Shifty1962
Well-Known Member
Have used synth engine oil but not brake fluid.
Brake fluid absorbs water so I'm inclined to give it miss.
Brake fluid absorbs water so I'm inclined to give it miss.
pos
Well-Known Member
Synthetic oils are absolutely fine, any oil will do apart from brake oils as Shifty suggested. I've had constant problems with DOT4 absorbing water on the hydraulic brake system on my push bike, it's like the sponge of oils! Stupid stuff really. See if your local elderly peoples care home will give you a few hundred litres of old heating oil when it comes time to swap!
-Pos
-Pos
Shifty1962
Well-Known Member
It sure is. Along with red diesel, heating oil, white spirit, and apparently any other type of mineral oil. Veggie oils are for the time being OK but limited to 2500 litres per year for non commercial use before you have to pay duty on it.isnt kerosene illegal to use on the road ?
i knew of a bloke who used o buy 500 gallons of kerosene and add new engine oil (cant remember the quantity) to it and run his diesel vehicles on it !
its s bit like red deisel in the eyes of the law
Kero now costs more than diesel per litre so why would you buy it as fuel?
Shifty1962
Well-Known Member
Just collected 200 litres of mixed diesel/petrol drained from the tanks of unfortunate motorists who forgot what fuel their motor uses. Its super clean requiring no filtering. It burns like petrol but appears slightly more oily and viscous like diesel.
It would probably run as is in a petrol engine or it definitely would mixed 50/50 with fresh unleaded. But for my use its perfect for thinning the used engine oil which now means my fuel costs me 0p per litre other than collecting it, mixing, and filtering.
The garage reckon on having 100 litres or so of this mix each month and they are only a small indy set up. There must be hundreds of similar garages with the same problems so for those of you already using reclaimed engine oil it may be worth asking your local garage what they do with the stuff.
On another note my TD5 passed its MOT smoke and emissions with very good readings running on my home brew yesterday. The tech said it was as good as he'd seen for a TD5 which makes me very happy.
It would probably run as is in a petrol engine or it definitely would mixed 50/50 with fresh unleaded. But for my use its perfect for thinning the used engine oil which now means my fuel costs me 0p per litre other than collecting it, mixing, and filtering.
The garage reckon on having 100 litres or so of this mix each month and they are only a small indy set up. There must be hundreds of similar garages with the same problems so for those of you already using reclaimed engine oil it may be worth asking your local garage what they do with the stuff.
On another note my TD5 passed its MOT smoke and emissions with very good readings running on my home brew yesterday.
The tech said it was as good as he'd seen for a TD5 which makes me very happy. THE wife put petrol in 307d mobility car,the garagewanted £250 to get it out no chance!!!. SO the son i pumped it out into 3, 5 gallon cans and used 60\40 in our siii diesel its only driven steady absolutely no bother some we used for degreasing and parts washing but most went into the landy we still have the landy but it needs a new chassis i dont think that had anything to do with it tho (scratching head)
Shifty1962
Well-Known Member
My garage told me they have to keep it separate from the used oils and it costs more to get rid of per litre than used engine oil. To them its a pain in the arse, not to mention highly flamable, so they were glad to see the back of it for no cost. They cant use it for parts cleaning as its against "elf and safety" regulations. The high cost of draining a fuel tank is down to labour and the fact that they have to pay to get rid. Still, I'm not complaining as somebody else's loss is my gain. Long may it continue.
discomania
Well-Known Member
reg aldershot
Active Member
ive got around 80 gallons of old engine oil if anyone wants it in 2 big oil drums if you can get in your motor its yours might even have more and its in reading
has anyone checked the ph of the stuff they are dumping in their tanks? also even filtering you are going to get trace contamination passing through filters into pump.
I wonder what the max contamination on forecourt fuel is v home brew.
I wonder what the max contamination on forecourt fuel is v home brew.
Shifty1962
Well-Known Member
I've never measured the PH of the oil but then again I've never measured the PH of DERV or petrol for that matter.
If you can be bothered you could filter it down to 1 micron or less (expensive and time consuming) but as your onboard fuel filter only filters to between 5 and 10 microns whats the point? So long as you dont dump sludge into your tank which will clog your onboard filter then the contamination after filtering is merely ultra fine carbon in suspension which acts as a lubricant for pumps, valves, injectors, and pistons. It would cost too much to get this out and I'm not sure that it could even be done. So long as your engine is healthy and burning the fuel correctly then carbon deposits appear no different to DERV. Certainly my exhaust tailpipe is no dirtier than normal and neither are my glow plugs.
