I've been burning more and more filtered WVO lately because of the warm summer months.

Will K-1 thin this stuff out? If not, what could be used to thin alternative fuel?

What ratios would you guys burn?

Can I burn straight K-1 in the summer?

Thanks

Don

__________________
DAILY DRIVERS:
'84 300DT 298k (Aubrey's)
'99.5 Jetta TDI IV 251k (Julie's)
'97 Jetta TDI 127k (Amber's)
'97 Jetta TDI 186k (Matt's)
'96 Passat TDI 237k (Don's
'84 300D 211k Mint (Arne- Undergoing Greasecar Conversion)

SOLD:
'82 240D 229k (Matt's - Converted-300DT w/ 4 speed

My WVO is thinned with Diesel. I don't do it as a rule.. but the way my system is setup.. 6 port vavle, 2 tanks.. a little diesel gets mixed in every time I switch over to VO.

__________________
'84 300CD Turbo 132k (Anthracite Grey) - WVO - My daily driver - Recently named coo-coo-coupe by my daughter.
'84 300D Turbo 240k (Anthracite Grey) - Garage Queen
'83 300D Turbo 220k (Orient Red) - WVO - Wifes daily driver

I'm not a certified mechanic, but I did stay at a HolidayInn Express last night.

I'm officially now a WVO newbie, so don't take what I say as gospel. So far, I've managed to collect 200 liters, and filtered 30 for use in the car, finally putting it in the car yesterday for the first time. I am in between decisions on what my ultimate solution will be - Bio-D or full 2 tank WVO conversion, so for now, I am simply blending.

The blend I arrived at came from much reading on various WVO sites, as well as here at Mercedesshop. I got my WVO very well filtered by doing a final cold filter through a Filter Queen vacuum cleaner cone filter. It literally took 10 liters of oil all night to go through, so this was a three night process. I ended up with the filter cones well saturated with tallow, and oil that was very runny, although still close to dark brown and quite cloudy. For 10 of the 30 litres, I put in 1 liter of gasoline. Then I bought some Naptha, and used it 1 for 10 in the rest of my oil. It seemed to end up thin as water in both cases at ambient 55 degrees F. Mornings are still cool here- around 40 F, but my oil was still very runny, so I decided to put it in at about 20% (80% regular Diesel). Results were truly great. The engine is much quieter and has more power. Cold startup this morning at 40 degrees F was no problem. All pinging sounds I had coming from the engine at highway speed since I've owned the car are now gone.

The reason I went for Naptha as a thinner is that I read a horror story about a guy having his WVO- Diesel blend separate the wax out of the regular Diesel fuel, and ruined his IP (Ford 7.3). Some replies to him were that Naptha is the only solvent that will disolve this wax, hence, if you're going to blend WVO / Diesel, it's the right way to go. Gasoline has some Naptha content, so it's OK, but for prolonged running on blend, it appears the right answer is Naptha.

So to summarize, right now I have 70% Diesel, 25% WVO, 2% Gasoline and 3% Naptha in a full tank as of last night. The weather forcast says that tomorrow morning it's going down to 30 F- we'll see how it goes, but I'm not expecting any problems. I'm going to run this tank through completely, and then change my fuel filters to examine for any hint of waxy residue before getting any bolder with my mix. Ultimately, like I said, I don't want to run blend, but rather go with either Bio-D homebrew, or do a heated WVO tank.

Dave

1976 W115 300D "Pearl"
1970 Euro 200 Parts Car "Earl"

http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x/a/frm/f/159605551

This is a great site with many people that could help you. I'm sure someone there will have had similar experiences. I have a two tank kit on my car and right now i'm having filter clogging problems because cold fitering five gallons overnight completely clogs up the bag with whatever that slimy stuff is. Tonight I'm going to try to clean it out with gasoline because I heard that should do the trick. I also mix one gallon of gas for every five gallons of veggie and that seems to help the problem somewhat. The people on this website should be of some help. I know they've helped me many a time.

__________________
Seth

1984 300D 225K
1985 300D Donor body
1985 300D Turbo 165K. Totaled. Donor Engine. It runs!!!
1980 300SD 311K My New Baby.
1979 BMW 633csi 62K+++? Dead odo

Diesel Don,

I wouldn't run straight K1. There mght not be enough lubricant tto protect the IP. Mix some used engine oil with it. Maybe 10%. I've been running about 2 percent used engine oil with #2 Diesel with no problems, but I'm suppposed to get drum of used oil from the township so I'm going to try higher percentages.

