Power of Grease...to run your CTD...

[PhillySingle]

You all see this:



http://www.greasecar.com/index.cfm



More or less sounds like Bio-Diesel... but cheap - after the initial conversion cost that is!



Jay

 

[Headshot zod]

When it comes to alt fuels for diesels and grease there are a few types...



SVO->Straight Vegetable Oil

WVO-> Waste Vegetable Oil (old fast food stuff)

Biodiesel rated in percentages B100 100% B50->50%veggie oil and 50% petro-diesel...



The sharp call is svo or wvo, you just need to keep it heated. Dual tank with one of each. Start your engine with the pump stuff ans after you have warmed up switch over to the svo/wvo and before you shut down switch back to the pump stuff. Esepcially when it is cold out. If not you may be outside with a kettle of hot water trying to warm up the other stuff.



Processing your own bio stuff looks neat but you need to have methanol and lye around you house. Not exactly kid friendly.



I'm looking to do a conversion the moment I get a 1st gen. .

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

I will probably get flamed for this but why not mix WVO with diesel and skip the heating headache??



I have been giving this a try, I mixed 1 part WVO to 2 parts diesel = 33% WVO in a glass beaker and then stuck it in the fridge. It didn't separate or settle out and stayed mixed. It did make it a bit more viscous.



For the last 6 tanks I have been adding 3-6 gallons of filtered WVO to the tank and so far so good. I checked my fuel filter last week and it was clear. No noticeable change in power or drivability and it seems to make less soot. Exhaust smells different too.



What I do is first run the nasty stuff from the restaurant through a sieve to get the big chunks out, then let it settle for a week (all the heavy lard, fats and crud settles out). I then pour off the top through a filter, then let that sit for a few days and then pour all but the last bit in the bottom of the bucket into my fuel tank. So when I am done I have nice clean stuff without solid fats.



I always mix a larger dose of diesel fuel additive because of the fact WVO has no detergents and this should take care of keeping the injectors and cylinders clean.



So far if anything my mileage has gone up a bit and the engine seems smoother.



I don't recommend doing this if you are going to encounter temperatures down to freezing or below very often, this is a fair weather exercise. And I wouldn't mix more than 20% unless it's very hot (consistently 90s plus), more like 10-15% is good. I also suggest every few tanks, maybe 5-6, fill up on just diesel to sort of "reset" or clear out the tank occasionally.



So far I have burned about 25-30 gallons which has saved me close to $60 at the pump.



I know some of you guys are going to think I'm nuts for running this crud though my expensive Common Rail injectors but I couldn't resist giving it a try.



Vaughn

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Oh, and one other thing, after seeing with my own eyes how disgusting the oil from the fryer is when they finally dump it, I have totally lost my appetite for french fries

 

[Headshot zod]

Originally posted by Vaughn MacKenzie

I will probably get flamed for this but why not mix WVO with diesel and skip the heating headache??



lots of people do... ... . it depends how much time and patience you have...

 

[John - K5AWO]

Originally posted by Vaughn MacKenzie

why not mix WVO with diesel and skip the heating headache??

Vaughn

Vaughn, that is precisely the attitude that my son and I have. We live in the Phoenix area and it is warm enough all year to not worry abut heaters. We premix the diesel with the oil before we filter it. Lowers the viscosity so the filters work better.



I bought the absorbent beads from

www.hydrogenappliances.com and am happy I did. They pull the acids, glycol and trash before it goes to the tank. I bought their whole system including the pump and 2 micron filter.



We are using a heavy mix of crankcase oil now. It is free because my son is a mechanic and he just keeps all the old oil. He inspects it closely and throws out any if he don't like the smell or color. We stay away from transmission fluid, the friction modifiers worry me.



Neat thing about using oils. The truck seems to have more power with less pedal. transmission is shifting better too. I lay that to more power/less pedal relationship. Just a seat of the pants feeling, but it is consistant. And the VP44 gets a lot of lubrication!



John

 

[jcarey]

Within the past week I read a thread on TDR where a guy said that he filtered his used engine oil and put it into his tank. I believe he said they did that with their farm equipment too.



There both great ideas. Why go through the trouble and expense ($2000) for a system to make biodiesel when you can filter and mix with regular diesel.



Even if you only do it when temps allow (for those of us who have winters), it would still save a bundle every year.

 

[DOUGMartin]

Im gana give vegi mix a try. Good way to use the old oil in the turkey frier. I just need to find filters. I have heard of people running two stroke oil as long as its low soot.

 

[banzaitoyota]

Intersting read on the accusorb beads. What filter are you running on the truck?

 

[PhillySingle]

Interesting information guys! Good point... why spend the $$ and hassle of installing another system/heater, etc... . if you can just mix w/Diesel and call it a day. Even if it it can't be used in the Winter...



