WVO & Gas Mixture - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

sidvicious · #1 01-18-2006, 11:56 PM

mates,

i've been doing the biofuel thing for a while. i have a farmer friend that we've been running the stuff in for some months. so far, no problems.

he's reluctant, however, to do the wvo/gas mixture.

what is your experience here? the "talk" amongst many is that gas will foul a diesel engine. of course i know this is true. however, in the right proportions maybe this danger is nonexistant.

cheers,

sv-

greasybenz · #2 01-19-2006, 12:32 AM

If properly mixed with the veg oil then there shouldnt be any problems. Think about it, its a small percentage of gas per gallon only to get the oil thinner and keep it from geling. And the veg oil is lubricant enough that the gas doing any harm shouldnt be an issue. If for example you accidently put in regular gas in your diesel and pure gas is passing through the car then ok youve may caused some damage but when mixed with something already very lubricant it shouldnt be a issue.

Austin85 · #3 01-19-2006, 12:46 AM

Have you tried spending time on the Biodiesel Infopop forum. There are plenty of "Mates" over there.
I hear it's fine to run WVO in Farmers as long as they grow their own grains.

Cherrio...hip hip

sidvicious · #4 01-19-2006, 12:59 AM

austin85

i've spent plenty of time there. i proposed this question to a more specific target group for the obvious need for feedback on these particular cars.

are you insecure, mate?

cheers,

sv-

Tirebiter · #5 01-19-2006, 01:09 AM

I rebuilt my 84 300D engine about 27,000 miles ago and since then I have run dewatered and well filtered (final stage is 5 micron) WVO. Nine gallons of WVO and one gallon RUG. I use the RUG only to thin the oil since it never gets cold in SoCal or Hawaii. I have often run straight WVO in the heat of Summer. I use no additives except BioBor.

Sometimes I plug the block heater in only because it’s so pleasant to drive off immediately without a warm up period.

A few days ago I was driving up the coast with the cruise set at 72 MPH and the bottom plastic on my two year old POS radiator cracked. I had no steam showing, no loss of power, no indication whatsoever that something was wrong until I noticed my temp gauge past the red mark.

By the time I pulled over I had blown a head gasket (evidenced by a pressure build up in my cooling system after it cooled and was refilled). I’m lucky it was a tough old 617, eh?

So I pulled the head and was pleasantly surprised to find no coke or carbon buildup on the piston tops, valve heads, or injector nozzles.

20,000 miles isn’t much of a test but it looks good so far. I have no perceptible loss in performance, no drop in fuel economy, and no change in EGTs. With the new head gasket the compression is still 400PSI on all five cylinders.

I will be very interested to inspect the MFI pump when I get 100,000 miles on it.

First thing I’m after is an all copper or all aluminum radiator.

sidvicious · #6 01-19-2006, 01:16 AM

thanks for the report tirebiter.

i've read similar results elsewhere. the coking problem, while probably real, seems rare from my surfing. some say that using rug/wvo mix in a newer car can cause more problems than in older rides. is this true? why?

cheers,

sv-

Tirebiter · #7 01-19-2006, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sidvicious

thanks for the report tirebiter.

i've read similar results elsewhere. the coking problem, while probably real, seems rare from my surfing. some say that using rug/wvo mix in a newer car can cause more problems than in older rides. is this true? why?

cheers,

sv-

Bosch inline MFI pumps take very kindly to most oils, even if they are thick. These pumps are tough. Just don't feed them water. Not so for the later model diesel engine fuel delivery systems.

The coking problems seem to be with the DI engines.

Matt SD300 · #8 01-19-2006, 02:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tirebiter

I rebuilt my 84 300D engine about 27,000 miles ago and since then I have run dewatered and well filtered (final stage is 5 micron) WVO. Nine gallons of WVO and one gallon RUG. I use the RUG only to thin the oil since it never gets cold in SoCal or Hawaii. I have often run straight WVO in the heat of Summer. I use no additives except BioBor.

Sometimes I plug the block heater in only because it’s so pleasant to drive off immediately without a warm up period.

