I'm halfway through a first tank of B20 and so far the only noticeable differences are the absence of visible smoke on hard accelleration and a lack of odor when idling. Accelleration seems to be slightly slower but there's no way to tell since I'm not timing anything. Also, there is significantly less noise at idle which seems odd, but I'll take that as a plus.

Next is a MPG test for in-town driving and then a road trip later this month.
According to the vendor on Long Ave. in Fort Worth, the biodiesel cleans your
fuel system as you drive, so theoretically the fuel filter would need to be replaced sooner than later depending on how much cleaning gets done.
Anyone with long term experience with B20 in a similar car?

Steve

It slowly cleans things up......Been running my car mostly on B20 since february...and car runs better than when I bought it after a few tanks....but carry spare filters and tools to change them...(always a good idea with a diesel) If price is close to regular dino I will use it on principle...I have only not used it a few weeks when the price spread became too great.

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Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I've been running B99 in my 1999 E300D for about a month now (tax incentives mean they have to mix in 1% petrol). The car idles quieter and I'm also no longer seeing any smoke under any conditions (even on cold start). The exhaust smells a lot better as well.

The power seems about the same and so does MPG. It may be slightly less, but I haven't been on a good highway trip to tell yet. So far I've had a couple tanks run through the car and had the fuel filter changed just today as a precaution. Overall, I'm happy so far.

In my area Diesel and Biodiesel are almost identical in price. In fact petrol diesel is more expensive at some stations (Portland, Oregon). The economics of biodiesel are starting to be competitive and I feel good knowing I'm giving my money to local farmers and not mid-east oil sheikhs. That, combined with the significantly less environmental impact, makes it worth using.

What is whith you guys? My 99 E300 doesn't smoke when I lay it on. I tried that numerous times and I cannot see any smoke. Now I can when I goose it after the speedtuningusa chip mod. This is with dino diesel

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

smoke

I only see smoke if I don't glow it long enough on start or if the engine is really cold and I try to go up a steep climb (like on a parking garage ramp). With B99 I don't see any smoke at all any more.

Aklim,

Yes, your car does smoke when you floor it but you don't see it because you are so far down the road listening to that turbo whine before you look in the rear view mirror!
I should have said that there is a pretty good puff of smoke when the turbo really kicks in with dino, and that this initial blast is not there when running the B20. You are right that by no means do the 98 and 99 turbo Ds smoke
like earlier diesels--no matter what the fuel type.

Steve