Vaughn (and others... ) what restraunts do you hit up for the WVO. . and is it as easy as asking, "So... can I have your WVO!??"



Jay

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Yeah - I'm curious as to how you get the WVO too - and if I was gonna use that stuff, I'd dern sure run it thru one of the frantz sub-micronic fuel filters first...

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Cool, this is nice to see others thinking like I am



You guys I would go talk to non-chain restaurants and just meet with the manager and explain what you are looking for. I had it easy. . . the small hospital I work at generates plenty enough for me to use.



John, thanks for the link, I would feel a lot better about running my oil through another process to ensure it's clean stuff before burning it.



I ran engine oil through my last truck, I haven't done so with this one. When I did engine oil I let it set for a long time then used all but the last quart out of the container. I wanted to make sure all metallic substance settled out so it would not create any abrasive effect to the system.



Yes I agree stay away from the ATF, and NEVER dump brake fluid or any other used lubes from any vehicle, only engine oil.



Vaughn

 

[mhenon]

This "is" good news.

I'm really glad to see folks giving this some thought. There are good articles on the web about using SVO, WVO, bio-diesel and others. Give them a read before adding anything to your tank.

Bio-diesel's a no brainer. Some injector pumps started leaking after using bio-diesel but this was with earlier models. Apparently the pump seals soffened or something. From what I understand most any diesel engine made after about '95 or so... there's no problem with that. I've been using a 20% bio-diesel blend for a few months and the truck (and our Jetta) loves this stuff.

As for the other oils, both SVO, WVO and used engine oil, modern Direct injection, computer controlled diesel engines don't fair so well running it straight. Cummins, however, says we can mix our used engine oil, at up to 5%, with fuel and there won't be any problems. This should give eveyone a good starting point if you want to mix veggie oil/waste oil and fuel.

I like Garys idea of running this stuff through a quality filter before dumping it in the tank. With small quantities, a few quarts or so, I just pass it through a coffee filter and add it. If I were going to run alot of it... full time... I would definitely do some major filtering.

From everything I've read on the inter-net about using veggie oils straight... . I would stay under 15% or 20% and it should run with no problems. But, do your own research. There's a lot of good info out there. A good clean-out once a month (long trip on the highway using good quality #2 diesel) probably wouldn't hurt either.



Mike

 

[John - K5AWO]

The best VGO is from chinese restaurants. Stay away from beef products. The tallow gels quickly and gums up the filters.



One other thing, paper filters and veggie oil don't mix very well. Paper swells up and plugs fairly quick. When we ran straight veggie, our filters (my son) would plug up about every 2,000 miles. PITA...



The metal filters are good, but not down to the 2 micron range yet. And they are expensive. I am using the 2 micron filter from hydrogenappliances.com, it looks an awful lot like the sediment filters you buy from Sears and other places for the under sink water filter units. I have an old unit that I am thinking about putting into service with regular sediment and silt filter from the hardware store. Silt is extremely fine, ought to work good. More on that when I have something.



The trick is to use the filter in front of the pump and keep the pump rate slow. The pump I have is 1 liter per minute or 4 minutes for about a gallon. This won't work on your truck, must be set up at home/storage area, etc... The oil filters much better if warm. ie, black painted storage barrels in the sun.



Most of the reads I have done recommend letting the oil settle for a couple weeks. PJ and I preview the veggie oil tank. Can't see the bottom, find another tank. Don't pull below about 50% down. The solids won't be in your suction line. We use the Tuthill pump and fuel filter package. No suction, replace the cheap filter cartridge. Looks like an oil filter.



Oh one other thing. I premix with diesel to keep the stuff thin enough for filtration without buying heaters.

 

[Hummin Cummins]

I'm seriously thinking about this too. I don't want to use a high dosage of WVO, but I can get used oil from our fire department's fryers (we only use them once a month and change oil every other time) If I run a 5-10% mix of WVO, say 3-5 gals. per tank of diesel, how is the best way to filter the oil? Was thinking of straining it through cheesecloth? Will the higher diesel to WVO ratio not cause any problems in winter?

Chris

 

[Headshot zod]

they make filters for straining biodiesel. Do a search for "biodiesel supplies" on the web. You'll be looking for filter socks. The longer the better.



To save on the cost of these filters you want to prefilter them with a different size sock. Filter I think 10 microns first and for the final filter use . 5 or . 3 microns. Never use straight waste even if it looks clear. It will become your undoing. I don't think the eye can see objects that small and you'll clog pretty quick. I'll have to look up the exact microns but I am close. Also if you can let your oil sit for a few weeks ("gravity settling") and then siphon or draw the oil from the top slowly towards the bottom. You will extend your filters life.