Diesel car to veggie oil

drdre

Guys how do you change a diesel car to take veggie oil.What are the pro'sand con's?

I have access to unlimited amount of Veggie oil so was looking into this.Whats the cost of equipment to clean the oil and then put it into the car etc.

Hope someone can help me in the right direction.

cormie

Would be interested in this too, it's greener, right?

Dre, I hope you're not thinking of draining the oil pans from Let's Eat In?

drdre

cormie wrote: »

Would be interested in this too, it's greener, right?

Dre, I hope you're not thinking of draining the oil pans from Let's Eat In?

Hahah, I am as we give it away for free to enva (a company that recycles it and sells it on) its 100's of litres a month so i thought why not bloody use it.

If it works out then we can use the veggie oil on our van which uses alot of diesel as its always on the road.

Mr.Boots

I think its about 2000 to get it converted properly.
because veg oil (and other plant oils) are thicker than diesel it requires a fuel heater, extra filters and you still need to start and stop you car on diesel (by pushing a switch i presume) so you will still need you seperate diesel tank.
It also voids any warranty you have on the car....and the revenue would like to know where your getteing your "fuel" from.....ie. you will need to pay them vat (assuming you are the honest type )

cormie

Dre, are you actually going to use oil you used for cooking with? Is that possible? Would you have enough left over for me to make it worth spending the 2k for a conversion if it meant free fuel off you guys?

mvpr

http://www.ecocar.ie/

I've driven a few converted cars - hard to see the drawbacks really. The only thing holding me back is the fact you need a tank (or someone with a tank!) to fill up from. Not possible where I live unfortunately.

Gary ITR

cormie wrote: »

Dre, are you actually going to use oil you used for cooking with? Is that possible? Would you have enough left over for me to make it worth spending the 2k for a conversion if it meant free fuel off you guys?

jesus cormie if there are any flies on you i'd say they are paying rent

craichoe

Fuel pump is the main problem, Bosch are fine, Lucas pumps gunk up and fail on Veggie oil.

Vegeta

Ok has anyone seen the mythbusters where they just put this straight in the car and it ran fine, why did that work without any conversion at all?

drdre

Onkle wrote: »

jesus cormie if there are any flies on you i'd say they are paying rent

drdre

Nah i really wouldnt spend 2k to get the equipment.Cormie as far as i know the oil we use should workm as its 100% veggie oil, It just needs to be strained.That can be done if you purchase a pump and strainer.

craichoe

drdre wrote: »

Nah i really wouldnt spend 2k to get the equipment.Cormie as far as i know the oil we use should workm as its 100% veggie oil, It just needs to be strained.That can be done if you purchase a pump and strainer.

The problem isn't running on it, the problem is starting the engine. Veggie oil is not a viscous as Diesel and its properties change when it gets cold.
The conversion is so that you can start on diesel and run on vege oil.

100% veggie oil would render a non converted car unstartable in the cold. Not an issue in warm countries like spain for example.

drdre

craichoe wrote: »

The problem isn't running on it, the problem is starting the engine. Veggie oil is not a viscous as Diesel and its properties change when it gets cold.
The conversion is so that you can start on diesel and run on vege oil.

100% veggie oil would render a non converted car unstartable in the cold. Not an issue in warm countries like spain for example.

Ah ok, It would work like that saab bio fuel car that it starts like normal and then you switch over while driving.

cormac_byrne

http://www.eilishoils.com/ might be a good starting point for your research into conversion kits etc... (REGENATEC, ELSBETT)

Their solutions are for Pure plant oil PPO aka straight vegetable oil SVO
(which they sell)

You're talking about waste vegetable oil WVO,
so google for that to see what needs to be done to it to make it safe for engines

You could go further and convert the WVO to bio-diesel,

advantage - car needs little or no modification for bio-diesel
disadvantage - turning your back yard into a chemical works

see also http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_svo.html

kodute

You could get away with a aquarium heater in your fuel tank*










*not responsible for ensuing disaster

bazz26

I think veggie oil would do more harm than good to modern day diesels like common rail units. Most likely make ****e of the injectors.

Might work with an old school car like an old Merc oil burner.

biko

From google:

http://www.greasecar.com/

"The Greasecar Vegetable Oil Conversion System is an auxiliary fuel modification system that allows all diesel vehicles to run on straight vegetable oil in any climate. Your Greasecar kit comes with everything you need to convert your diesel vehicle to run on vegetable oil"

cormac_byrne

craichoe wrote: »

The problem isn't running on it, the problem is starting the engine. Veggie oil is not a viscous as Diesel and its properties change when it gets cold.
The conversion is so that you can start on diesel and run on vege oil.

100% veggie oil would render a non converted car unstartable in the cold. Not an issue in warm countries like spain for example.

You're describing a two tank system, but there are (more expensive) single tank systems with "specially made injector nozzles, increased injection pressure and stronger glow-plugs, in addition to fuel pre-heating." (from journeytotomorrow site)

The simplest thing is probably to run on a diesel vegetable oil mix, start with a low ratio, then increase to 20% max in winter, 50% in summer.

Plenty of people say this works (presumably they don't have lucas pumps) but others (generally the people selling conversion kits) say it will ruin your engine

RobbieMc

I run a Land rover Discovery, 200 Tdi diesel. It runs on 70% diesel,30% Veg oil in the winter and 50/50 in the summer( some times even 70% veg in the summer)
Not the greatest solution, but i have had to make no mods to the car just a more regular filter change. Smells like a chipper

In the new year i plan on getting a pre heater or the fuel lines to run on 100% Veg oil.( Tesco's finest)

Rob

Matt Simis

bazz26 wrote: »

I think veggie oil would do more harm than good to modern day diesels like common rail units. Most likely make ****e of the injectors.

Might work with an old school car like an old Merc oil burner.

Yeah, newer cars should be run on BioDiesel if you want to play around with Oil.
BioDiesel requires no changes to the car, but is a more involved to make.

blackbox

Hate to tell you this, but Diesel fuel used for road vehicles is liable for excise duty, even if home-made from waste cooking oil.
It may be exempt for non-road use (green Diesel equivalent).

blobert

I'm pretty sure I've seen articles saying you can run even modern diesel engines on a diesel oil mix of up to 60/40 without any problems and without having to convert the engine?

woody33

Spoke to a bloke in Lidl car park today who was driving an Audi PDI (common rail) diesel car with a "runs on plant fuel" sticker, and I joked that he was buying veg oil for his car. He said VAT-paid fuel was available in the Waterford area, and he has sold his bio diesel business to Glanbia.