Veggie Fuel ?!?

Probably best to google first, this question gets asked in here about once a month and the answer tends to vary each time because each time someone else can't be arsed to answer the same question again.

Much of it depends on what you're driving though, my 300TDi Defender ran happily on 100% rapeseed oil straight from the supermarket, but long-term I wouldn't be so confident.

Have a look here for some guidance

Colin

Hi Ian

Thanks for that.

I have a freelander TD4, since diesel is more than a pound a litre in some places, its getting expensive conpared to the few pence a litre for super market veggie oil.

I did that a chinese take-away owner, based in the village where a friend lives, runs his merc on the old cooking oil! :o)

Yes

Maybe

Possibly

Google

Because of the lack of metal lubricating properties on Veg oil its reckoned that about 50% is safe with a bit less come winter I've been running about

25% in Kato for a few months and he's running cleaner than on 100% dinosaur dew, with no starting problems.Worth noting btw is that Lidl oil is about 10p a litre cheaper than Aldi just use the cheapest it doesnt seem to matter whether its sunflower rapeseed or tba you can find brew your own info at------------- the page I am watching with interest is if the Professor gets this moving it could spell the end of Dino-fuel dependance. Derek Kato 200TDi Disco Vegoil +ve

The prudent answer to veggie oil is NO if it's a TD4.

On or around Wed, 17 Oct 2007 00:11:49 +1300, EMB enlightened us thusly:

from my reading so far, I've formed the impression that the various options in order of likelihood of problems are:

waste oil (WVO) at 100% clean veg oil (SVO) at 100% Clean veg oil mixed with diesel (around 50/50) veg oil processed into veggiediesel.

If you get oil form the chippie and filter it indequately, you're very likely to get problems...

the best option is to process it but it's hassle and expense: you have to get noticeable quantities of methanol (about 20% the amount of oil, according to one site) and lye (caustic soda, typically) which is potentially nasty stuff to handle, and then you have to do the actual processing.

It's difficult to get specific info, though. The word on the street seems that clean new oil at up to 50/50 is OK in most engines. You'll find almost any make of engine somewhere that someone says they screwed up by running on veg oil, though.

> if the Professor gets this moving it could spell the end of Dino-fuel > dependance.

Excellent. Thanks for that Derek, i will have a good read!

>

Not so up-to-speed on the Freelander. If the Td4 is a common rail engine then tread with caution. The high pressure pump in a common rail engine works with very close tolerances and the lack of lubricating properties associated with veg oil may cause premature wear. This certainly appears to be the consensus of opinion regarding the Td5 used in the Discovery and Defender.

Try googling for more info or take a look at the various threads on the mud club forum.

I have once or twice used 25% SVO:Diesel i.e. 60 litres at the pump & 20 Litres from Costco.

Still stinks and often doesn't _seem_ to mix in the tank very well. Problems arise from cold starting when cold thick oil condenses on cylinder walls causing gumming of the rings.(Direct Injection)

Based on by belief it doesn't mix thouroughly in the tank, and that I presume the Rapeseed oil _may_ sink to the bottom of the tank I only tend to use the occasional drum when doing a fairly regular 200 mile round trip so starting on cold oil is minimised.

Never actually got round to fitting a 2 tank system as my old Disco

300TD hardly seems worth the expense anymore and a typical journey is only 8 miles each way to work & back.

Pete

--

- gym equipment & Fitness Equipment - Phone for special offers.Http://www.bodysolid-gym-equipment.co.uk - Guess what's there!

on a similar note - i've found a local biodiesel supplier and am thinking of trying to MOT my 2A again next week (to ensure that it doesnt snow this winter!).

Its a 2.5 n/a D. I assume it will be quite happy running on 100% biodiesel and i dont need to do owt special?

I appreciate that this is a subtlety, but in this thread there has been reference to a "small producer making up to 2,500 litres for their own use" (or words to that effect.)

So does "making" 2,500 litres include just buying it from Aldi's or Lidls and putting it in the tank, or do you have to "process" it somehow?

In other words, if you buy the Aldi oil and use it in your car, are you still liable for tax?

Cheers

Peter

I'm naturally suspicious of claims and my first job out of school was in a lab so I did a little experimentation. Simple enough to do put 500 ml of pump diesel in a large tranparent container then slowly pour in 500 ml of Lidl's Veg oil or whatever your choice is I found it mixed without agitation and left overnight there was no separation I would expect that any tendency to separate should be minimised by the motion of fuel in the tank. I err on the side of prudence and keep to 25% when I next change filters I will be giving the fuel filter and sedimentor a close examination (bear in mind I change oil at about 4k) hopefully there will be no jellyfish in the sedimentor this time ( ex Dino Dew)so far I am happy with the results though a craving for chips at traffic lights is a side effect. Derek

:¬) Thank Derk. That certainly puts my mind at ease somewhat Cheers

Pete

Not a clue, but that's what we've started doing. Nothing scientific about it, buy a box-full of Netto's/Lidl's/Aldi's et al finest (read cheapest) sunflower or rapeseed oil and use 10 litres at a time. Only been doing it this last week, but it seems fine so far. ('96/'97 Disco

300 Tdi) We fully expect to start increasing the quantity used until we're happy it's OK.

I'd suggest that I'm not a producer of oil at all, merely buying a product and using it differently, so to class me as a 'small producer' seems to me to be wrong, so I haven't 'told' anyone officially and don't really intend to.

On or around Wed, 17 Oct 2007 22:20:20 GMT, "Derek" enlightened us thusly:

see, that's the kind of info you just can't easily find. TVM for posting it. I don't much doubt that running up to 50% is not going to give many problems, seeing as most of the problems you hear about are caused by running 100% SVO and the attendant lack of lubrication and additives to keep the engine clean. However, the 50% dino should provide the lubricant etc., and additives to prevent ring gumming and the like; especially as some of the latter are in the engine oil. The next thing to try is viscosity at different temperatures and how it behaves when cold... if I get a tuit I'll have a go at that sometime.

On or around 17 Oct 2007 20:07:23 GMT, Tom Woods enlightened us thusly:

pretty much anything should be OK on properly processed biodiesel - the process removes the glycerides which cause the problems.

it's running on SVO or mixtures that we've mostly been discussing.

On or around Wed, 17 Oct 2007 20:10:41 GMT, puffernutter enlightened us thusly:

from what I gather, you can buy and use up to 2500l per annum without tax. It's part of trying to meet the Kyoto protocol agreements...