Biodiesel - pros/cons

[LRutigliano]

I'm not up to speed on the biodiesel at my local fuel station. I think its B20, but I need to confirm.



Two buddies have told me its ok to use on my truck and they even noticed mpg and power increases. One drives a PS, the other a 2nd gen CTD.



Anybody have some good experience with biodiesel?



Is it ok to run in our 3rd gens?



Any modifications (electtronic or otherwise) I need to do if I start running it?



Anything bad with running it?



Thanks,

Louis

 

[fox]

You, and your truck will be fine with B-20.

It is only the very high doses where some issues come up.

Before I get attacked, I have run it as high as b-99. Cold weather, high ratio's can gell.

you will find that bio-diesel will run quieter smoother and deliver a little better mileage. I feel the common rail motors, with high rail pressures will be less tolerant of bio than the older trucks.

Don't confuse bio-diesel with waste vegetable oil!! This is used cooking oil. Some filter it and run a separate tank to use regular diesel to start and shut off the motor with. This is long term bad news for any diesel. WVO must be converted to a fuel through a process called transesterfication. Also, bio-diesel, at the pump is ussually from soybeans. But it can come from many different sources.

 

[JFaughn]

As long as its quality bio , there should not be a problem , I have read [ definition of read = do not know , just heard ] of 2 issues with bio common rail , the high pressures cause the bio to polymerize [ get stringy ] and you need more water filtering , the higher the % the more these become an issue .

 

[Slingblade]

I heard the same thing about high concentrations of bio polymerizing due to the high pressures of our fuel systems. I got this info from the diesel instructor at the community college I was attending at the time. I was asking him about bio diesel pump locations in town. he gave me a good bit of info on running it as well. Hes got a 2nd gen 24 valve and only runs B20 and recomended that for my 3rd gen as well. No more than 20% he said to avoid the polymerizing of the fuel and to avoid clogging the filters with algea and bacterial growth from the tank. 20% is what Cummins recomends as well.

%$#& Dodge and the 5% only rating, it's not their engine.

 

[Boondocker]

I have been running B20 in my truck for the past 2 years and like it. I continue to use Stanadyne Performance, as I did with #2 diesel to help deal with water and algae, though that's not much of a problem in southern Nevada. Biodiesel tends to clean out your fuel system, so you may want to stock up on fuel filters before switching. That said, I ran my last AirDog fuel filter more than 10,000 miles and 12 months with no change in fuel pressure. I changed it just because.

There is only one place in this big town that I can buy biodiesel, it's out of the way, and costs more than #2. That says something about my commitment to it. Though I kinda prefer the smell It's different but not like french fries.

Any claims of more power or better fuel mileage just from switching to some blend of bio are highly suspect. Slightly less pollution, slightly less noise - maybe. I've run B99 and B100 and noticed that the engine (VP44 really) was significantly quieter.

I run biodiesel because I feel like it's the right thing to do. That outweighs all the other possible reasons combined.

Regards,
Neil

 

[ENafziger]

Excellent post Neil. I have the same feelings, and will reiterate that getting more power from bio is highly doubtful. I lost power running B20, but was able to recoup some of it by turning up the TST. I'm not sure about better mileage either.

--Eric

 

[SKneeland]

"you will find that bio-diesel will run quieter smoother and deliver a little better mileage"



i seriously doubt the mileage part & would require some hard evidence to convince me otherwise. considering bio has less BTU/gal its going to take more fuel to do the same amount of work... therefore you are getting less bang for your buck...

 

[Slingblade]

The first tank of B20 I ran seemed like I was getting better milage. I think I was driving easier on it as the second tank didn't last as long. I never did do any hand calculated milage checks though. It did run smoother. I haven't ram any for two weeks as the bio pumps are 35 miles away and I won't be going that way for awhile.

 

[fox]

My truck shows up to 1 1/2 mpg better with bio as long as the bio is 50% or less. It is my guess the higher cetane is the cause.

