Ok.... SOV is bad for the engine, and biodiesel is ok, correct?

[jbach36]

Separate fact from fiction for me...

I've heard straight filtered waste vegetable oil (WVO) is bad for Mercedes diesel engines. I know a lot of the older benz's (1982, etc. with 280,000 miles on them anyways) have converted theirs to WVO, but mine is a 1991 with only 118k on the engine, so I have a lot more to lose, and I don't want to mess up my engine. Your only cost beyond the special tank in the trunk and heating it, is to filter the WVO.

I heard WVO has to be collected, heated, then filtered, then put into a special tank in the trunk of the car, and heated. Sounds like a mess actually to sort of ruin my car to weld a special tank in there for that.

Biodiesel, as I understand it, is sort of like WVO, that has lye and methanol or something added to it, turning it into an actual fuel that can be poured directly into your existing tank, and can be run usually at temps as low as 10 degrees with no problems. Seems like "professional processing equipment" to make your life easier, goes for about $1500.

Let's hear from those who are actually doing it....

Jeff 1991 300d, 118k

[Hatterasguy]

The guys that are fanatical about filtering and dewatering it to perfection seem to have the best success with WVO.

[jbach36]

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

The guys that are fanatical about filtering and dewatering it to perfection seem to have the best success with WVO.

Well, filtering it to death and dewatering sounds like work. At this stage in my life, I'm not looking for MORE work, but LESS work.

Even so, they'd still need a heater and stuff in their trunk, right?


jeff

[Diesel911]

Is what I think these abbreviations mean correct?
SVO = Straight Vegetable Oil I have always took this to mean NEW vegetable oil that has never been used for frying so it should be very clean already and you are burning only vegetable oil in the car.
WVO = Waste Vegetable Oil; used cooking oil that people pick up from restaurants. This is the one that will have a lot of contaminants in it and also animal fat and who knows what and needs to be filtered or other processing.
I guess WVO could also be called SVO if you know it is only vegetable oil in it and you are not mixing it with other stuff.

[Hatterasguy]

Originally Posted by jbach36

Well, filtering it to death and dewatering sounds like work. At this stage in my life, I'm not looking for MORE work, but LESS work.

Even so, they'd still need a heater and stuff in their trunk, right?


jeff

Well than you are barking up the wrong tree here. This is another hobby, its like owning a large saltwater fish tank. You better like it because its going to suck up a lot of time and a fair amount of money.

[jbach36]

Originally Posted by Diesel911

Is what I think these abbreviations mean correct?
SVO = Straight Vegetable Oil I have always took this to mean NEW vegetable oil that has never been used for frying so it should be very clean already and you are burning only vegetable oil in the car.
WVO = Waste Vegetable Oil; used cooking oil that people pick up from restaurants. This is the one that will have a lot of contaminants in it and also animal fat and who knows what and needs to be filtered or other processing.
I guess WVO could also be called SVO if you know it is only vegetable oil in it and you are not mixing it with other stuff.

I changed my original post to say WVO, instead of SVO. Thanks for the head's up.

Jeff

[probear]

IMO, BioD is the way to go. To run WVO, you have to modify the car, and you still might have some related problems. If you make BioD, you can run it in any diesel car without problems.

[pawoSD]

Two summers ago I ran a full tank of "SVO/Blend" It was about 70% clear fry oil, 20% diesel, and 10% RUG. It ran smoooooooth. Slightly less power, around 21 mpg......cleaner and soy-ish smelling exhaust. It started VERY fast even on cold starts...so no issue there. Ran the whole tank and then went back to diesel with no issues....not even a filter issue. I'd risk it again if I got some WVO....I'd filter/dewater it reeeally well, then blend it with some diesel and a bit of RUG.....I doubt it'd hurt the engine, especially when only done in the warm months. (25-35% of the year)

Originally Posted by jbach36

Biodiesel, as I understand it, is sort of like WVO, that has lye and methanol or something added to it, turning it into an actual fuel that can be poured directly into your existing tank, and can be run usually at temps as low as 10 degrees with no problems. Seems like "professional processing equipment" to make your life easier, goes for about $1500.

