Just Bought 110 Gallons of B95 Biodiesel for my 3rd Gen!

[67guzzler]

Pretty Jazzed about it. Meets the ASTM D 6751 standard.



Went with B95 (95% bio) so I can blend my own ratio's. Spoke with several veterans in the industry and they say that in my climate (hot year round) for the new CRD engines there is no issue running biodiesel other than fuel filter clogging or deposits in injectors on older vehicles. Most engines 1997 and newer don't use parts that will erode due to the solvency of biodiesel.



Because I have 3000 miles, conventional wisdom after speaking with several individuals is that I could run B100 w/o incident. They said that the earlier a vehicle is started on biodiesel the better because of the lack of buildup of deposits from petro. It was mentioned that people who have more miles should do a fuel filter change and then run a tank of petro w/fuel system cleaner and then start with bio to be super sure you're clean.



So I'm going to go with my own blend of approximately B50 and see what the experience is like and then take it from there. I'm really looking forward to cutting OPEC out of the equation with my 3rd Gen. I really want my country to be independant of these people. It's scary to me that they have this much control over us and we have allowed it to happen. My decision is purely political and patriotic as I want to support farmers and my country. I'm not doing it to save a buck. If it hurts the truck -- it may cost me some serious bucks. But I gotta start somewhere...

 

[HEMI®Dart]

JGann,



I think I read there is something about the 3rd gen injectors that don't like the high %'s of Biodiesel. Lightman has experience with this.

 

[67guzzler]

JGann,



I think I read there is something about the 3rd gen injectors that don't like the high %'s of Biodiesel. Lightman has experience with this.

Thanks HEMI®Dart. I wonder if it's because crap from the fuel system on vehicles that have been run on petro for a while is clogging 3rd gen injectors or if there is something about the solvency of the Biodiesel that is problematic.



I PM'd Lightman and sent him this link so maybe he can help me out. Appreciate the feedback.

 

[SHobbs]

JGann, I have been running B20 for 4 months. After 150k miles and alot of diesel my system must have been filthy. The bio is cleaning all the gunk out, my fuel filter has been dirty everytime I change it but it is getting better.

As far as the engine goes well it loves the bio, runs better, quieter, smoother and actually feels stronger ie. more pep. I have been tracking my mileage and so far it looks like it increased a bit. Seems that I am getting . 05 to 1 mpg more on bio, not much but hey every little bit helps.

 

[EBottema]

Your Little HPCR system is going to explode...

 

[67guzzler]

B95 Biodiesel Arrived!

My retailer delivered the two 55 gal drums of B95 and the hand crank pump this AM. I'm all set. The fuel is from Griffin Industries http://www.biog-3000.com and is reputable.



With only 3000 miles on the clock I'm going to try to get over to straight B95 pretty quickly. Gunk shouldn't (fingers crossed) be too much of a problem but I might change the fuel filter in about 1000 miles to just to see for myself.



No OPEC for me. GO USA!

 

[HEMI®Dart]

JGann,



Lightman said this in a post:



... As far as B95 goes - I would avoid it in 3rd gens due to the issues with bio's viscosity vs HPCR injection.



I believe he said he runs B40-B50 in his 3rd gen.



He must be away for the Labor day weekend. He's super knowledgable in Biodiesel.

 

[67guzzler]

Thanks HEMI®Dart!

Thanks HEMI®Dart. It's LightmanE300. Regular Lightman thought it weird that I contacted him regarding biodiesel. :-laf



I shot LightmanE300 a PM & I'm waiting to hear back.



Yea -- The viscosity is an issue. The B95 that I just pumped into my tank was translucent, the color of dark beer and the viscosity of milk. It smelled really interesting. I'm looking forward to speaking with LightmanE300 when he gets a chance to check his PM.



Thanks for steering me in that direction. In the meantime, I had about 28 gallons of Petro Diesel in the tank and I just added about 2 gallons of B95 so I'm probably around B3 to B5. It will be a few days before I free up enough room to get the ratio up. I'll keep it below 50/50 until I can hash it out with LightmanE300.



Thanks again HD!

 

[bighornram]

I have 2500 miles on my new truck all of which have been on B20. B20 is available at the pump from Blue Sun. I bought a 55 gallon drum of B100 from the distributor and have been using it as an additive in B20 proportions. For comparison I changed my 02' over to B20 from the pump at 23000 miles and never looked back trading it in at 28000 miles. I changed the fuel filter 1 time, never had a problem with it. I am considering putting an appleseed reactor together but only if I can find it acceptable to run B100. 55 gallons goes for a good 10 tankfulls at B20 and probably would not warrant cooking it myself. I checked locally and methanol is $220/55gal. drum.

 

[67guzzler]

Hi JWollf,



I decided to get up to running B95 straight. I can't find credible evidience that it will cause me problems. I'm only going to run fuel that meets the biodiesel NTSM 6751 standard created by reputable companies. Right now the only fuel available to me in my area is "Griffin Industries's Bio G-3000™ Premium Biodiesel Fuel" and I bought it from BioFuels America of Fort Lauderdale. Griffin's biodiesel is produced to meet all ASTM D6751 specifications as defined by the refining, transportation and engine manufacturing industries. I figure this standard exists to make sure that biodiesel conforms to the petro diesel standards as much as possible and will cause the least amount of damage.



