running your car on vegtable oil
- Thread starter tigapiglet
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discomania
Well-Known Member
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- 6,947
Pour it in it will work. Just not good for it.
Why not just make some bio-diesel? Its not that difficult.
Why not just make some bio-diesel? Its not that difficult.
colintandy
New Member
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- somewhere in middle earth
hi tigapiglet have a look at this site www.dieselveg.co.uk is very intresting tells all about how to convert ect..regards colin
colintandy
New Member
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- somewhere in middle earth
sorry wrong link its www.dieselveg.com regards colin
Giles Clayton
Member
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- 57
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- Bedford
Ran my Peugeot 406 on veggie oil and white spirit for over a year, ran like a dream and I could'nt tell the difference.
Down points are.....
It forms a greasy residue around your fuel filler neck, similar to the build up on a 'chip pan' or deep fat fryer. So use a good funnel and try not to spill any on the body because thats a dead giveaway!
Smell..... Belive me from experience it smells of whatever has been cooked in the oil! so if you use 'scummy' old oil from the local Tandorri your car will stink and you'll feel hungry allthe time you're driving!
I paid a bit more and bought fresh from the shop (25 ltr drums) very little or no smell
easy!
Down points are.....
It forms a greasy residue around your fuel filler neck, similar to the build up on a 'chip pan' or deep fat fryer. So use a good funnel and try not to spill any on the body because thats a dead giveaway!
Smell..... Belive me from experience it smells of whatever has been cooked in the oil! so if you use 'scummy' old oil from the local Tandorri your car will stink and you'll feel hungry allthe time you're driving!
I paid a bit more and bought fresh from the shop (25 ltr drums) very little or no smell
easy!
imageandmoore
New Member
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- Guildford, Surrey
Hi Buckle/Eddy,
Sorry hadn't checked the forum for a while. I stopped using the veg oil. However I am now at a stage of considering the purcase of a two tank heated system, running a 50/50 mix in the veg oil tank. I am also trying to find any information on modifying the Lucas CAV pump, to offer better lubrication.
I spoke to a guy called Nick from www.dieselveg.com who said that you can run the a Lucas Cav pump on the veg oil, however you have to be strict about purging the system when you stop and ensuring that you always have the system on diesel when starting and stopping.
I just need to do a little more research on Lucas CAV pumps before I go ahead. It appears that the only problem that could happen is the pump could shear. A reconditioned pump would be about £350 - not to bad if you make enough savings.
I am really interested in any information people have on modifying the Lucas CAV pump.
Rich
Sorry hadn't checked the forum for a while. I stopped using the veg oil. However I am now at a stage of considering the purcase of a two tank heated system, running a 50/50 mix in the veg oil tank. I am also trying to find any information on modifying the Lucas CAV pump, to offer better lubrication.
I spoke to a guy called Nick from www.dieselveg.com who said that you can run the a Lucas Cav pump on the veg oil, however you have to be strict about purging the system when you stop and ensuring that you always have the system on diesel when starting and stopping.
I just need to do a little more research on Lucas CAV pumps before I go ahead. It appears that the only problem that could happen is the pump could shear. A reconditioned pump would be about £350 - not to bad if you make enough savings.
I am really interested in any information people have on modifying the Lucas CAV pump.
Rich
I have a 1982 series 111 stage 1 3.9 litre isuzu powered Land Rover,(the Isuzu was a factory option in Australia).It is fitted with an aluminium drop side trayback.
I converted it to run on straight vegetable oil about 8 months ago. The conversion requires making a dual fuel system, you start on diesel and switch over to vegetable oil when the engines warms up enough to run on the oil.
You coil 1/2 inch copper pipe in the wvo oil tank and connect the pipes to your heater hoses, hot water from the radiator flows through the copper pipe to warm the oil in the tank, I run the oil fuel line over the exhaust manifold to pick up more heat as it makes its way to the three port ball valve (situated in the driver's seat box, with the handle sticking out between the driver's legs ( it has never gotten in the way), from here the oil travels into its own fuel filter ( scrounged off a diesel Toyota Hilux ute ) I set up a heating coil in the water trap on this filter, to heat the oil again before it goes into the injector pump.
I get the oil for free, about 135 litres a week and it runs better on the oil than it does on diesel.
