Veg oil instead of diesel

[upinwath 10]

Thankyou upinwath.........just oer the hill from us. That figure sounds about right.

 

Just took it from the HM revenue and customs letter they sent me in june telling me I don't need to pay duty any more.

[lynslou77 10]

upinwath look at getto snipers post

 

you CAN convert a diesel - i got stopped the other day on a roadside check and they said they have started testing lpg/diesels

 

but are they allowed to use bio aswell as lpg? hmm

[Tintsexpert 10]

upinwath look at getto snipers post

 

you CAN convert a diesel - i got stopped the other day on a roadside check and they said they have started testing lpg/diesels

 

but are they allowed to use bio aswell as lpg? hmm

 

Think you'll find s diesel runs with LPG as an adative & not an alternative.

[Pete_Moran 10]

I,ve been running my Ford Focus 1.8TDi on a 70/30 mixture of diesel ? plain veg oil for over two years now

[johno 10]

well went to fill mine up today and it cost me £60 AND ITS STILL NOT FULL Thats why i want to try and bring the cost down i love the car (citroen synergie) and it is good on fuel but just thought iit might be good to try veg oil. I did have a rover TD before i should have run that on veg oil. Just dont want to damage this car i have only had it for 3 weeks.

[Tintsexpert 10]

well went to fill mine up today and it cost me £60 AND ITS STILL NOT FULL Thats why i want to try and bring the cost down i love the car (citroen synergie) and it is good on fuel but just thought iit might be good to try veg oil. I did have a rover TD before i should have run that on veg oil. Just dont want to damage this car i have only had it for 3 weeks.

 

Take it to UK Bio fuels on Newhall rd & have a chat to him, he runs a brand new Issuzu pick up & a new volvo cab on it.

[medusa 16]

Everyone who's planning to run a diesel engine on a mix of biodiesel/oil and diesel needs to be aware that doing this invalidates the manufacturer's warranty for virtually every vehicle if used at more than 8-10% mix. The proportion of diesel sold at pumps is now an increasing mix of biodiesel (anything from 2-10% depending on where you buy the diesel) so manufacturers have had to accept that their warranties are valid for this proportion of biofuel. Over time the proportion is going to grow and it is thought that this will force the vehicle manufacturers to amend their warranties (but it hasn't happened yet).

[gravity-slave 10]

I'm a Mechanical Engineer and used to design piston rings for diesel engines. I've been looking into the use of straight vegetable oil or 'SVO' (Veggie oil and biodiesel are very different composition and chemistry.)

 

As posted, on 1st July this year, tax on personal usage of under 2500 litres a year was abolished. Here's the link:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/briefs/excise-duty/brief4307.htm

 

This takes the 47.1p tax off, making it about 50p a litre for veggie oil. Not bad!

 

With the 2500 litre limit, running a 20% SVO/diesel mix means you can probably do 100,000 miles a year before paying tax!

 

However, unless you use the right treatments and mix, you can have problems.

 

Veggie oil is thicker than diesel and is actually a better lubricant for the engine. However, this thickness can load fuel pumps, clog injectors and worst, gum your piston rings.

 

You might also have to add an additive to up the cetane ratio of the fuel. If you don't, you may get partial combustion which leads to 'ring gumming' (Google for more info). Once your rings start to gum, the problems get exponentially worse (compression goes down, leading to more incomplete combustion, leading to lower compression, etc.) till the engine needs a rebuild. This process is probably not detectable until it's too late! Certain fuel additives are available to up the cetane ratio of SVO and increase the combustion.

 

Bearing in mind that a 50% mix only takes 25% off your fuel bill, it's a gamble. Do some solid research, get good advice based on your own engine and usage before sticking veggie oil in the tank.

 

I'm not being a total pessimist - I'm a big fan on the idea, really keen to find out more and can't wait to stick some of Asda's finest Sunflower Oil in the tank!

 

Up to 10% SVO seems pretty safe (with cetane improvers), 50% to 60% can work well in warm weather but gets too thick in the cold.

[BudLover 10]

As gravity-slave said....do not try to run your car on neat vegetable oil or a mix of veg oil and diesel. I wouldn't do it anyway.

 

Veg oils are converted to methyl esters.....it is the methyl esters that you want.....not the neat veg oil.

 

Beware: anyone collecting used vegetable oil from food outlets. Make sure they have not been frying a lot of things with animal fats in as the fat leaches in to each other and you will end up with a fat that has a much higher melting point....i.e. it will clog in cool weather.

 

I do agree it is good to use some biofuel, but I will stick with the 5% added to the diesel I buy at the pump for now.