Trying to get educated about the diesel world. I have a 85 300sd, there is a gas station nearby that has biodiesel fuel, is it safe to use it in my car without any modifications? Is biodiesel and WVO the same thing?

I tried to do a search but it came up with a lot of WVO threads.

Thanks

F

nope, biodiesel is chemically altered vegetable oil. It is safe to just put in your diesel tank, although you may want to clean the tank out before puttint bio in, cause it will pick up all the crap in there and clog your fuel filter. Either clean the tank or you will clog several filters before it's all clean. Bio is also less winter-harder, so you may want to think twice about using b100 in the winter. WVO is a whole other story. Read up a lot before you make your decision. There's a lot of strife associated with it. It does require modifications.

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1983 240D 3.0T 4-speed manual, now sold

1989 Subaru GL Wagon 5-speed Touring Edition

Thank you.

Clear now.

F

The best bio info is to be found on the biodiesel infopop forums , in my opinion. cheers Dan

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It's always something simple
91 300D 603.960 (from japan) 194K
92 Toyota Diesel Landcruiser HDJ81-t 116K
02 Golf TDI new head courtesy of PO
87 300D
97 BMW 525 TDS Wagon 5spd
bunch of Onan and other diesel generators

Thanks, I was thinking about trying biodiesel in my tired old 240D if a dealer ever opens up nearby. But not wanting to worry about clogging filters, I'm afraid I'll have to stick with real diesel.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Biodiesel will eventually eat rubber fuel lines after a year old.You may have clogging primary filters due too diesel slime removed from tank.Also tank screen.
But BIO has a good thing like cleaning your IP,Injectors,fuel level guage,and some say valves are cleaned.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

X2 on the clogging of filters due to biodiesel getting rid of two decades+ of "gunk in your fuel tank and fuel lines.

Biodiesel has a percentage of lye in it -this over time will also eat away at any natural rubber the biodiesel comes into contact with (Fuel lines, fuel return lines, etc.) Not a big deal to replace these lines with viton hoses, which are biodiesel compatable synthic rubber.

I got my first diesel, a rusty, tired 240D, three years ago, partly to learn about diesels and alternative fuels. The price was very cheap due to the rust, and the abuse it had recieved with the PO's teenagers. After a long list of minor & major repairs, it's been pretty reliable.
Given this car's history, the hassle of the required modifications, and what I've learned on this forum, I decided against WVO. It's also very unlikely I'll be trying biodiesel, as the only local dealer open to the public is about 15 miles away and charges extra for the privelege.
With what I learned today, I've decided to be satisfied with my diesel's basic fuel-economy on diesel-fuel.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Properly washed bio does not contain lye. It gets washed out. I don't disbelieve that bio can be hard on fuel lines (I've seen it work on the soles of my boots) but after 4 vehicles (all pretty old) running for years on bio, I have yet to replace a fuel line. Of course I do wash my bio completely.

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John Schroader
bio burnin' 83 300D, '83 300 SD, '79 240D
"I've never met a man who was good at making excuses who was good at anything else" Ben Franklin
"You cannot permanently help a man by doing for him what he could and should do for himself" Abraham Lincoln

McMaster has all the viton stuff, inexpensive and easy to replace. I believe Diesel Giant also sells some viton kits. The issue is not that biodiesel is "bad" for the rubber hoses, but rather that the rubber hoses don't like the *change* from one fuel to another. If your diesel car had used exclusively Biodiesel for every single fill up since day 1, and then ten years later you decide to switch to regular diesel, the hoses will start to leak. It's not the fuel - it's the change from one fuel formula to a different fuel formula.

Biodiesel = "diesel compatible" fuel. It's like diesel fuel, but made from vegetable oil instead of petroleum oil. Compatible with all diesel engines for all intents and purposes. The US Military uses a B20 biodiesel blend for all non-tactical vehicles (at most bases in the US). In my county (Arlington, VA) the public school system uses B20 biodiesel blend in all the school buses. IMO this is the preferred alternative fuel, and what I use in my '97 E300.

WVO = not "diesel compatible" fuel. It's just straight vegetable oil, which happens to sort of work in a diesel engine under the right circumstances, and with some engine modifications. To make a petroleum analogy, it's a bit like running straight black crude oil through your engine instead of diesel fuel. WVO will really destroy your motor if not "done the right way", and even in a perfect world, it will shorten the life of the engine. It attracts insects, and it smells awful like death when it starts to go rancid. I don't like it at all.

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'98 E300 turbodiesel

So where do you get your biodiesel?
Awhile ago, there was one station selling the stuff in Arlington Va. but don't know if thts still the case today.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Hi Mark, I fill up at the NEX station by the Pentagon. It's just 1/4 mile from the Pentagon Row shopping center, right by the on ramp for 395 South.

Their gasoline pumps are for DoD personnel only (not open to public) but their "alternative fuel island" which has B20, E85, and CNG is indeed open to the public, with pay-at-the-pump credit card readers.

This is the only Biodiesel station that I'm aware of in Arlington. I know it's still open cause I just filled up there on Friday. But they do have rather limited business hours. I think they close pretty early, like at 7 or 8 pm?

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'98 E300 turbodiesel