The only thing I have heard that could be a problem with the common rail engines is the variance in viscosity even within the ASTM D6751 standard. Apparently this might result in injector problems. But I'll deal with that when and if the time comes. It could be other factors such as bad fuel, dirty fuel systems, etc... . I won't know until I try.



I'm afraid to run a home brew as I don't want to worry if I make a bad batch. Methanol and Lye are serious chemicals. For me, it's worth it to by the certified stuff. Good luck!



-Jay

 

[mhenon]

I think there was something about the high pressures in the HPCR system. The bio-diesel was foaming (flocking?) under the extreme pressure and causing problems.

I don't have any experience with it however but you might want to look into this before going B100.

Mike

 

[67guzzler]

Thanks Mike. I've read about it too and I've been researching flocking and trying to see if additives / anti-gel / stabilizers can offset that behavior. I would really like to hear from someone who's been a victim of flocking so I can learn more. I'm going to try my hardest to get to the bottom of it. Thanks again, Mike.

 

[Sled Dog]

JGann

What was your cost for 55 gal. of B95?

 

[67guzzler]

JGann

What was your cost for 55 gal. of B95?

You've got a PM.

 

[LightmanE300]

Hey guys, here I am :-laf I was out playing all weekend and missed these posts



I am Lightman on just about every other forum diesel related or elsewhere, yet there is another guy named Lightman on TDR, so I have the E300 attached. It gets pretty confusing considering I frequent the forums and post a lot, but despite a few pm's to the tdr lightman that went unanswered about possibly changing screen names etc to avoid confusion, I decided oh well screw it. We both are in the lighting business as far as I know and enjoy the ultimate cheesyness of the screen name the light man :-laf



As far as running b95+ in 3rd gens, I do NOT have a lot of experience. I have run b100 in two other vehicles for very long periods, and consumed over 4000 gals of b100, however I have not run high concentrations in my truck. 35k on b100 in my TDI. I've run several tanks of b20 thru the truck, and one of b50 with no issues. When I posted about b100 and hpcr having issues, I was referring to a variety of bosch statements over the past few years that made claims of viscosity changes due to pressure, as well as some phenomenon they referred to as 'flocking'.



What you may have read most recently was what member infidel was saying, as he has direct experience testing b100 in an 05. You may want to contact him, as he's probably the best source of knowledge in relation to b100/3rd gens that I know of. I believe he claims they had some problems with the high injection pressures changing the molecular structure of the b100. I guess the bigger point I'd like to make is that there simply isn't much testing at all yet that's been done with 3rd gens on b100. I dont think enough people have been willing to be the guinea pig, and that will take some time. As the trucks devalue and people start feeling less protective of say a 2003 model, they will be more likely to take the risk of dumping in b100. Sooner or later more will try it, but at this point, it's largely untested.



Jgann I believe I already replied to your pm - and wish you the best of luck. If you do decide to run a few tanks of b100 thru, please do report back to the forum and let us know how it worked out for ya!

 

[BPINE]

What you may have read most recently was what member infidel was saying, as he has direct experience testing b100 in an 05. You may want to contact him, as he's probably the best source of knowledge in relation to b100/3rd gens that I know of. I believe he claims they had some problems with the high injection pressures changing the molecular structure of the b100. I guess the bigger point I'd like to make is that there simply isn't much testing at all yet that's been done with 3rd gens on b100. I dont think enough people have been willing to be the guinea pig, and that will take some time. As the trucks devalue and people start feeling less protective of say a 2003 model, they will be more likely to take the risk of dumping in b100. Sooner or later more will try it, but at this point, it's largely untested.

Cliffman is running My homemade b-100 in his 04 with no problems so far. It might be early to tell but we loaded the 4th full tank in his truck last night. He goes through a tank a week so we will know something soon.

 

[LightmanE300]

BPine, great info! We need you and about 50 other guys like you to run b100 for a while so we can get some sort of reasonable assurance that this works well. Please keep us posted!

 

[LEggers]

I just replaced my fuel filter and have B20, B50 and B99 down the street from me.

I am going to run it in my 1st gen starting today. I have a 1/2 tank of #2 now. I am going to top off with B99 and run B50 after that.



I will update here also and check my filter monthly.

 

[67guzzler]

Thanks guys.



One thought I had -- Is there any type of fuel stabilizer / viscosity reducer especially formulated for biodiesel that will also make it resisitent to the phenomina that Bosch refers to as "Flocking?" If there is something like that OR if something that's currently on the market (PowerService, etc... ) that will do that, it would be good to know.

 

[LightmanE300]

Jgann, I think the phenomenon is just that, and is not very established at this point, or at least public. No commonly available fuel additves are going to make even a wee bit of difference. We're talking about how 26,000psi affects biodiesel on a molecular level, and I (could be wrong) don't think that adding a little lubricity enhancer, cetane booster, or detergents are going to make any difference whatsoever.