Veg oil, how many use it?

[CHRIS1980]

So who runs their car on veg oil? And what car are you running it on? It would be interesting to know. I'm sure it's been discussed before but I'm curious as to whether it's still worth the hassle. This week end gone I put 15 litres in the frontera with no ill effects. The only noticeable difference being a different exhaust smell. But even just putting 15 litres in felt like an age to do. I used to run my Land Rover 110 200tdi on it years ago and it loved the stuff even in winter. What's your view on it?

[Lacquer Peel]

The VM diesel in your Frontera is great for running on veg.

 

I've been running cars on straight veg oil since 2006 and waste vegetable oil since 2008, it's not without its drawbacks but I've saved a lot of money, and the environment yo.

[forddeliveryboy]

Veg oil = clean engine inside, mucky on the outside.

Diesel = sooty engine inside, clean on the outside..

[KruJoe]

FDB and I can testify that Will's 306-powered 205 goes VERY well on 100%WVO. That's a tuned Bosch pumped 1.9 intercooled turbo.

 

My Estima goes well on the WVO too, starting is slightly less instant than on dino-diesel, and cold idleing is a bit lumpy, but this is improved by adding a gallon of unleaded per tank of filtered used oil.

It's still early days on this though.

Experiments are soon to begin with centrifuged WVO, which looks nearly as clean as new SVO, and is perhaps less viscous. Hopes are high for the spun stuff. Watch this space.

[320touring]

My prince of darkness equipped vw aef lump is happily nomming on a 50% (new) veg oil blend.

 

This is the first tank at 50% and i've used about 1/2 a tank so far.

 

Fuel filter was changed 2k miles ago, and I started at 10%, then 20% to flushbout the lines, and stop it solidifying in the colder weather.

 

Reckon I'll run 50-60% during spring/summer/autumn and drop back to 20ish in winter.

 

Asda doing it for 79p a litre if you can hunt it out.

[stripped fred]

Could I run my Astra on veg? Its got the 1.7 na GM engine.

[320touring]

Could I run my Astra on veg? Its got the 1.7 na GM engine.

Look here :

 

http://www.biomotors.co.uk/CarsVans.html

 

And read dis

http://autoshite.com/topic/17356-the-veg-oil-price-and-questionsanswerstips-thread/

 

Hth

[beko1987]

About to do 1 more trip to work, which will make 540 miles on this tank of veg!

 

When we get back from holiday I'll probably be filling up with derv again, but only as my overdraft works at asda pre pay pumps, not in the shop...

[catsinthewelder]

I've chucked a fair bit of veg in our lass's Discovery. Mostly 99p per litre fresh stuff from Aldi but I did scrounge a huge drum of WVO from my previous employer when the company that is supposed to empty it didn't. It saved me £100 or against buying SVO but I'm not entirely certain if it was worth the mess and hassle.

[barmatt]

Bookers cash and carry are currently £15.49 for 20l drums.

[Taff]

stupid question alert.

 

Are some of you genuinely buying 1 litre bottles of veg oil from supermarkets and emptying them one at a time into your fuel tanks?

[beko1987]

 

 

Its easier in 5l bottles...

[garbaldy]

Yes people do and they have to dispose of hundreds of bottles all to save 15.9 pence every litre.

Anyone who claims to use new veg for environmental reasons is a bit hypocritical as it is intended for human consumption, waste veg is the way to go.

[Taff]

 

 

Its easier in 5l bottles...

 

cheers, I was curious from a practicality point of view

[320touring]

Having a diddy little tank helps.

 

4x 5l containers gets me to the magic 50%

[beko1987]

I can't fit 6x5l in mine after £20 derv as well! End up with 10 litres in the boot which is handy

[beko1987]

Yes people do and they have to dispose of hundreds of bottles all to save 15.9 pence every litre.

Anyone who claims to use new veg for environmental reasons is a bit hypocritical as it is ,intended for human consumption, waste veg is the way to go.

That is a pain, luckily work got a load of massive recycling bins so I can lob them all in there rather than half filling our green bin.

 

I dont use it for environmental reasons, I use it for £££ reasons and because it's fun! Do maybe sometimes dip into a car argument at work with 'I drive a Hybrid' but that's not very often!

[beko1987]

cheers, I was curious from a practicality point of view

 

My funnel is a chopped down tropicana orange juice bottle. The lip around the top sits in then hangs onto the fuel filler neck so makes it easier!

[fairkens]

I think most plastic containers are recyclable these days and would have to be recycled anyway whether the oil is consumed by a car or a person. Veg oil is not exactly a staple food stuff either so not sure I buy the taking the food off people's plates argument - although I guess the land might have been used for other food rather than veg oil production, waste is probly the way to go, if you can get it

[forddeliveryboy]

Buying new oil must have an as-big carbon footprint as using pump diesel, especially if that 3rd-world community-destroyer GM Soya stuff is used. Think of the tractors to prepare, sow, spray then harvest the stuff, then heat, chemicals and power to extract the oil. And how do you measure when a rainforest has been destroyed to make room for the soya crop?