The secret to trouble free motoring on waste oil is the filtering, the oil must be clean and free of any water.
I almost forgot the return line must also have it's own valve, so the two fuels are not mixing, I get away with a simple in line tap on the diesel return line, because the 135 litre oil tank is on the trayback and is a lot higher than the diesel tank.
I hope this has helped someone.
Kind regards...Ron
I converted it to run on straight vegetable oil about 8 months ago. The conversion requires making a dual fuel system, you start on diesel and switch over to vegetable oil when the engines warms up enough to run on the oil.
You coil 1/2 inch copper pipe in the wvo oil tank and connect the pipes to your heater hoses, hot water from the radiator flows through the copper pipe to warm the oil in the tank, I run the oil fuel line over the exhaust manifold to pick up more heat as it makes its way to the three port ball valve (situated in the driver's seat box, with the handle sticking out between the driver's legs ( it has never gotten in the way), from here the oil travels into its own fuel filter ( scrounged off a diesel Toyota Hilux ute ) I set up a heating coil in the water trap on this filter, to heat the oil again before it goes into the injector pump.
I get the oil for free, about 135 litres a week and it runs better on the oil than it does on diesel.
The secret to trouble free motoring on waste oil is the filtering, the oil must be clean and free of any water.
I almost forgot the return line must also have it's own valve, so the two fuels are not mixing, I get away with a simple in line tap on the diesel return line, because the 135 litre oil tank is on the trayback and is a lot higher than the diesel tank.
I hope this has helped someone.
Kind regards...Ron
Imageandmoore, I am also interested in the modification,if possible of the LucasCAV rotary injector pump, I've got a Chamberlain tractor with a 4 cylinder Perkins diesel motor with a CAV pump. Apparently the rotary Bosch injector pumps are OK, I was wondering if they will fit, I think a Citroen came out with both pumps in one of their models.
If the pump can't be modified and the Bosch won't fit, a glow plug fuel heater just before the injector pump should lower the viscosity of the oil enough to lubricate the pump.
As you suggest, running 50/50 in conjunction with the fuel heater and a heated fuel tank should be enough to lubricate the pump without causing any problems.
If enough people there get together and lobby the Government to lower or remove the excise tax on using waste oil,( using the pollution angle,) a lot more people would use it and it would eliminate the cost to restaurants etc to dispose of a waste product.
Even the USA is promoting alternative fuels through tax breaks and grants for research.
Kind regards...Ron
If the pump can't be modified and the Bosch won't fit, a glow plug fuel heater just before the injector pump should lower the viscosity of the oil enough to lubricate the pump.
As you suggest, running 50/50 in conjunction with the fuel heater and a heated fuel tank should be enough to lubricate the pump without causing any problems.
If enough people there get together and lobby the Government to lower or remove the excise tax on using waste oil,( using the pollution angle,) a lot more people would use it and it would eliminate the cost to restaurants etc to dispose of a waste product.
Even the USA is promoting alternative fuels through tax breaks and grants for research.
Kind regards...Ron
The first time I used vegetable oil, was for the purpose of providing better lubrication for the injector pump. Initially I just added 2 litres to a tank of diesel, it did seem to run a little quieter, the direct injection 3.9 l Isuzu is not as quiet as the later Land Rover diesels.TheRipper said:
Some friends have used, cleaned used automatic transmission oil, and it also works. In fact you can run a diesel on straight automatic transmission oil.
Kind regards...Ron
That's interesting Pyro, I was wondering if anyone knows of an additive that would mask the smell of the chip oil. It really is a bit sad when people can be prosecuted for using their initiative, after all it is a waste product and they were only recycling it. It's been a long time since we had officers from customs and excise chasing situations like that, I believe their very existance was just not cost effective.
When there was a bit of interest here in making biodiesel, the cost of methanol suddenly doubled in price.
kind regards....Ron
When there was a bit of interest here in making biodiesel, the cost of methanol suddenly doubled in price.
kind regards....Ron
aussieron, thanks for the reply...Could I ask you a couple more things?
I read all these about the low sulphur diesel that damages the rubber rings in the diesel pump because it does not lubricate enough. It would be costly to add every time additives from the gas station so I thought about veg oil (an old taxi driver once told me about doing this few years back!).
