ok thanks,i will not be making my own,just interested to see how it is done,correctly.:)

Golden rules for finished fuel:
1.Process until very high conversion to methyl esters(bio)greater than 99%
2.Bio has ALL soap removed
3. Bio MUST be dry
3A. Cold filter the fuel to a higher level than the vehicle filter-mine is 2 micron

Most problems I have seen are either soap or water,lousy conversion is not such an issue as such,but lousy conversion fuel is very hard to dry properly
 
Out of interest do you make it in a shed, or have you got a fair amount of space to use/abuse. Love the idea of sub £1 per gallon but think the practicalities would put paid to the dream living in a suburban semi detached with only a shed to hand (although the savings could finance another shed...)
 
Hi Biolandy,

I wonder if you could throw some light onto a td5 possible fuel pump problem.

I've had a td5 disco 1999 for 4 months or so, it runs fine on bio. Changed the fuel filters a few times to be on safe side. It broke down a month ago, fuel pump just stopped; replaced pump with s/h one, bled it; started and ran fine. it stopped again yesterday and I think it's the fuel pump or related problem again. the pump is screeching and trying to bleed itself every time I turn on the ignition. it seems like it can't get the pressure up. I was guessing either a failed non Viton seal in the pump or something further down the line like another seal. I'm considering trying an oem pump which I've been told has Viton seals.

By the way, Bio is fine. Made it for a while now, 2 stage, KOH, no soap and dry and dry washed. all tests fine. I have another vehicle running fine on it.

It might well be non bio related like injection seals or similar. If you have any thoughts on it before I start throwing money at it I would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance,

Mark
 
Mark-does the pump have a pick up screen/gauze which could be blocked and need cleaning?Only guessing as I have not had to look at mine yet.-Also there seems to be an issue with the air bleed side getting stuck,not letting air out.
I am sure others will chime in on this
 
thanks for the quick reply pal.

I've yet to take out the pump, I'm on it this afternoon. I'd guess the rough filter at the bottom to be clear though, the last one was. I've heard there's a further fine one inside but can't find anything on this.

Do you know how to check on the air bleed issue? I'm going to have a search on here for it but that would make sense. I'll crack on and see what I can make of it.
 
checked fuel pump, looked fine. new filter; still wouldn't properly finish the purging cycle. had the idea of putting more fuel in; dropped in 30 litres, pump sounded much better and the fuel system went through it's cycle; started and runs fine. I'm going to start a thread and hopefully someone will be able to throw some light on this.

thanks for your help. if you come across any difficulties caused by bio like non viton seals or such please drop me a line.
 
checked fuel pump, looked fine. new filter; still wouldn't properly finish the purging cycle. had the idea of putting more fuel in; dropped in 30 litres, pump sounded much better and the fuel system went through it's cycle; started and runs fine. I'm going to start a thread and hopefully someone will be able to throw some light on this.

thanks for your help. if you come across any difficulties caused by bio like non viton seals or such please drop me a line.

fuel pump has got a crack in it,when you put more fuel in,that seals the crack so no more air getting in.normally happens when the tank is 1/4 or less.
 
Another biodiesel update .for anyone interested
So we are now in September 2014 and my TD5 is still running great on 100% biodiesel.Remember this TD5 had its last pump diesel put in the tank in April 2013.
It is sometime around now my fuel savings (15 p per lt homebrew) vs Derv that my TD5 has paid for itself (purchase price £2.5K).I typically use 150 lts a month,which costs me about £22.50
Dipstick oil is still translucent since oil change in May,earlier this year.(which is an added bonus with running bio)
So no toubles yet with the in tank pump or any o rings,or any other fuel issues,well into my second year and looking forward to her second winter on bio(5%-10% mis fuel added in winter).
Performance wise she will cruise well above motorway limits-never pushed it to its limits but did Preston to the coast in 3hrs 50 mins the other week with a sat nav time of 4hrs 20 mins-ahem-(just keeping up with the traffic officer).And she returns around 27-30mpg on a run ,but very low 20's around town in heavy traffic.(15p per litre doesn't matter)
Will update later both good and bad if anything occurrs,but so far nothing bad from my bio
 
Another biodiesel update .for anyone interested
So we are now in September 2014 and my TD5 is still running great on 100% biodiesel.Remember this TD5 had its last pump diesel put in the tank in April 2013.
It is sometime around now my fuel savings (15 p per lt homebrew) vs Derv that my TD5 has paid for itself (purchase price £2.5K).I typically use 150 lts a month,which costs me about £22.50
Dipstick oil is still translucent since oil change in May,earlier this year.(which is an added bonus with running bio)
So no toubles yet with the in tank pump or any o rings,or any other fuel issues,well into my second year and looking forward to her second winter on bio(5%-10% mis fuel added in winter).
Performance wise she will cruise well above motorway limits-never pushed it to its limits but did Preston to the coast in 3hrs 50 mins the other week with a sat nav time of 4hrs 20 mins-ahem-(just keeping up with the traffic officer).And she returns around 27-30mpg on a run ,but very low 20's around town in heavy traffic.(15p per litre doesn't matter)
Will update later both good and bad if anything occurrs,but so far nothing bad from my bio

:5btoetap05::5btoetap05::praise::D just wish i could make that bio.
 
IIRC, those emissions seem a lot higher than for a D2 TD5 running dino diesel i.e. mine! Will dig out the MOT - I'm sure the avg. was below 1. Unless I was misreading the numbers.. :eek:

Hey, if it passes emissions on cheap fuel, then no worries!
 
IIRC, those emissions seem a lot higher than for a D2 TD5 running dino diesel i.e. mine! Will dig out the MOT - I'm sure the avg. was below 1. Unless I was misreading the numbers.. :eek:

Hey, if it passes emissions on cheap fuel, then no worries!

Would be great to see some dino diesel figures,if anyone has them-please post if you can find them-thanks
 
Beggared if I can find the emission figure for the current MOT :eek: , but last year's figure (when I bought the D2) was 1.13. A previous MOT's figure (2012) was 0.76 !
 
Would be great to see some dino diesel figures,if anyone has them-please post if you can find them-thanks

Checking my MOT for this year my 04 reg TD5 tested at 0.72 (and that's one that's been De-Cat'd and De-EGR'd then remapped - a power revelation! :cool:)

My old TD5 without the remap tested around the same.

Ian.
 
Hi,

I am interested in this as anything to keep fuel costs low is welcome, how do you keep HMRC happy as they are not collecting any revenue from the Bio you are making.

Thanks Andy.
 
Hi,

I am interested in this as anything to keep fuel costs low is welcome, how do you keep HMRC happy as they are not collecting any revenue from the Bio you are making.

Thanks Andy.

You are allowed 2500litres per 12 months without paying duty. If you exceed that duty is paid on all of it!!
 
Well my second year of my TD5 on 100% bio is just about up-no problems encountered what so ever on bio use, this will be my last post on bio in a TD5,as if I were to have issues I think it would have shown up by now.
I also had her re mot'd today which she failed on inner wing welding,but nothing else :).
Discussing my bio the tester did say he is getting ****loads of injector problems on Landies new and old running regular derv-seems to think even more lubricants have been removed lately??I think I will stick to bio :)
 

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