 

Plenty of supplies of used veg are rapeseed oil, free of animal fats and quite dry, especially from independent country hotels. It's worth searching out - there's a bit of a glut atm for several reasons. All it needs is a couple of sock filters (a fiver each) and a pair of containers and you're off. Better in your fuel tank than carted around the country again, turned into bio and poured into a railway engine, HGV fleet or grid generator (which is just a govt-grant milking machine which we all pay for with inflated electricity prices).

[themildbunch]

I've been using commercial Bio Diesel for years now as I work in Bristol which has a good supplier... At 92 p/l there doesn't seem much point with pure Veg... 

Used in Bosch pumped BX's and a 1Z engined Audi 80 TDi. 

Bio tends to swell nitrile rubber seals and it stopped some leaks from the Audi's pump but it's turned all the older pump driveshaft seals to mush over time and I've had to replace them all... cheap if you can DIY but probably out weighs any fuel savings if you can't!

[Rusty_Rocket]

I use Bio in the Land Rover.  Luckily I have a good supply of well-made stuff at my disposal for 80ppl.

I have no problem with bio or WVO as it has already been used as food and is an otherwise waste material.

 

Have had no dramas in 30,000 miles... until last week when the end seal in the Bosch injection pump turned to semolina and soaked the timing belt.  It's quite an involved job to replace the seal on a 200tdi, it's mainly the work involved actually getting to the belt itself.

As well as the usual panic on keeping the pump in the right place (there's a locking bolt on the side), I had to remove the pump completely and use a 10t hydraulic puller to remove the drive flange to get to the seal.

 

New Bosch seals are bio-safe apparently and have been made from a material with Viton since the late 90s.  My car harks from 1993 so I'm sure it was simply good old rubber.  The seal was also over 20yrs old so not bad going !  Whether the bio finished it off early or it was just worn out is anyone's guess

[CHRIS1980]

The reason I asked was because it was popular a few years ago and then it would seem people went off it. Potentially I have access to 20000 litres a week,I obviously will never use that much. I just need to get permission from the bosses.

[Sigmund Fraud]

My Megane has the old F8Q engine with a Bosch pump and runs beautifully with up to 50% SVO. I usually run it on a 20% mix so I don't have to shorten the oil change intervals or replace the fuel filter all the time.

 

I'd love to be able to use WVO, but sourcing it locally is difficult and expensive, so it's simply not worth the hassle.

[forddeliveryboy]

Food grade oil isn't filtered for use in injector pumps and injectors, so more probs may arise. I've done up to 20k on a fuel filter, running 95% wvo.

 

One of the great virtues of having a car which will run on high %s of veg is that if you run out of fuel, all you need is a shop, pub or even just a house with a bottle of cooking oil in the larder. When the Merc fuel sender stuck on a quarter, I ran out one cold winter evening in a remote-ish part of the world both out of mobile signal and thirty miles from the nearest filling station. The isolated pub was happy to help.

[CHRIS1980]

Food grade oil isn't filtered for use in injector pumps and injectors, so more probs may arise. I've done up to 20k on a fuel filter, running 95% wvo.

 

One of the great virtues of having a car which will run on high %s of veg is that if you run out of fuel, all you need is a shop, pub or even just a house with a bottle of cooking oil in the larder. When the Merc fuel sender stuck on a quarter, I ran out one cold winter evening in a remote-ish part of the world both out of mobile signal and thirty miles from the nearest filling station. The isolated pub was happy to help.

I'm building a little system at the minute to filter out the crap. I need to get it down to 1 micron.

[beko1987]

Food grade oil isn't filtered for use in injector pumps and injectors, so more probs may arise. I've done up to 20k on a fuel filter, running 95% wvo.

 

One of the great virtues of having a car which will run on high %s of veg is that if you run out of fuel, all you need is a shop, pub or even just a house with a bottle of cooking oil in the larder. When the Merc fuel sender stuck on a quarter, I ran out one cold winter evening in a remote-ish part of the world both out of mobile signal and thirty miles from the nearest filling station. The isolated pub was happy to help.

This too is a bonus! My car is in the red now. We go away next week so not filling up. Before Tuesday I need fuel, so I'm contemplating stopping somewhere on the way back from holiday and getting 15 litres of veg, which will do me until thursday when it's payday anyway!

 

Also nice sticking 4-5 bottles in the boot knowing you can just pull over anywhere and fill her up! Long range driving!

[forddeliveryboy]

Also nice sticking 4-5 bottles in the boot knowing you can just pull over anywhere and fill her up! Long range driving!

 

 

 

 

[CHRIS1980]

vi.PNG

Just sold my Volvo 745! Should have done this!

[dollywobbler]

I have dabbled in the past, but wouldn't use SVO for the reasons already highlighted. I'd rather not use a fuel that requires more deforestation to make and which shoves up food prices (why do you think veg oil is now a lot more expensive than it was? There was a far larger price difference to diesel 5-6 years ago). 

 

I would use WVO if I could get hold of any, and the same goes for fully converted biodiesel. Despite living in a hippy-laden part of Wales though, it's pretty much impossible to get hold of.