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  #16  
Old 01-15-2011, 12:22 PM
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I tried running my 83 mercedes on pure used motor oil, it ran better and smoother than with veg oil or diesel. It did produce a fair bit of black smoke when cold and smelt like an old steam engine train. I actually like the smell and the smoke, but my concern is the toxicity from breathing the fumes in the cabin, I'm not sure how much exhaust gets into the cabin.

I do think you should filter to 0.5 microns if possible, cheap bag filters are available. Certainly 1 micron at most, this is also best for veg oil but maybe more important for used engine oil I suspect. Not sure why oil from a diesel engine would be worse, the black is just some sort of soot which should burn very well. But of course most available old motor oil is from petrol engines.

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  #17  
Old 01-23-2011, 11:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by danton84 View Post
The guys w/ the old Ford IDIs have been doing it w/ success....as stated aboved make sure you filter it really well...the exhaust fumes do stink pretty bad....use at your own risk, but it will work.

If you send it to the recyclers it will just get burned at asphalt plants or in big ocean going ships...why not recycle it yourself by burning small quantities in you own diesel vehicle...its going to get burned reguardless.
Yes, it will. A lot of people don't know that, but it does get burned either way.

Like using any alternative fuel not meant for your engine, you must take great care in processing it before using it. Centrifuge is best.


Altogether though, i would not recommend it. Motor oil has additives that are designed to retard its flammability, i.e. from catching on fire in your engine. you cannot filter these out. granted, these additives break down during the lubricating life cycle of the oil, but its still an issue. I think the best way is to distill the actual diesel out of the oil. Its in there, but also, there is lubricating oil, and oil that would be considered bunker fuel, and a whole bunch of other stuff that is NOT fuel. The best way is to refine it out of WMO. People do it. There is a whole forum community oil to diesel that discusses it.
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  #18  
Old 01-24-2011, 06:15 AM
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Again its oK for me to use if I hit no cash for fuel.However its embaressing to drive.Smells like every ring or every cylinder is worn out.
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  #19  
Old 01-24-2011, 09:20 AM
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seriously? this can be done? this is new to me. I can get all the free used oil I want. Might be worth looking into. I had thought about trying the bio fuel, but it's gotten popular enough that all the creese in my area is already spoken for.
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  #20  
Old 01-24-2011, 09:57 AM
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be sure and read all of this thread before jumping into using wast motor oil!
filtration requirements are heavy with this oil.
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  #21  
Old 01-24-2011, 03:28 PM
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I've been looking into getting a centerfuge, but its still all just a thought in my head...
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  #22  
Old 01-26-2011, 06:05 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1977busman View Post
I've been looking into getting a centerfuge, but its still all just a thought in my head...
another thought i had the other day, was if you have any steel 55 gallon drums, put a strong magnet on the bottom of the barrel and it will magnetize the whole barrel over time. After a few days it will start to pull out any ferrous material in the oil. If you have a weaker magnet, then it could be circulated around the barrel somehow so more oil will come in contact with the steel container or magnet. Maybe mechanically filter it first to remove the bigger stuff. For the record, I'm still not recommending using motor oil in your mercedes diesel. At my work, we're going to start toying with distilling diesel hydrocarbons from use lube oils. I've heard figures of people getting anywhere from 4 to 7 gallons of usable diesel from oils and the left over they use to fuel their distilling furnace. I'd imagine that the diesel you distill off might not have enough sulfur in it (just like at the pumps now!) so It might need some Biodiesel mixed in or the powerservice additive.
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mods: wooden 4by4 bumper, EGR delete and older EX manifold without EGR port, glass pack muffler (cheapest replacement muffler), rebuilt bosch injectors with Monark nozzles

working on: aux electric fuel pump, coolant/fuel heat exchanger/filter head, afterglow, low oil pressure buzzer/LED
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  #23  
Old 02-01-2011, 09:50 AM
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I use a magnet when I made it.Selling my 90 gals.Just stinks too bad.
P.S. selling my wmo for free.
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  #24  
Old 02-05-2011, 09:28 PM
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Let's think about it for a second. Why do you change your oil filter and oil? Because it gets full of **** you don't want in your engine. How wise is it to but that back in your engine? Not to mention through high-precision, expensive parts like IP plungers and injector nozzles.
In burning UMO, you aren't going to save enough at the pump to offset the cost of ONE replacement injector, let alone five or six of them. Or an injection pump. Or some new piston rings. The list goes on.

As for "the Army does it"- the Army drives high-displacement, loose-tolerance DI diesels which are designed from the ground up to be multifuel. They have massive fuel filters, injectors designed to take a beating, and thousands of people to maintain them and extensively monitor their fuel supply. You're comparing apples to pumpkins.
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  #25  
Old 02-07-2011, 09:36 AM
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Hopefully contributing and not pot stirring.

Threads like this can quickly turn to the same as politics over Thanksgiving turkey.

Unlike some, I am NOT on a personal mission to persuade anyone one way or the other over 'alternative fuel' nor do I believe, for a nanosecond, that the commodity known as oil is somehow able to defy the law of supply and demand -thereby, if we all use any kind of 'alternative fuel' we stick it to the man. This is especially true considering well more than half of oil does NOT go into transportation (think electricity and industrial chemistry.) So...anything and everything you get from a free forum is worth exactly what you pay for it.

