Bio Diesel, Ford Transit and Ranger

[tractormatt]

Was thinking of doing a simular thing with my van over the summer but just get chip oil, filter it and mix it 50/50 with diesel as this will save having to process it. Also i heard that if too much methanol is used in the processing stage it can eat the natural rubber which is used in older vehicles, so will knacker my fuel pump.

 

Matt

[david]

Matt the methanol will evaperate off the top of bio diesel as it what you need for the reaction to turn veg oil in to biodiesel.

 

ie if your sticking veg oil in your tank it wont have been anywhere near methenol.

 

 

also theres a lot more to making bio diesel than just flinging some oil and methenol in your diesel tank:001_smile:

[benedmonds]

also theres a lot more to making bio diesel than just flinging some oil and methenol in your diesel tank:001_smile:

 

My Mitzy Bongo will apparently run fine with no modifications on a cooking oil and derv mix. Get a preheater and it will run on 100% cooking oil. A guy on the bongo forum claims to have done 100,000miles on waste oil..! Emmisions can have a smell depending on the source of the oil.

 

If using waste oil apparently it is best to let it settle for a couple of months, then take from the top and filter.

 

I'll get round to trying it soon..

[Lyndon]

take a gallon of fresh diesel to pre fill the filter with before you put it on

[gensetsteve]

When your only saving 30p a litre considering you will be slightly down on power I cant see the point especially with injectors at £170 ea and fuel pumps often 2k plus ?

[david]

considering you will be slightly down on power

 

bio diesel has a higher calerific than standard mineral diesel and tends to produce more power.

 

 

 

All this messing around with veg oil and bio diesel is fine as long as the fuel is good quality without all the bad bits left in ie. water, methenol, soap, glysenol, iv even smelt paint thinners in what has been sold as bio diesel

[Treeworld]

I run on 25% pure veg oil and 75% derv, no problems just cheaper fuel bills, simple!

[roseyweb]

I thought the power felt slightly up, almost got 65 out of the transit as apose to the usual top speed of 60, I got to banbury fine in the ranger but when I got home and had to nip out a few hours later it was running very lumpy for the first 5 mins

[Isaac]

I've experimented a bit running an old Mitsubishi 1 tonne pick up on Bio. Worked fine, pulled like a train, started well. Got plenty of funny looks stood outside Lidls filling up with 1 litre plastic bottles of veg oil ! Now knowing plenty of people in Cornwall who use the stuff it seems important to find a good supply of clean fuel, a few companies have set up manufacturing and selling bio only to shut down soon after, having let too much mucky fuel through their pumps. The other thing is to invest in a pre heater, I think they're about £80, especially in the winter months, they thin the oil thus preventing the clogging problems. Good luck.

[gensetsteve]

when I think of reclaimed veg oil I picture a chip pan with gunk stuck to the side. I would imagine some of the old 1980 inline pumps fitted to mercs etc may take some abuse but modern electronic stuff ?. Common rail systems are developed with help from the major fuel refiners but I have never heard of BMW nipping down the chip shop for advice. I would be interested to hear of your findings long term