Hi
I have a friend who uses bio diesel, and he can supply me with as much as I need, with the prices of fuel these days I'm considering trying it for a while in my work van, which i do over 30k miles a year in, he says it's good quality and he's had no problems and been using it for a while now, I'm thinking of using 25ltrs of bio diesel and 25ltr of pump diesel, and see how it goes.

Is there any do's or dont's with using bio diesel, as I don't want to **** up my van, I've heard of people changing pumps and filters, my friend also said he puts a drop of 2 stroke oil in the tank aswell, just to keep to bores lubed, is this a good idea?

Thanks tristan

 

A lot of high pressure diesel fuel systems have problems with bio diesel (I am assuming you mean a cooking oil based fuel) as especially on LGV and PSV engines they were not designed to run on bio fuel.

We have had instances where I work where the complete fuel system has had to be renewed due to bio fuel being used; the best explanation I can give is that the fuel pumps are lubricated by the fuel and not fed by engine oil as was the practice until quite recently. As bio fuel would seem to have less lubricating properties that has led to low and high pressure fuel pumps failing, consequential damage to fuel lines, injectors and sensors.

We had one LGV vehicle at work which cost the customer over £5K as the whole fuel system had to be changed (excluding the fuel tank) due to the failures caused by the fuel injection pumps breaking up.

I would confirm it with the manufacturer or your local main dealer to check the suitability of bio fuel for your vehicle.

 

Yeah fuel pumps are the headache - and they are expensive to replace. There may also be an issue with viscosity but your friend may advise on this. dl

 

Someone said to me last week that VW will invalidate your warranty if you use it - not sure how accurate this is though?

 

My old pug 306 runs fine on bio diesel, hell it even runs on svo at a £1 a litre

 

It depends on what van you have, if it's somthing new then forget it!

 

Don't do it. Unless you don't care if the pump/intectors/filters clog up/seals fail and can afford the rebuild/replacement costs. Otherwise in teh long run,you'll be sorry.

If you have an really reall old van....i.e something from the 1980s or early 90's, you may have a chance.

Same with vans that use antique running gear Like the LDV pilot with the non-turbo peugeot XUD engine. Do NOT do it on one with a transit DI engine, unless the pump has been converted.

 

XUD engine I guess

 

had a pajero 2.5 and used to get cooking oil from work..would let it sit so all the crap sinks to bottom then syve the oil twice then mix it 50,,50 with diesel..worked fine no fuel pump problems and it didnt smell like the local chippy..only done it for about 8 months so not sure about long term use..

 

My van is a Renault kangoo with the 1.5 td engine, on a 53 plate, I'm not really sure where the crude bio diesel comes from, I'm presuming it's old cooking oil that is then made into the bio diesel using whatever method is required, my friend uses it in a new ish focus, and has done for quite a while with no Ill effects, he told me he recently sourced bio diesel elsewhere for a little less money and had problems, so he went back to his normal supplier and everything is fine again, so would everyone agree it's a no no unless I want problems? I don't really want problems with my daily runner, that runs sweet as it is

 

I think you would be well advised to give it a miss.

Just not worth it to risk screwing up your fuel injection system with the very expensive repair cost and risking any guarantee that you might have.

Les

 

It does have the bosch pump as well. I hear you can have problems with the lucas pump.

I only bought the car as a stop gap but after all the trouble I had with common rail diesels I'll stick to running diesels like old rudoplh intended

 

Are you looking to make your own bio fuel...?

I've had no trouble running a Pug 307 1.4 (51 plate). I tend to pop £15 of ordinary diesel every month or so to keep things lubricated - it also stops the bio fuel gelling (solidifying) in the winter

 

No mate, I'm not looking to produce my own fuel, im only buying it from someone I know who uses it in his own vehicle, he seems to think its good quality, and he's never had a problem, he puts a small amount of 2 stroke oil in the tank aswell to help replace to lube that is lost with using bio diesel, I wouldn't use the bio diesel neat, more like a 50/50 mix, it's difficult to know how to go about this as some say it's just not worth the potential hassle, but it's difficult to ignore the savings that can be had if you never experience any problems.

Thanks tristan

 

Man up and cherry it

 

I used to run my old pajero on 95% clean cooking oil and 5% RUL adjusting the mixture to the weather so sometimes it was 10%RUL

If you are going to do the 50/50 mix with bio mix it outside the tank to be sure of a good mixing.

I would also do a bit of research online as it can cause problems as others have said.

 

I agree, until you get caught that is...

Then you will be more fooked than a $5 Bangkok ladyboy, once HMRC get their claws into you it would have been cheaper to have run your van on liquid gold.

 

Can't deny that is a very good point!

Les

 

I ran my car on biodiesel manufactured from recovered vegetable oil. My car was (is) a 2001 seat leon 1.9S tdi (ALH engine). I covered just over 60,000 miles on biodiesel, until production was ceased due to being unable to attract investment to grow the business.

To be clear, biodiesel is not vegetable oil from your local supermarket either neat or mixed with derv. The veggie oil needs to be washed, boiled, reacted with methanol, then tested for traces of impurities before using it either neat or blended with derv. I used to run on 100% biodiesel reducing this to 80% in winter.

Good biodiesel will clog your fuel filter as it cleans out the fuel system, by the way, my car now has 168,000 miles on the clock and will be my daily driver for a few years yet.