Anybody have any ideas what we can do about the high cost of diesel? I know you're all going to say write the legislators but there has got to be something else. Try and get the truckers behind us maybe?

I am so sick of buying this overpriced fuel. I do burn WVO in one of my cars but I also have a truck that I use for my business thats a diesel burner.

HHO production and higher tax on diesel cannot be the only culprits. There is something else behind this, trust me.

Guys, this is so ridiculous. We've all got to band together somehow and get this situation under control. The oil companies are so outta line. RUG has dropped to $2.35 today and diesel is still hanging at $2.85!!!

I am seriously considering getting rid of one of my diesel cars and buying a gasser like a Toyota or something. There are used 30 MPG vehicles out there that are priced about the same as my 240.

Frustrated,

Bill

Nothing really, get a gas car next time around is about all we can do.

I guess if you have a VW TDI that gets over 40 the numbers still work. But these old MB's get mid 20's, heck mine get low 20's. The numbers just don't work.

Old MB's only get good fuel mileage on ebay.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Isn't diesel (basically kero) used for heating oil? Figure the jack the price up for the soon to happen winter...

Just brew your own if you have the capacity.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Can't be HHO alone keeping the price up. .50 more a gallon is just too much to justify.

If someone who lives in my area brews their own, drop me a PM. I'd love to see how its done first hand. Read all the bio forums but nothing as good as someone actually showing you. I've got plenty of room here for the setup and also have 55 gal. WVO that I've been blending. Bio seems a better bet for winter than a blend.

Cheers,

Bill

They get away with it as they can.

Also they "speculate" due to playing around in the middle east... Iran, Iraq, potential for hurricanes, that BP pipeline, etc.

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

In my case even getting "only" 20 is a good deal as the gasser taken off the road gets 10

Anyway I see it is alternate fuel streams are the only other option (W/SVO,. Biodiesel, JetA with lubricants?).

I have no clue why diesel is so high seing as it's lower on the distillation tree.
Also, anyone in Sac. CA doing Biodiesel here? I too would like to see a setup.
-nB

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'83 300D Turbo
Current: ???K mi - 19.2mpg -> 17.4mpg -> 22.9mpg ---> ODO Died
bought at: 233.8K mi - 10MPG For $1.00
3.5 cylinders work: 320 320 100 340 280
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Has anyone tried a gasifier,the WWII wood kilns used to produce gas?

Enlighten me. Never heard of it unless its related to making liquor. I come from a long line of, uh, shall we say liquor makers.

Cheers,

Bill

You would have to have a smoldering fire burning somewhere in/about the car, so that you can harness the wood gas, and then figure out how to mix it. If you live in the city, you're going to have to buy firewood.

I have no idea how many miles per cord you would get either.

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It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

Yes MB did this during the war when fuel was simply not availible for the general public. It was a horrible system that people dumped as fast as they could. They burned coal which was a mess, and it took forever to raise the temp to get the wood to out gas. Range was like 50 miles or something like that. Why not a steam engine then?


Compared to what I spend on other things fuel is cheap!

I'm just a bit disapointed that my car gets about the same mileage as say a 330I. The 330I has like 100hp on me to. The whole point of buying a diesel is to be able to save fuel money, it just doesn't work that way in practice it seems.

MB's cost a fortune to run unless you drive them into the ground.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Does anyone here seriously think they are saving money by driving 20 year old german luxury cars? If you just want to save money, go buy a 5 year old honda civic that gets 35 mpg. Even with cheap diesel fuel, the benz is always going to be more expensive to drive and maintain than MANY other cars. If you want to tell your wife that this little hobby is about saving money, have a ball (guys have been using that story to buy motorcycles for years). But let's not kid ourselves, this is nothing more than an expensive hobby, regardless of the cost of fuel. If you need a truck for business, fuel is just another expense that's going to keep going up.

For those who intend to run WVO or bioD, yes the intent is to save money on fuel by buying a 20 year old MB diesel.

Otherwise, we are indeed getting screwed at the moment.

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip_distillate.html

Compare the spot prices to on-the-road diesel. There's little if any correlation. The prices have remained relatively fixed, and the spot market has steadily decreased. I highly doubt anyone has been buying 3,6,9 month futures of the stuff to suggest such a twisted trend.

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1982 300TD 210K miles ("The Replacement" aka "The Anvil") - SOLD
1979 300SD 245K miles (never ending project)
2007 Pinarello F3:13
1995 Ducati 916 (SOLD, sniff)
1999 Ducati 900SSie (SOLD)

Nothing you can do, Bill, aside from avoid high-consumption driving, but I'm sure you know all that. Biodiesel is an option, although something I'm personally taking a "wait and see" stance on. Some people have had success making their own. I'll take the diesel prices for now and see where this all goes, personally, but that's my choice.

There's much hullabaloo about gasoline prices dropping now, but it's nothing permenant and it's too bad that everyone is so excited about it. It's going to do nothing but stall the absolute urgency of the situation, which means it will stall any progress towards reducing fossil fuel dependency. Saw a good editorial toon the other day ... it showed a guy with an SUV, filling it up and looking at the price saying something like "these prices are awful ... I'm going to buy a smaller car!" and then "scratch that, I'm going to get a bike!" ... next frame, there's a man climing up on the marque putting up a lower gas price ... the guy filling up the SUV, looking at the lower price, says "nevermind ... " while smiling. That's it. The price dips are hollow comfort.

So don't feel too bad ... at least our prices have been steadily high, without false hopes in between.

I wish I had an answer. If I did, I'd not be working where I'm working for the salary I'm getting.

Personally, I think it would be best for the economy if gas prices where set free. Let 'em rise. Focus on lowering diesel prices to keep the transportation industry in control. And that's not me being selfish about my diesel. I don't care if they keep passenger diesel drivers paying high. Yeah, it sucks, but the trickle down of high transport costs are more worrisome. We need avg drivers, diesel and gasoline, to get used to paying more and driving less. It's the only way anything will change.

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

Get a 190D 2.2. I've seen peoiple post that they get up to 40mpg.

I think that's the bottom line, the current US consumption is not sustainable and higher prices are probably they only way to lower consumption in the long term. The real problem is inflation, if you allow energy costs to rise too quickly, it will feed inflation. The only solution I see, is to let prices drift up to a reasonable level over several years. If you allowed fuel prices to double over 5 or 10 years, you would give the market time to respond without doing too much damage to the economy. It's an interesting problem, even if you don't consider the political part.

Higher prices are also the only thing that will drive alternate fuels (bio-diesel). Currently bio-diesel costs about the same as petro-diesel, so there is no economic incentive to get serious about it. Aside from the lunatic fringe that is making their own fuel, no-one is going to save money by using bio-diesel until the cost of petro-diesel increases significantly. I don't know what price level would actually result in widespread use of bio-diesel, but I suspect it would have to be in the $5/gallon range.