A few days ago I was driving up the coast with the cruise set at 72 MPH and the bottom plastic on my two year old POS radiator cracked. I had no steam showing, no loss of power, no indication whatsoever that something was wrong until I noticed my temp gauge past the red mark.

By the time I pulled over I had blown a head gasket (evidenced by a pressure build up in my cooling system after it cooled and was refilled). I’m lucky it was a tough old 617, eh?

So I pulled the head and was pleasantly surprised to find no coke or carbon buildup on the piston tops, valve heads, or injector nozzles.

20,000 miles isn’t much of a test but it looks good so far. I have no perceptible loss in performance, no drop in fuel economy, and no change in EGTs. With the new head gasket the compression is still 400PSI on all five cylinders.

I will be very interested to inspect the MFI pump when I get 100,000 miles on it.

First thing I’m after is an all copper or all aluminum radiator.

Great report!

By the way no worries about WVO as a untaxed fuel. It is considered a FUEL ADDITIVE to increase mileage!

... Gotta love the system!! You only have pay the road tax on the Gasoline /Diesel fuel. LOL

Jmana · #9 01-19-2006, 10:03 AM

Can I still consider it an "additive" if I am adding 95% of WVO to about 5% gas/kerosene? Well, I guess they would never know what proportion I use. I am sure eventually they will find a way to tax us.

junqueyardjim · #10 01-19-2006, 10:19 AM

I noticed last summer when first running WVO that start ups were more difficult, it didn't like to idle when cold, and my performance test of zero to 60 in 15 seconds was usually quite off the mark. Then on the forum I heard this person say, very often, that the best mix is 5 gallons WVO and 1 quart of RUG. I tried it once and it is perfect. My own explanation of why it works so good is yes it does thin the mixture ever so little, it does NOT aid in anti gelling. I have a test bottle of it in the garage right now at about 30 degrees that shows that mix is well jelled. But my straight WVO is not, or is my mix of 3 parts WVO and 2 parts diesel. But I think the real benefit comes from the fact that RUG is so much more easily ignited. When the RUG ignites from compression, it ignites the grease, simple as that - and it is so silky smooth I can't believe it. My zero to 60 stays right at 15 seconds and I can only believe that any fuel that will perform in that manner and run with hardly a sound, can be nothing but good for that engine. And with 218,000 on the speedo, never ever a puff of smoke. Yaaaay, smoke free, yaaaay!

PNO TECH · #11 01-19-2006, 11:48 AM

The only issue I've had with WVO/RUG blending is a wax-like precipitate building up in the small fuel filter. I've read that it is caused by mixing WVO and diesel and that adding naptha prevents it. I was adding naptha and was sure that my clogging issues were due to fungus, but fungus doesn't melt like that! I plan on doing some mixing of dino and veggie in the old 'lab' and seeing if I can get visable precipitate when I get the time.

Tirebiter · #12 01-19-2006, 01:06 PM

I can’t stress enough that the quality of your WVO is of utmost importance. The results I speak of from my own first hand experience are derived from using non hydrogenated soy bean oil that has no animal fat/tallow in it.

The restaurants I use drain their oil twice a week. They keep their cooking temp at 375F and the when they drain it back into the cubies, they wait until it is 150F. Drain it hot and often, eh? I have never found water in the sealed cubies when done this way.

If you are making biodiesel it doesn’t matter as much.

tenknots · #13 01-19-2006, 01:14 PM

Be advised that this is experimental and that each engine may react differently and each batch of oil may not be the same.

I have over 12k on my 300D with an 80/20 blend. I cleaned the injectors once - they had a substantial amount of coking, but not enough to affect engine performance.

Jmana · #14 01-19-2006, 02:38 PM

I did away with all inline prefilters, now I just have one big coolant heated fuel filter. Never had any wax problems, and only changed the element once in 10k miles.

i-osprey · #15 01-20-2006, 02:16 AM

Hello all,

I just found a 1984 300 DT with 218,000 and I am very interested in running the mixed RUG and WVO.

I have several cars but no truck so I am a little concerned about how I might get the WVO home to my storage/filtration/mixing tank.

How do you guys do that?

Thanks