few LPG conversions are very efficient. Straight propane engines set up right used to equal gasoline because of improved efficiency, but with EFI and closed loop computer control gasoline engines have gotten far more efficient and propane installs-most of which use Vialle or Impco (can't get Vialle here-have to have it sneaked in covertly) mixers and vaporizers which are 1940s tech, have not.

But in the U.S. propane is more expensive than gasoline-plus which many retailers will refuse to put it in a motor vehicle. On an RV this is no problem, you just mark it as "appliance fuel", but in a pickup or car you are screwed.

Are you going to build it up diesel?

I am in Canada so the only diesel trucks I see stink so bad they must bring up the end of the line or stay home. We have way too much sulfur in all our fuels, especially that stuff.

Mike

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote:

Of course it is. I haven't run straight SVO, but know guys who do. It works. The blend ran fine in my engine, no loss of power or mileage, and I go up and down mountains every time I drive it. . Rudolph Diesel designed his early engines to run on straight peanut oil, but it has nowhere near the energy yeild of diesel fuel. Diesel fuel was named after him posthumosly. here's a link to a good SVO site, but i don't burn enough in my car to want to deal with all the grease and slime, I get enough of that working.

Heh, all the gas trucks run on propane here. And if you know people you can always get your LP powered vehicle fueled up. Trips, you have to plan ahead, but it is doable.

Earle

These engines would be nice if they'd ever get them into production:

Brandonb

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote:

I'm sure looking at it, if only because so many think it's not possible. But there is no cheap solution-there are cheap engines, but the sump is in the wrong place, and no Jeep transmission fits all that well. And no one will build a kit, which would make it work.

The OX2 is a concept engine. It is not inherently multifuel in practice: a given engine will burn a given fuel.

The big difference is going to be, spark vs. compression ignition. The spark engines will burn whatever spark ignition fuels it's set up for, just like any common car engine can burn propane, CNG, alcohols, or gasoline depending on carburetion or injection. You have to have a separate fuel system for liquids and gases.

The compression igniition engines will burn diesel fuels, #1,#2, suitable coal and veg oils, JP5, K-1 kerosene, et al.

Same as a regular piston engine.

The Jeep WG's are available with diesel engines so all the bits and pieces must be available.