I let it stand for a month then I pre filter it down to 10 microns using readily available and cheap filters. I never use the bottom six inches of oil from the drum as it contains all sorts of contaminants including fine metal particles etc. After almost a year have had no problems at all. I change my onboard fuel filter every 6 months just to be sure. I bought 10 OEM filters on eBay (enough for 5 years @ 2 per year) for £45 so they aint expensive. I've driven and towed more than 5000 miles on the stuff and even passed MOT last week when I forgot to run a tank of diesel through beforehand. I'll concede that there is slightly more blue smoke when cold but thats about the only negative I can come up with - nothing more than a badly worn engine or a busted piston ring would cause and it goes away once warm unlike a worn engine.
When I add up what I've saved in fuel costs against a couple of filters and a few hours spent pre filtering the stuff then the savings far outway the effort.
The UK military have been doing it for decades and still do and I'm sure they would have discovered any major downsides by now.
In many African countries engine/gearbox oils are reused over and over because needs must and these vehicles will be some of the highest milers you'll ever see all done in hostile conditions with basic or minimal servicing.
Once the oils get too bad even for them to use inside the engines they filter it, mix it with diesel or petrol, and burn it as fuel. I've seen SIIa Diesel Landys with more than 500,000 miles on the clocks still running strong in Tanzania. Smoky I'll grant but still chugging along.
If you can be bothered you could filter it down to 1 micron or less (expensive and time consuming) but as your onboard fuel filter only filters to between 5 and 10 microns whats the point? So long as you dont dump sludge into your tank which will clog your onboard filter then the contamination after filtering is merely ultra fine carbon in suspension which acts as a lubricant for pumps, valves, injectors, and pistons. It would cost too much to get this out and I'm not sure that it could even be done. So long as your engine is healthy and burning the fuel correctly then carbon deposits appear no different to DERV. Certainly my exhaust tailpipe is no dirtier than normal and neither are my glow plugs.
I let it stand for a month then I pre filter it down to 10 microns using readily available and cheap filters. I never use the bottom six inches of oil from the drum as it contains all sorts of contaminants including fine metal particles etc. After almost a year have had no problems at all. I change my onboard fuel filter every 6 months just to be sure. I bought 10 OEM filters on eBay (enough for 5 years @ 2 per year) for £45 so they aint expensive. I've driven and towed more than 5000 miles on the stuff and even passed MOT last week when I forgot to run a tank of diesel through beforehand. I'll concede that there is slightly more blue smoke when cold but thats about the only negative I can come up with - nothing more than a badly worn engine or a busted piston ring would cause and it goes away once warm unlike a worn engine.
When I add up what I've saved in fuel costs against a couple of filters and a few hours spent pre filtering the stuff then the savings far outway the effort.
The UK military have been doing it for decades and still do and I'm sure they would have discovered any major downsides by now.
In many African countries engine/gearbox oils are reused over and over because needs must and these vehicles will be some of the highest milers you'll ever see all done in hostile conditions with basic or minimal servicing.
Once the oils get too bad even for them to use inside the engines they filter it, mix it with diesel or petrol, and burn it as fuel. I've seen SIIa Diesel Landys with more than 500,000 miles on the clocks still running strong in Tanzania. Smoky I'll grant but still chugging along.
Shifty1962
Well-Known Member
Took me a while to make the leap of faith but so long as you've got a plentiful supply and the space to store and filter it you'll wonder why you took so long. Especially when your wallet is not so empty. I've probably only bought £50 worth of diesel this year and I've driven more than 6k miles since January. That works out at apprx 600 mpg.
I spent about £250 on setting up my filter system but you could do it cheaper. I use compressed air to move the oil around rather than pumps because there's less to go wrong and no sparks. I can filter 50 litres in half an hour which is about a tank full. I use a 1200 litre disused heating oil tank to store the oil from the garage and to let it settle. I then rough filter and mix it with 20% diesel/petrol mix (drained from tanks of unfortunate motorists) in a separate 45 gal oil drum where I let it settle again. Then I filter 50 litres at a time (taken from a pipe which is 6 inches off the bottom of the drum) as and when I need it.
Once I get 20-25 litres of settled sludge I pump it out and take this down to my local recycling depot and dispose of it properly. No charge at the moment. If it becomes a problem my mate who gives me the used oil will take the sludge back and dispose of it in the normal way. I suppose I'm getting 20 litres of sludge from 400 litres of used oil so he's happy as it cuts his disposal costs dramatically.
I dont reckon I'll ever buy another petrol powered car.
