All vegetable oil users - please post your experiences

[Diezel Weazel]

10 litres...worked like a dream...
20 litres veg oil next time!

(Just felt like a bit of a plonker pouring it in at the petrol station)

No Big deal really, to boot ya being greener n saving £££'s doing it(unless ya one o' those that run outta fuel) there the real plonker's !!


Jess
"Cos short cuts can cost more in the long run"

[Neozero999]

I'm mixing 50/50 Costco veg oil and Diesel. Mines running a treat and actually starts better! Not that I had a start problem, always started first turn, but now starts first fire and smokes less on startup. Could be the preheater doing that and noticed it's not on as much as I thought it would be, even in this weather, just clicks on occasionally after initial mile or so.

[MonsterSurf]

I ran new veggie oil for over a year and just put a bit of diesel in with it over the winter, like 50/50 diesel when it got really cold.
in the warmer months i just mixed 300ml of white spirit in with every 20 litres to improve viscosity and cetane
Started fine, had more power, engine was quieter just had an inline fuel heater i made that heated the fuel before and after the filter, utilising the coolant before it went into the heater matrix
i've heard 28 second kerosene burns well with a bit of 2stroke to lubricate upper cylinders btw

[Dodge]

i've heard 28 second kerosene burns well with a bit of 2stroke to lubricate upper cylinders btw

Burns ok but like you say hasn't the lubricating properties of derv/veg. Also it's not legal to run a road vehicle on it.

[spacast]

Burns ok but like you say hasn't the lubricating properties of derv/veg. Also it's not legal to run a road vehicle on it.

If they catch you with Kerosene you'll lose your truck

In The United Kingdom, The mixing/blending with substances such as red diesel, green diesel, Avation fuel, Kerosene or Paraffin etc is strictly NOT allowed and anyone found to be in possession of these mixtures in fuel tanks of Road-Going Vehicles by HMC&E will not only stand to have their car impounded, but also crushed and a huge fine imposed These Laws will vary in different countries so please check Your countries Laws about Road-Fuel Duty/Tax Levy.

[gonyosoma]

OK - so now the summer is here - 40 litres of VO to 12 litres of diesel plus whatever was left in the tank (which was the winter mix)...

Still going strong!

Though def smells more like a burger van than it did before!

Should I be watching out for any problems? Change the fuel filter more regularly ? anything else?

[kamaangir]

OK - so now the summer is here - 40 litres of VO to 12 litres of diesel plus whatever was left in the tank (which was the winter mix)...

Still going strong!

Though def smells more like a burger van than it did before!

Should I be watching out for any problems? Change the fuel filter more regularly ? anything else?

No need for a filter change till it gets blocked, if you are using new veg oil, that will be a long time yet. You will know when its time, the truck will be sluggish and sometimes you will get white smoke.

[surfoffroad]

3.0 N reg ssrg

Year of Surf : N
Engine size:3.0
Engine ref.:KNZ185
Total mileage on the vehicle:

Main type of veg used: SVO

twin tank (by DIESEL VEG Wolverhampton


Other modifications you have had done to the fuel system and approximate cost?


Mixture/s you use

Summer
Veg %100


Winter (only if below -5 C otherwisw 100 % exsept for starting in winter)
Veg %90
Diesel %10



How long you have been using veg for?:3 1/2 years

Approximate mileage done on diesel: 120,000

Approximate mileage done on veg/mix:60,000


Is the engine still running fine? Yes


Any problems so far experienced veg oil NONE

Tow a 18000 kg caravan lots of the time no problems at all

[biosurf]

A positive note:
With my recent conking out surf problem I've been able to discover a few veg-related things.

I've always been interested to know how veg is affecting the parts of the fuels system you can't see. I (as is true of most) am not doing the whole veg thing 'properly' - i.e. having a twin tank system where the veg only gets used when up to the proper temp. Instead I am single tanking i.e. sticking the lot in the main tank so veg is squirted out of the injectors when it is far thicker than the diesel they were designed to spray.

In theory this can mean that some of the veg remains unburnt and builds up in the cylinders eventually leading to game over for the engine.

Also, though I filter to 1 micron I have noticed that if I leave my filtered veg for a while in containers I get a fine brown residue at the bottom that I guess must be sub micron particles (burnt chip powder?) that is still suspended in the veg. I can remove this by filtering to .5 micron but it takes ###### ages and franky life is too short. I've wondered if this particles may be doing nasty things to the internals too.

I decided to take the risk as I didn't have the funds for a twin tank system and there was plenty of anecdotal evidence on here of people doing it for 2 years+ successfully, so I figured that I'd take the risk and if it died I would probably have saved the value of the Surf in reduced fuel costs anyhow.


As part of my own investigation into my recent problem I cut a hole under the rear seats to access the fuel tank. I pulled the strainer from the tank expecting to find it clogged with lots of crap but it was pretty clean.

More significantly, the good Dr Anglegrinder has had my head off recently to see to my broken shaft (fnarr) and said that all the cylinders looked really clean.


So... it seems (and I'm crossing fingers here) that the Surf engine is as resiliant as we all thought and hoped.

Of course I may be lucky or it may be the same for everyone but to have these two buts of info pleased me at least and should hopefully encourage others.

[DavidB]

thanks for posting that Biosurf - it is encouraging.

As of yesterday I have started using my own filtered 100% WVO, though only through a 5 micron filter sock - I read somewhere that this was fine enough? I did notice on the first 2 litres I decanted that i could still see particles when i held it up in daylight - maybe I should go finer?

thanks to all the previous posters for their comments, and I'll contribute to this thread when i have something relevant to add.

[Diezel Weazel]

A tip for all you WVO users ....
Get an old small mirror n pour a small amount of filtered oil on to it, to check for unfiltered particles ....

[biosurf]

A tip for all you WVO users ....
Get an old small mirror n pour a small amount of filtered oil on to it, to check for unfiltered particles ....

Good tip.

Third gen owners should find these distributed in the glove box, drivers and passengers door pockets etc.

[Diezel Weazel]

Nice one Paul

[mr.rosco]

thanks for posting that Biosurf - it is encouraging.

i could still see particles when i held it up in daylight - maybe I should go finer?

thanks to all the previous posters for their comments, and I'll contribute to this thread when i have something relevant to add.

I am currently converting my single tank system to a twin tank system thanks to Popeye's donation (I will provide data when I have more). I am doing it under the supervison of one of my mates, who happens to be the mechanics tutor at the local college and I asked him about the particles issue and he said that it should not be a problem. he said that the filters are to stop larger items causing damage to the engine and you would be supprised about what you would normally find in an old fuel tank. He did add that it would not be the same in a modern engine but these big older engines will take a lot of abuse.

[DavidB]

cheers Jess & Rosco - good to hear