Small % veg oil - any issues?
 

Hi all,

I am looking to use some veg oil/waste veg oil in my E300 turbodiesel - its the OM606.962 engine so would work fine with veg oil.

My question is: Would it be ok to run a small % of veg oil with the majority of the fuel being diesel would that be ok or would it cause the usual issues?

Just wondering if I were to add say a gallon of SVO to a full tank of diesel if it would make a difference - I only ask as it might be good to just top up the tank of fuel with something cheaper!

as long as the VO is as clean as the diesel fuel then there should be no issues with mixing small amounts of VO in.

What sort of % would you think would be ok? Perhaps up to 20%?

depends on the temps. I've run straight veggi oil,as well as blended with Bio D, Kerosene, gasoline and Dino D. I live on the east side of Virginia and it's warm to hot most the year. but went winter rolled around it was a struggle to keep things flowing.

Out west there are farmers who run 80% to 90% virgin veggi and the rest gasoline in their tractors

I've been putting half a quart of store bought veg-oil nearly every fill up of my 1984 300TD. It makes the exhaust smell better and the engine has a muted sound. I have no idea about the long term effects on the internal parts of the engine at this level and no one does unless they have disassembled many many engines which employ this amount of veg oil blending. They may tell you these people do this or that- but that advice means little without actual tear down mechanical experience.

Thanks for the input, I know that the veg oil can clog lines if its run at 100% and its thicker than diesel, I might try and add a few litres in to see what happens, will be changing the fuel filter soon anyway.

Will also be upgrading the pump seals to Viton when I take off the inlet manifold for cleaning but I am thinking that a small volume of veg oil shouldn't have too much effect.

5% veggie is the best lubricity additive that you can get.