What we DON'T know: exactly what we'll get from one batch of waste oil to the next, WVO or WMO.
What we DO know: Magnets and/or centrifuges will get lots of particles and solids out of the oil. BUT, no type of physically cleaning the oil will change the pH, specific gravity/density or remove any solubles already dissolved in the oil. The vast majority of Mercedes automobile diesel engines (either road legal or not) are NOT rated for 'multi-fuel' use. I'm not referring to #1 vs #2 diesel or 'winter mix.' Multi-fuel meaning a diesel cycle engine that is actually designed to run correctly on #1, #2 diesels, kerosene, turbine fuels (civilian and military versions and the others called 'wide cut') and low octane gasoline. Many military engines are multi-fuel rated. We also know Cummins had an engine that purposely used a very small amount of oil and burned it with the fuel. These were big rigs, not Dodge pick ups.

I'll never claim to have seen every example of everything but the numbers of internal parts from injectors and IPs I have seen is far into the thousands. I've posted some photos in the '..if WVO causes damage, prove it..' thread - have a look, it's not pretty.

Using motor oil for fuel is better described as 'could rather than should.' About 25 years ago I remember reading an old -10 (called "dash ten" or operation) manual for a UH-1 helicopter. Every major (read expensive) military vehicle has section titled "Battle Override." It covers what to do if you need to save your own @$$ and ruining the equipment doesn't matter. The -10 listed 'approved fuel JP-4 or equivalent.' 'Battle override in combat situations only' - diesel fuels, kerosene and MOGAS (low octane gasoline no longer in military use.) **BUT** in a big red box there was something like 'As soon as possible drain, flush and refill with approved fuel. Continued use of unapproved fuel will cause damage to fuel system.' I asked the old man, being the career pilot, about it. The simple answer was 'Don't unless you have no other choice.'

Personal experience=I did this when I first got my car. I used less than one QUART of fresh oil in one FULL tank of fuel. It smelled bad. I talked to an O/O trucker who swore by putting in one gallon of fresh hub oil every other 150 gal. fuel tank. He thought mileage was a bit better but according to oil analysis he did need to change the oil more often due to soot. My opinion is to use the old motor oil for a furnace or boiler, and use bio-diesel & blends for engines.
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  #26  
Old 03-09-2011, 10:02 PM
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In my '89 7.3 N/A idi I run 60% WMO/40% ULSD. My WMO is from multiple sources and gets cut with ULSD before it is heated, filtered 4 times to 0.5 microns in bag filters at gravity rate then centrifuged hot for 5 passes to remove as much soot as possible. In winter I run a homemade inline fuel heater I made with a glowplug and some brass fittings. Smokes a little when cold, runs clean at temp & stronger than straight ULSD. I also run water injection for any ring coking issues. The IP on my '82 300D could be original or rebuilt, I'm the 3rd. owner so there is no telling what kind of shape the internals are already in but she starts good even in freezing weather. With the price of fuel now climbing into the realm of insanity thanks in part to speculators and also corporate greed, the 300D (now that the weather has warmed up) will soon be running a 50/50 mix. I'll report back on any issues if/as they occur.
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  #27  
Old 03-10-2011, 12:45 PM
sjh sjh is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Biofarmer93 View Post
With the price of fuel now climbing into the realm of insanity thanks in part to speculators and also corporate greed....

How about:

1. Supply and Demand

2. Political instability in the Middle East.

3. Failure to allow the market to function unimpeded?

4. Inane NIMBY & aesthetic concerns limiting exploration and development.

5. China and to a lesser extent India drastically increasing usage.


Perhaps none of these, perhaps some, perhaps other issues, but there is much more going on than just "bad" people causing this.

Last edited by sjh; 03-10-2011 at 02:25 PM.
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  #28  
Old 03-10-2011, 10:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr_SJH View Post
How about:

1. Supply and Demand

2. Political instability in the Middle East.

3. Failure to allow the market to function unimpeded?

4. Inane NIMBY & aesthetic concerns limiting exploration and development.

5. China and to a lesser extent India drastically increasing usage.


Perhaps none of these, perhaps some, perhaps other issues, but there is much more going on than just "bad" people causing this.
Yeah Doc,
That's why I said "in part".

1.Supply and Demand-
More scrupulously monitored and accounted for than narcotics at Mayo…

2.Political instability in the Middle East.
Undeniably occurring, but has production actually dropped? I haven’t read or heard anything- Have you? It does however make a wonderfully plausible excuse to jack up prices. I’m honestly not trying to be rude when I ask this, but has it slipped your mind perhaps- that less than a year ago we were paying under $2 a gal? On a road trip last weekend I had to pay $4.59 a gal. That is market manipulation, and little else

3.Failure to allow the market to function unimpeded?
LOL! Doc, This one is a joke, right? You are pulling my leg, right? If the market was allowed to function unimpeded, we would all be paying $16 a gallon!

4.Inane NIMBY & aesthetic concerns limiting exploration and development.
Deepwater Horizon.. Ring any bells? The concerns are more about safety to most people. Although I grant you the fact that kneejerk NIMBYism is all too common. As far as aesthetics go, well, would you believe that there are actually people out in the world that think that old M-B’s are ugly?!? Sheesh!

5.China and to a lesser extent India drastically increasing usage.
I think I recall reading that those guys get most of their oil from Russia, don’t they?
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  #29  
Old 03-11-2011, 06:40 PM
home of 4,5,6,8 cylinders
 
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wonder if u centrifuge would u need to heat them up? as centrifuge used vege oil u need to heat them up.
I tried to do UVO with centri I didnt have the heat set up so the result was not there at all.

a guy I ran into has centri with heating was doing well.

I sold my centri to an idiot who never read the manual, he ran it >80 lbs as it F up the little centrifuge!
He really has too much money than brain thats all.
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  #30  
Old 03-12-2011, 07:30 PM
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I found it necessary to heat & dilute to centrifuge, it made a huge difference in the performance of the centrifuge.

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