P E H

I'm with coldwar, though my mix is different. I add one gallon of kerosene to 5 gallons of WVO and mix BEFORE I filter. The kero dissolves the fat and allows for much faster filtering. I'm starting at 20% wvo and moving to 50% once my second supplier comes through. This summer I intend to do at least 80% wvo. I also add a gallon of 1 micron filtered used oil at each fill up. As it gets colder this fall, my plan is to mix up to 15% unleaded gas to WVO - may go as high as 20%. I also add a cetane boost/injection cleaner.

Kerosene will thin better than diesel, but it doesn't have enough lubricity to run straight, though I suspect even 10-20% wvo is enough for the IP.


I've read till my eyes bleed and I know what other people recommend for blends. The Ford truck you mentioned is a concern, but the only published account of that problem I've seen. I think he got something in his WVO - we are at the mercy of the people who are donating it to us, who's to stop them from throwing something funky into the barrel? As for me, I'm a commited blender and I don't want to go to a 2 tank system unless I have to.

__________________
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

naphthalene is a component of diesel fuel. isn't that the same thing as Naptha?

50% Diesel
50% used motor oil

Small amount of smoke, very minimal. More power, havn't checked economy (don't really care with free fuel), slightly more vibrations at idle due to slightly thicker fuel.

__________________
Adam Lumsden
(83) 300D
Vice-President of the MBCA International Stars Section

I've never gone above a 10% mix of used motor oil in my tank. I might bump it up a little though. The SDLs don't seem to be AS robust in that department I've heard.

Thanks
David

__________________
_____________________________________________

2000 Honda Accord V6 137k miles

1972 300SEL 4.5 98k miles

_____________________________________________

I clog injectors when I try to run this much used motor oil. Have you done this very much or just tried it?

Just wondering how you use a 6-port valve on the benz fuel system
The fuel diagram I will be using requires a 6-port and 3-port

Attached Images

fuel_small.bmp (32.0 KB, 650 views)

Has anyone tried used atf.? There must be about a bazillion gallons of this stuff available. And with out all the lumps and fat of fry oil.

I know that transmission shops have their used atf hauled off but I don't know whether they get paid for it of have to pay to get it removed. One way or the other if the stuff will run either straight or mixed it might be worth buying.

I filter my used atf using a coffee paper filter and add about 1/2 gal to tankfull of diesel, works fine.....

__________________
Over 21 years I owned several:
w108
w110
w111
w115
w116
w123
w124
w126
w212

My dad owned a trucking company for 35 years. A lot of his drivers put a quart or two in a tank of #2 to clean injectors and give more power.

Hello

I have been using WVO in my 1981 300SD since June. So I am still experimenting some. During the summer I run straight WVO filtered to 5 micron without any problems. I keep my supply in the basement in a barrel I use an electric pump and pump it through a whole house water filter from Lowe's. This has served me very well.

Anyway I filled 4 jars with WVO and diesel mixes and left them outside to freeze to see what the results would be and was quite surprised.

Jar 1 was 50% WVO and 50% Diesel with 2 teaspoons of Power service additive in it.

Jar 2 was 50% WVO and 50% Diesel plain.

Jar 3 was WVO straight with 2 teaspoons of Power service additive.

Jar 4 was WVO straight plain.

That night it got down to 12 degrees F. It was back up to about 18-20 when I got out to check them in the morning.

Jar 1 was just as if it was 80 degrees F outside. No cloudiness and as thin as normal diesel. ( this is the way I will do mine for a while to see how it works out in the long run).

Jar 2 was thick and not quite solid yet but getting there fast.

Jar 3 was thinner than jar 2 but alot thicker than Jar 1. ( would work in mid range temperature without problems I think).

Jar 4 was almost solid.

The oil I use is from a Vietnamese restaraunt and stays thin even to very low temps I have noticed so this may affect your results.

I do not blend diesel until the temps get down to below 40. I have no problems and I have not even had a filter clog using this setup.

The farther the temp drops the stronger the blend but I have not used more than 50/50 so far.

I also have pics although not very good of the jars before the freeze and after if any wants to see them let me know and I can post them.

Thanks
Ken

Just my 2 cents.