 

[DZLROKET]

The Bio companys themselves say that you can expect 20% LESS milage and horsepower running B99. I have been running about 20& and have not noticed any differance in power or milage. My truck DOES run quieter though. (27K miles on B20)

 

[JDiepstra]

I thought we were only approved for B5?

 

[leaky gasket]

Have any of you guys who've been running anywhere from B50 to B20 added any extra filtering to your truck? I'm thinking of getting a 2 micron filtering kit from Glacier and since, in my town, biodiesel is cheaper than diesel, I was going to start running it. But I know it is a thicker fuel and want to know if I'd run into lift pump problems or fuel starvation to the CP3 if I was to install the 2 micron filter.



Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks

Brian

 

[sid325]

I've been running B30ish for awhile now with no issues. I'm also running a 2mic along with the stock filter and it's been fine. I also run stanadyne.



Sid

 

[wcjp]

Noticed you were in Oregon. IN Washington there's been some problems with Safeway Bio.

 

[CarlsonR]

i have been running b-99 for three years in an 05, except when on ski trips in north az were it stays below 30deg all day. have had zero issues with it. although it has less BTU(energy) IN IT THEN diesel

 

[CarlsonR]

sorry i hit the wrong button, less energy then diesel i have noticed no significant loss in milage or power,and when doing the GDP fuel pump and filter mod i had my tank off it was as clean as could be inside,currently its 3. 60 gal in tucson which is one reason i use it, the only other bargain around is mexican pemex diesel at 2. 10 gal which I do pick up 80gal when ever i'm down there fishing. that is high sulphur stuff though and shouldnt be used in the newer trucks.

 

[Bekim]

I've run and am running BioDiesel for the last 20,000 miles at concentrations from B5 to B99 with no problems to speak of. It does have less BTU's and so mileage is just a little lower(for me about 1 mpg)
Cummins Every Time - Customer Center - Biodiesel FAQ
See the Cummins link that shows our ISB engines are approved to B20.
Mike
###

 

[rbattelle]

Until yesterday I was running B10. Love the stuff. Higher lubricity, better cetane rating, domestically-produced.

Yesterday my fuel station where I've got it for the past 3 years stopped carrying it. Change in management, no more bio. Bummer.

Ryan

 

[Paddy McMahon]

I have been running B99 about 75 % of the time over the course of the last 60000 miles with only one gelling event when the temp was in the mid thirties. Truck was running sluggish and a change of the fuel filter straightened things out immediately-waxed up filter I guess. When I am up north (Idaho) I always run #2 with anti gel as the winter temps can be well below zero. Sad to say but I just gave up on Bio Diesel this week when the price spiked to 5. 45 a gallon #@$%! at the one and only vendor of B-99 in the Santa Barbara area. I just can't justify the extra dollar a gallon when I am putting over 500 miles a week on my truck.

 

[SHobbs]

Diesel has around 130,000 btu/gal, B100 Soybased has around 118,000 btu/gal. this is where the 10% loss comes from. Bio just runs cooler as far as power loss I am not sure but lower btu's/gal should drop overall power somewhat. I can honestly say that my truck pulls just as hard on B100 as it does on diesel. I really can't tell the difference. From about Nov. till Mar. I run B20 around mid Mar. when the nights stay above 40* I switch to B100 through the summer.



At times my truck sounds like a 12 valver on B100. The best thing is that you don't have that diesel smell on your hands after working on the engine. You will do you engine a great service running bio if you can get it. It has nearly twice the lubricity as diesel and a higher cetane rating.



As far as bio coming from other sources, I have used cottonseed oil, soybean oil, used fyrer oil, canola oil, peanut oil and processed chicken fat. All refined of course and filtered down to 10 microns at the pump where I buy it.



Paddy,

I feel your pain as far as price. Where I get my bio every time diesel goes up so does bio but mine usually stays around . 10/gal cheaper. I am paying $3. 80/gal for bio right now and thats B100