veg oil

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Lyndon

Lyndon

Active Member
Posts
594
Location
swansea
Hello!, right after several hours reading my poor little mind is fried ( no pun intended)

I have a 93 200tdi with 140 on the clock, the starter struggles from cold(gotta warm it twice on first start) and idles at 6 to 8 hundred rpm and I wanted to run it on bio diesel, after a few serches on this forum and a few google searches im introduced to the idea of veg oil.

Im not to fussed on using old stuff from the chippy just yet but the clean stuff from tesco works out a bit cheaper than diesel round here £4.80 per gallon for veg oil and £6.20 for diesel.

some people say they run it on 100% veg oil and others say 30% veg oil & 70% diesel.

It gets quite cold at night where i live below zero at nights so what can i do percentage wise to make certian it starts in the morning?

What are the problems im going to incounter straightaway if i start using veg oil mixed wih diesel? i was thinking of adding a gallon of veg oil with every 4 gallon of diesel at first and then changing the mix in favour of veg oil later on if there are no problems.

I know this has been covered many times before but i just wanted some straight answers as the posts are quite old.

basically can i just shove some veg oil in with my diesel with out killing my disco?

Thanks guys!:)
 
During the summer months I run on 50/50, although some people run on 70/30. I just pour the oil straight into the tank with the Diesel. I am told will need to change the fuel filter at some point but I haven't changed mine yet and my Disco runs perfect, no loss of power, however it will be done as part of the service that is due. I have never run on it in the winter but I'm sure plenty of people do.
 
clive edward said:
Hi, You need to search more and fry your brain some more, To use veg oil you need to heat it first.:)
Click to expand...

That is true if you wish to run on 100% veg oil, but when mixed as I have suggested you will have no problems. Obviously you do this at your own risk. But I can honestly say that I have experienced no problems yet and I've been doing it for a good few years in my 300TDI.
 
If you want to use it during winter I would suggest a proper twin tank system with a heat exchanger to thin the oil before it's injected into engine. Looking at about £300 to DIY properly with good components.
 
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With Diesel now at £1.25 per litre and Veg oil at 95p (farmfoods) there has never been a better time to use it, as you stand to save on average 25p for every litre you use, thats a whole pound for every 4 liters...and those pounds soon add up to that new winch or snorkel you want .. :D
 
Thanks puppysandwich thats exactly what i wanted to know!:D and with the rate mine goes through diesel the pounds will add up quickly. What percentage do you run in the winter?

Im only intrested in using the veg oil to keep diesel costs down i don't want to run it strictly on veg oil, way to much hassel involved with twin tanks and pre heating i will save that for when i move somewhere warm :) I will go down the bio diesel route when i have more space and time but for now i just want to know what i can put in my tank with minimal fuss to keep running costs down

Thanks to everyone for their replys
 
Last edited:
clive edward said:
Hi, You need to search more and fry your brain some more, To use veg oil you need to heat it first.:)
Click to expand...

That's not true, you can use 100% veg oil in the summer months with no probs it's just when the temp gets low you need to mix it, forget the twin tanks, preheater thing and just use 50/50 veg oil\derv in the winter and see how you get on.

@disco2shaun, general consensus is that td5's don't like veg oil at all, I don't know why it's just what loads of others have said.
 
td5's are best suited for veg oil more than any other landrover engine, no injector pump to ruin. the engine super heats the fuel that returns to the tank. once started she runs beautifuly, on cold mornings she takes around 5 seconds to start when running 50/50 mix. is there an aditive i can add to the fuel? u should read the cooking oil in td5 thread, theres a bloke running his own used engine oil
 
disco2shaun said:
td5's are best suited for veg oil more than any other landrover engine, no injector pump to ruin. the engine super heats the fuel that returns to the tank. once started she runs beautifuly, on cold mornings she takes around 5 seconds to start when running 50/50 mix. is there an aditive i can add to the fuel? u should read the cooking oil in td5 thread, theres a bloke running his own used engine oil
Click to expand...

I've heard that the piezo (sp) injectors in the td5 aren't particularly tolerant of vegetable oil? How long have you run yours on it and have you had any trouble?
 
arienol said:
I've heard that the piezo (sp) injectors in the td5 aren't particularly tolerant of vegetable oil? How long have you run yours on it and have you had any trouble?
Click to expand...

around 3 or 4 months on this disco. last td5 i had was running it for around 1 year. only problem i get is the cold weather starting sometimes, just got to get the mix right

with how cold it is now im mixing around 12 litres to 30 litres of diesel, otherwise in a morning she struggles a bit but still starts. Thats why im wanting some advice on any aditives i can put in the fuel to aid cold starting
 
If you want to run a higher % of veg in the winter months try adding 10 to 15% unleaded as its a much better thinner then diesel. Also if you can get sunflower oil it has a lower cloud point so is also better for the colder days but its more expensive.

Bookers is the best place for new veg oil but you will need an account.

As for a TD5 on veg, I would not recomend it as its a common rail system and in general common rail systems are not very happy with veg oil, but if any of you want to try it then thats fine just be aware that a large bill may come your way. However it should be fine on biodiesel.

Check out my sig for the best bio/veg forum, loads of info and a good bunch.

As the 200/300 tdi's are direct injection they need regular oil changes as veg oil contamination of the engine oil could make it go solid. I do mine ever 5k miles, flush and new filter every time.
 
If you work out the actual saving per hundred mls I reckon it's just not worth any possible downsides for any diesel engine.

Let's say diesel in your area is £1.25 per ltr and new veg oil is £0.80 per ltr.

With my last TDi 300 auto I go 33mpg average, over the 16,000mls I ran her.

So, 100 miles @ 33mpg = 3 gallons which is 13.5ltrs.

Now assuming a mix of 50/50 diesel to veg oil we have 6.25 ltrs of each fuel which is £7.81 of diesel plus £5 making a total of £12.81 as oppose to £15.62.

A saving of £2.81 per 100mls, so £281 for 10,000mls. Sounds like a lot?

Offset that with possible risks to your fuel injection systems especially fuel injection pumps with internal seals being rotted by veg oil - apparently; if the saving was 50% of diesel costs then I would say the risk is worth it - but it's not.

If someone could check my figures I would be most grateful.

Cheers
Dave
 
disco2shaun said:
ive been told to avoid putting petrol in a diesel engine to thin fuel. if i was to put some petrol in how much? say for example i put 25litres of diesel in and 20litres of veg oil in??
Click to expand...


for 20l veg i put 2l unleaded. or if you can get it miss fuel which is what they pump out when some one fills there diesel with unleaded by mistake.

don't forget to keep records of how much and when you put veg oil in, as hmrc may want to see them if you get pulled for a check.

some manufacturers recomend up to 30% unleaded in diesel for very cold countries so 10% will be fine in a TDI, common rail is another issue altogether.
 
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