Its not added, its used to make a chemical reaction. There should be no methanol and lye in the BioD when its done.

[Bio300TDTdriver]

Originally Posted by jbach36

Separate fact from fiction for me...


Biodiesel, as I understand it, is sort of like WVO, that has lye and methanol or something added to it, turning it into an actual fuel that can be poured directly into your existing tank, and can be run usually at temps as low as 10 degrees with no problems. Seems like "professional processing equipment" to make your life easier, goes for about $1500.

Let's hear from those who are actually doing it....

Jeff 1991 300d, 118k

Biodiesel starts to gel around 32 degrees (it depends on the feed stock) not 10 degrees. Most people around here run b-70 or less in the winter.

[Alberta Luthier]

is what first drew me (& lots of newbees I suppose) towards diesel cars. But not wanting an old rust bucket I shopped till I found a pretty nice car. Then I got to like it a lot. I don't want to crap it up. The WVO -running just grease- looks like a lot of mods to make it work in Canada, and if I want it to work really well (like the wife could even operate it) well that would be a LOT of work! And even then would it be hard on the car? Maybe.
-And I think especially for those of us in colder climates it may be much easier to just brew my own Biodiesel at home. (it doesn't really look much harder than running a good still) I haven't yet, but by god I may in the future esp. considering what the last tank cost me!

[Gox777]

In the research I've done, I haven't heard of any problems at all running biodiesel except for gelling at low temperatures. As long as the quality after processing is good, I wouldn't worry at all.

Since you don't want to deal with a lot of work, I assume you might be thinking of buying it? Most biodiesel sold commercially will be of high quality I imagine, to avoid liability. Can't share any experience on that though, since there isn't much bioD for sale where I live.

[muleears]

Try looking here http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/frm/f/159605551 there you will find an encyclopedia of information on WVO/SVO and its sister forum has biodiesel. Pay particular attention to the stickys they contain a great deal of beginner information

I personally have a 98 E300 Turbodiesel running a Greasecar kit. So I have a fair amount to lose also. I am VERY careful with my oil. Only the best is collected then it goes through my centrifuge for twice the recommended interval for dewatering and cleaning.

I drive approximately 500 miles per week, or 2150 per month. That would put my monthly fuel bill at $303.30 ($3.95). I spend about two hours per week collecting and processing, say 9 hrs. per month. That is the equivalent of paying me $33.67 per hour for the time I spend on WVO. Yes I had other costs, but once past the initial investment, ongoing costs are negligible. My startup costs (not including the car) were $3500. Including Greasecar kit and installation, pumps, centrifuge, barrells etc. So in just over a year I'm in the black.

I did a lot of research (pm me for more sites if you want) and found a great number of people that had run a significant number of miles with no problems. But you must be diligent in your processing and maintenance. I have driven over 10K miles on my kit so far with no problems, other than the standard W210 stuff. Nothing I can attribute to WVO.

There are many sides to this endeavor. Read up, decide how involved you want to be. Are you doing it for the environment or your wallet? For me its wallet first and environment a distant second.

[Dee8go]

Thanks for asking this question. I wondered about this, too, but was too lazy to research it, and reluctant to ask.

If I understand it correctly, biodiesel is represented by the letter "B" and a number? The number represented what, the per centage of diesel in the mixture? B-70 would be 70% diesel and 30% vegetable oil?

[muleears]

You are correct about the "B" representing biodiesel, but the "70" reflects the % of biodiesel, the balance is regular D2. In other words B70 is 70% biodiesel and 30% D2. B99 would be almost pure biodiesel and B5 is only 5% biodiesel. Many people run different percentages depending on the temperature. Lower % BD for lower temp. Some run it because it is a strong cleaning agent. Cleans everything from your tank to injectors. Cleans so well in fact that when you initially use BD (biodiesel) you may need to change fuel filters a few times due to the sludge being cleaned out of your system.

Hope this helps.