1. How much is a "prober" ratio? (veg to lsd)
2. I used to run my car on high sulhpur before the introduction of LS. I read that if you run your car only on LS from the beginning, the rings will not be damaged. Is this true?
Thanks again mate...
I read all these about the low sulphur diesel that damages the rubber rings in the diesel pump because it does not lubricate enough. It would be costly to add every time additives from the gas station so I thought about veg oil (an old taxi driver once told me about doing this few years back!).
1. How much is a "prober" ratio? (veg to lsd)
2. I used to run my car on high sulhpur before the introduction of LS. I read that if you run your car only on LS from the beginning, the rings will not be damaged. Is this true?
Thanks again mate...
The Ripper, by changing the composition, to low sulphur,some seals and O rings can swell or shrink,
Most engines made after 1994, have fuel system seals and O rings made of Viton( also known as FKM ) which is not affected by the low sulphur fuel.
Older fuel systems( more than 8 years old ) may have seals made from nitrile rubber (also known as NBR or buna-n )which is not as resistant to the changes in the fuel composition as Viton.
The older seals can easily be changed to Viton, during a maintenance service.
Over here a diesel lubricity specification has been introduced as part of a mandatory national fuel standard, which all diesel fuels must meet.
But if you have concerns about lubrication, 1 litre of vegetable oil to a tank of fuel should be more than enough to guarantee the injector pump is adequately lubricated. Personally I would be doing this if I were you, the oil should increase the life of your injection pump.
I don't know the optimum proportion of oil to low sulphur diesel, but if you consider I litre of oil to a tank, as a minimum, you could add several times that without any problem.
Low sulphur diesel is less corrosive than the high sulphur fuel, so using the lsd at anytime should reduce engine wear.
I hope this has been a help.
Kind regards...Ron.
Most engines made after 1994, have fuel system seals and O rings made of Viton( also known as FKM ) which is not affected by the low sulphur fuel.
Older fuel systems( more than 8 years old ) may have seals made from nitrile rubber (also known as NBR or buna-n )which is not as resistant to the changes in the fuel composition as Viton.
The older seals can easily be changed to Viton, during a maintenance service.
Over here a diesel lubricity specification has been introduced as part of a mandatory national fuel standard, which all diesel fuels must meet.
But if you have concerns about lubrication, 1 litre of vegetable oil to a tank of fuel should be more than enough to guarantee the injector pump is adequately lubricated. Personally I would be doing this if I were you, the oil should increase the life of your injection pump.
I don't know the optimum proportion of oil to low sulphur diesel, but if you consider I litre of oil to a tank, as a minimum, you could add several times that without any problem.
Low sulphur diesel is less corrosive than the high sulphur fuel, so using the lsd at anytime should reduce engine wear.
I hope this has been a help.
Kind regards...Ron.
fishface220
New Member
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- Bristol
Hiya, if you do a GOOGLE search on "BIODIESEL" it comes back with some good info. Also have a look at http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html this web site seems to have all the info you need. Don't tell Gordon Brown though! He'll only go and stick 80% tax on it! 
fishface220, 'Journey To Forever', is an excellent site for anyone interested in making biodiesel, but it does lack a lot of information about running your vehicle on straight vegetable oil. It does have links to kit suppliers, for the dual tank systems and accessories, but everything they sell seems so expensive. Though with the later model diesels with electronic systems, biodiesel may be the best alternative . I know a few people who started making biodiesel but after awhile they found they were getting good results by mixing the filtered and dewatered vegetable oil with diesel or unleaded petrol .I was talking to a friend on the weekend who mixes unleaded petrol with the vegetable oil in his Toyota Landcruiser ute, he's done over 30,000 km without any problems, he just adds the petrol to the oil until he guesses it's a similar viscosity to diesel fuel. As he said it's a bit rough and ready, but it's a lot faster than making biodiesel and you're not playing with dangerous chemicals.
This might be a good option for the series diesels with the LucasCAV injector pumps and the later electronic controlled diesels.( the cost to make biodiesel here is about 55c a litre, but the yield is about 80%).
Kind regards...Ron
This might be a good option for the series diesels with the LucasCAV injector pumps and the later electronic controlled diesels.( the cost to make biodiesel here is about 55c a litre, but the yield is about 80%).
Kind regards...Ron
