wht other alternative fuels are you using in your diesels?

[Bibby]

what alternative fuels are you's running in your diesel cars?
i have heard a few people running on biodiesel, which is basically cooking oil or vegetable oil with methoxide
some people running 50 50 dieses and vegetable oil
and others running waste engine oil, now i have a rriend who has had a go at this with no power loss or problems, the fact he is a mechanic, and he can get the oil free is excellent, costing him aprox 60p per litre to run his car on a 50/50 mix with diesel, now i know running on red is illegal, and heating oil is illegal, but never heard any illegality on what would be a byproduct and is waste, surely by using it he is helping the environment, as it's not going back into the ground?

can anyone shed any light so i know if i can run it or not?

 

[big cyril]

Biodiesel is made by a chemical reaction between methanol with a sodium or potassium hydroxide catalyst (hence methoxide) and veg oil.
The products (mainly) are biodiesel and glycerol.

At the right temperature, veg oil will burn just like diesel in the engine, the problem is that the viscosity of veg oil is way too gloopy at normal temperatures hence the need to make biodiesel out of it (biodiesel has viscosity much closer to normal diesel).
The other way to use veg oil in a diesel car is have the car converted so it can start on normal diesel and transfer over to veg when it's warmed up.

BTW veg oil is actually legal (correct me if I'm wrong) - up to 2500l annually per private individual, either to use straight or make into biodiesel.

 

[Bibby]

at 124.9 per litre for diesel, i have been doing my research into these
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Duty-Free-Die...oryZ9895QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

yes the first payment may be dear, but the money you would save would be unreal!

 

[big cyril]

The problem is that used veg oil is hard to get a hold of and new veg oil is often around £1/litre so the saving is not much, especially if you make it into biodiesel as the methanol is about 10p per litre of veg oil used.

 

[Bibby]

veg oil in macro is 14 quid for 25 litres
used veg oil, well with friends owning chip shops and take aways, im sure it would be easy enough got!

 

[big cyril]

If you can get used veg oil go for it. (before someone else does.....)
The best price in Makro is a bit more than that unfortunately (or at least it was last week).

 

[gixerboy]

veg oil in macro is 14 quid for 25 litres
used veg oil, well with friends owning chip shops and take aways, im sure it would be easy enough got!

WVO (waste veg oil) needs to be processed & filtered to at least 5 microns before use..

 

[Antoin]

Im using just SVO and diesel mix in my 306 about 60/40 in these warmer months.
In winter itl drop a bit but some people add maybe 5/10% petrol in winter to thin the veggy oil.

Veg oil is 98p per litre in lidl at the moment and with diesel at 120s at the minute its still a 20p saving per litre.

 

[jimcupra]

3-1 mix green and red as close to white as you will get so im told

 

[Bibby]

red will not be going near the car in any form! just would be my luck to get dipped for it!

 

[jimcupra]

take your chance some are unlucky and get caught others do it for years and are never caught

 

[big cyril]

I've been driving for 16 years and have never been dipped but still wouldn't take the chance.

 

[Alan_B]

I can run mine on red - apparetly the VAG 1.9TDI PD engines dont like the extra sulphur!

So, im stuck payin a stupid amount for diesel. What i dont get is why we are being priced off the road cause then the government will loose money, and to compensae for this the cock sucker will then increase tax on everything else!

 

[stevyg]

3-1 mix green and red as close to white as you will get so im told

They dip with litmus paper now so it doesn't matter what you've done or mixed with dyed diesel, they can still tell

 

[jimcupra]

I can run mine on red - apparetly the VAG 1.9TDI PD engines dont like the extra sulphur!

So, im stuck payin a stupid amount for diesel. What i dont get is why we are being priced off the road cause then the government will loose money, and to compensae for this the cock sucker will then increase tax on everything else!

how do you work that out red does tractors no harm there are the best of mercs and bm's running round on red wont do your bora any harm i wish i had a diesel now instead of a thirsty petrol

 

[jimcupra]

They dip with litmus paper now so it doesn't matter what you've done or mixed with dyed diesel, they can still tell

a friend of mine is in customs they dont even need to dip the tank now they can do it from the exhaust fumes they only dip for conclusive proof

 

[ossy2004]

is 20p per litre really worth daagin your car over like...i know i sure wouldnt put veg oil anywere near my derv.

 

[Pug Nut]

if you make biofuels, you are supposed to get rid of the waste products safely, and that'll add to the costs aswell.

 

[Bibby]

my car holds 70 litres, so a saving of 20p a litre means saving 14 quid a tank

 

[big cyril]

Proper biodiesel isn't supposed to harm engines at all - it is a good solvent and can dissolve sludge in the bottom of the tank which can then clog the filter but thats about it. The manufacturers generally don't endorse it however.

Various mixes of veg oil would be riskier but the saving can run to over a grand per year depending on mileage. Obviously you wouldn't try a veg oil mix in your car unless you were able/prepared to fix it if it goes wrong.

 

[Bibby]

the likes of my engine is not a high pressure diesel system, it's the older type so just bucking it into the tank with regular diesel filter changes seems to work, now a diesel filter every 3 months at about 4 quid a filter is still cheaper in the long run
i am still trying to gather info on the making of bio diesel and the legalaties on it, but im finding it very hard to source anything on the interweb

 

[dee205]

I'm sure there's something in the law about having to pay tax on fuel and so running on home brew veg oil sin't strictly legal.

Damien

 

[Rocko]

Bibby =

 

[roverspeed]

Lmao ^^^^^

I read somewhere about some company selling a mine fractional distillation unit for your garden for purifying waste veg oil, could be worth it....

 

[Big Pimp]

on my filler cap it states not to use biofuel.... and on my mk4 golf, i know they didn't respond well to the red - too much sulphur in them apparently which made them lumpy....

at 1.25/litre though it's getting ridiculous.

thank goodness i'm over the border once a week for a fill at about 80p per litre.... i really begrudge paying 1.25 to our robbing government, with its 70% tax on fuel.