I found myself watching a show about biodiesel, and became quite interested. i have been researching it, and have found out a good deal about the process. i would really like to be able to make my own biodiesel, as i am looking to put a mercedes diesel engine into my jeep. i found the website www.freedomfuelamerica.com. i couldnt find much of anything on there, so my girlfriend sent an email to the representatives, and they email back giving this web address: www.biodieselsolutions.com. you could buy the whole set-up for nearly $3000. a smaller version was still around $1500 that is NOT in my price range. i was wondering if any of you have made your own set-up, and/or have taken part in experimenting with biodiesel. advantages? disadvantages?

is it really true that biodiesel doesnt run well in the colder climates? is there anything i could do about that?

if anyone else knows of any other engine to put in my jeep, let me know. i have a thread relating to this topic, but not many people have been helping. the ones who have, have been a tremendous help, and they have given me much information.

~kb

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Kaleb, 17 years old. I own a 1988 jeep wrangler. it has a carburated 4.2 liter. it also has an automatic. I bought it all stock from a man that had it for a couple of years and had bought it from the original owner. when the guy dropped it off it was driving some what good but not the way i test drove it. i put alot of new things in it, the list is:Radiator, water pump,fuel lines, fuel filter, plugs and wires, egr valve, pcv valve, jet and seat. i think thats it.

Not to snuff your flame but before you even THINK of making biodiesel and spending all the money on the equipment...see if you can actually get a good source or two of oil first

Thats key

biodieselnow.com much, much info. don't buy a premade kit. The process is quite simple, but does take some learning. Define cold climates, I live in Pennslyvania, and just change the ratio of BD to Dino as it gets colder.

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'99 300td
'00 C230
'07 GL CDI soon, very soon
'87 190 2.5td - sold

Alot of work in front of you Grasshopper.

First, retrofitting a diesel into the Jeep. WIth the glowplug thing and all, that is alot of work. Just go out and look long and hard for a Land Cruiser Diesel.

Second, Brandon is right. I was thinking of doing the BD thing and came up short. For it to pay off you need to use alot of it. But first you need good if not great, consistent sources of oil. I ended up finding a few sources but decided that I did not use my diesel enough for it to pay off. Now I just collect the oil and filter and burn 50/50 mix of diesel/WVO.

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'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

you must of seen the fuelmeister.. deadly processor.. if you want to make bio in a safe way check out the applseed.. mine only cost 500$ to make.. less if you get a free water heater www.biodieselcommunity.org

Here is another page for you to visit.
http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/6/ubb.x?a=cfrm&s=447609751

And here is a link to the biodiesel and veggie oil links on this site that is in the DIY resource are.
Biodiesel and WVO - SVO links thread.

Lots of people use old hot water heaters to process their biodiesel. You should be able to make one yourself for much less than $1500.

Journey to Forever- http://www.journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html has some good DIY biodiesel making pages too.

Start small. There is a process out there called the Dr. Pepper Method, which you make 1L of biodiesel using a plastic 2L bottle. It is a good place to start.

Stay away from the partially hydrogenated oils. They are too much work. I found this out the hard way. Either start with some fresh oil from the store or find a source for good quality oil, (your going to want to do this anyway).

Let us know how it goes.

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I haven't heard about the Dr. Pepper method, could you elaborate on it enough that I could try it?
The set up you have seen is pretty basic and the hopper bottom tanks are available for less than $150 for both. The biggest expense would be the pump and frame making (easy if you can weld).
You might want to wait until the new Wrangler has the diesel in it from the factory, rumor has it it will be available sometime next year.
just my 2 cents worth.

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Habits I support
95 E300 D 220,000 & counting (I think I'll call him Fritz)
02 Tahoe (Momma's ride)
98 GMC Sierra 120,000
57 Chevy Nomad (bought in '69)

Dr. Pepper Method

There are lots of small test batch instructions out there. Several on the journey to forever page, or do a google search.

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I wouldn't bother with the tanks with the conical bottoms, building frames, etc. Building one out of a water heater is easy. More importantly, the set-up is much safer to use as the fumes are contained in the unit or, if pressure builds, it can be safely vented.

Those $3000 premade units are a joke......

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1983 300SD "Helga"

the kit costed $200 from biodieselwarehouse.com and the water heater i got free so its cheap. Hows that appleseed working for you? do you have a wash tank?

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Current:
05 E320 CDI
07 GL320 CDI
08 Sprinter
05 Dodge Cummins
01 Dodge Cummins

Previous
2004 E55 AMG
2002 C32 AMG (#2)
1995 E300
1978 300D
1987 300D
2002 C32 AMG(blown motor :[
1981 300SD
1983 300SD
1987 300SDL
2002 Jetta TDI
1996 S420
1995 S500
1993 190E 2.6
1992 190E 2.3
1985 190E 2.3 5-Speed

MAKE magazine did an article on making biodiesel in either last issue or the issue before. It was well documented. You may be able to find it on their podcast or website.

Would soy bean oil be alright of an oil to use? i work at meijer in michigan and i am not sur as to how much they use per night but i think it is like 3 or 4 gallos of the soy bean oil. if that would not be enough then i could go to Arnies the resturant. and if i still need morei can go to BC pizza. i think i would have enough places to get the oil. but let me know if soy bean oil would work because then i might get some sort of raise.

thankyou for the help.

~kb

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Kaleb, 17 years old. I own a 1988 jeep wrangler. it has a carburated 4.2 liter. it also has an automatic. I bought it all stock from a man that had it for a couple of years and had bought it from the original owner. when the guy dropped it off it was driving some what good but not the way i test drove it. i put alot of new things in it, the list is:Radiator, water pump,fuel lines, fuel filter, plugs and wires, egr valve, pcv valve, jet and seat. i think thats it.

Any type of oil is good. As long as its not contaminated or rancid from being overused. I use canola, corn, and soy oil and they all work out fine. My best oil is the canola from the chinese place.

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Current:
05 E320 CDI
07 GL320 CDI
08 Sprinter
05 Dodge Cummins
01 Dodge Cummins

Previous
2004 E55 AMG
2002 C32 AMG (#2)
1995 E300
1978 300D
1987 300D
2002 C32 AMG(blown motor :[
1981 300SD
1983 300SD
1987 300SDL
2002 Jetta TDI
1996 S420
1995 S500
1993 190E 2.6
1992 190E 2.3
1985 190E 2.3 5-Speed

Soy is what most of the bidiesel sold in this country is made from. It will work good. Soy BD doesn't have the lowest gel and cloud point of all the possibilities but it should still be somewhere close to freezing.

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I don't get the need for biodiesel. If you add 20% regular unleaded gas (RUG) to well filtered used cooking oil (UCO), you can pour it in and go. No heating, no chemicals, no processor.

14,000 miles on an 80/20 blend.

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1984 300Sd 210k

Former cars:
1984 300D 445k (!!) (Strider) Original (and not rebuilt) engine and transmission. Currently running on V80 ( 80% vegetable oil, 20% petroleum products). Actually not, taking a WVO break.
1993 300d 2.5 275k. Current 120/day commuter
1981 300SD 188k (Hans) Killed by a deer