B Zero, now that is a new one, haven`t heard that before.
For me there is just Diesel, and then all that other stuff.

a few yrs ago one of the stations started selling B-99, I didn`t know it until I went in to pay before I filled. had to sign some form that if their fuel screwed up my engine etc.... I couldn`t come back and have them pay for repairs or what ever.
had 1/2 a tank so now I have B-50, then a week later filled up, and now about B-891/2 . Didn`t notice any difference in the way the engine ran.( this is in my Datsun PU) they kept raising the price each time, so third time that was it. what ever is cheap is where I go.

later the County got involved, and now they can only sell B-5, that will really get us off foreign oil. I just love the government.
Thats 6.4 oz per gallon or 50 gallons in a 1000, that`s exciting.


My earliest memory of Diesel exhaust smell is the late 40`s when my Mom or Grandma would take me on the city buss. they were the old GM busses with the Detroit Diesels. They had a neat smell to them I don`t notice today with the newer engines and since the Diesel fuel has been screwed up.
then in the late 70`s or early 80`s I was running a Auston-Western Road grader with a 4-71 Detroit Diesel and it had that smell.

I love the sound of a Detroit Diesel 2 cycle, the Screamin jimmies.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

[QUOTE=jj500;2300562]Well my second cousin on my aunts side who is blood relative to my third uncle on my great grandmothers side knew a guy who heard from another guy that remembers hearing from his cousin twice removed on his aunts side that Biodiesel will probably , maybe definitely, make you sterile if you sniff the fumes.

When the family tree gets that screwed up, sterility is probably a blessing.(Remember, I'm from KY, so I know about this stuff). Seriously, we need a little levity on this alternative fuel discussion. Thanks.

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John Schroader
bio burnin' 83 300D, '83 300 SD, '79 240D
"I've never met a man who was good at making excuses who was good at anything else" Ben Franklin
"You cannot permanently help a man by doing for him what he could and should do for himself" Abraham Lincoln

You mean full bodied cancer.

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

Ive been making biodiesel for 5 or 6 years now.
My results:

78 300D, used only a little bio, had to change the line with the end plug on the #5 injector after 2 years. The end plug came out. 3 filter changes

87 300D used B 50-70 for a year, then used various blend up to B100 for 2 years. Havent changed a line yet. It had 177,000 miles when i got it, and 221,000 now. About 10 filter changes.

85 300D used Bio for 7 years. Havent changed a line yet. Havent had to change a filter yet, but have as regular maintanance.

79 300SD used bio for 4 or 5 years. This year all the return lines started weeping. Replaced them all. about 5 fuel filter changes.

87 300TD used bio for 3 months. No lines changed but this one has gone through 6 filter changes already!

My experience has been different with each car. Results WILL vary.

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1959 Gravely LI, 1963 Gravely L8, 1973 Gravely C12
1982 380SL
1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing
1987 300 D
2005 CDI European Delivery
2006 CDI Handed down to daughter
2007 GL CDI. Wifes

Properly made biodiesel contains no lye or alcohol.

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1980 300 TD

1997 Dodge Pickup/Cummins 5.9 12-valve

Congratulations, you must be very proud of yourself. You can blame your maintenance (or lack there of) problems on whatever makes you happy.

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'98 E300 turbodiesel

There is no lye in biodiesel. And hoses fail from the inside, most likely a filter will plug from the hose wall coming apart. Don't rely on external appearance.

When I ran B20, it cost more (still does), gave less power output, and quite a bit less mpg. (lost about 2-3mpg!). I went back to diesel right away. The smell difference was interesting but did not bother me.

How much time do you spend smelling your exhaust? That's not exactly a healthy activity....

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Lye is used in conjunction with methanol as a catalyst and while the material produced from the reaction is washed, some residue of both materials remains in the finished product. See: http://www.biodiesel.org/pdf_files/fuelfactsheets/Production.PDF

As a research project, I toured a biodiesel plant (Whole Energy) in Anacortes, WA and I personally witnessed the addition of potassium hydroxide (also known as lye) into the production process.

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327K on 1986 W201, 602.911, 722.414 2.5 190D ("The Red Baron")
139K on 1993 W124, 104.942, 722.433 2.8 300E ("Queen")

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/...0bb92d3c_m.jpg http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...g?t=1325284354

Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.
- Albert Einstein

take a walk down memory lane...

I *think* they were saying that if you make it properly, you get so much of the lye cleaned back out of the fuel before burning it that there shouldn't be enough left to affect the car.

Doesn't mean I trust it. But that may have been the point, rather than to claim it was never used period. Just guessing.

Well you know how it goes. Those closed and unventilated garages we work in for the winter month repairs when it's just too cold to be outside -- you want to be able to stand the smell of the engine running for hours on end while you try to diagnose that nit-picky "odd noise" problem you were chasing.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

I'm toying with making biodiesel... It's been an experience. From collecting the old oil, to learning how to do it, building a processor, etc...

There is lye and methanol used in the process... no doubt there.

Properly converted waste vegetable oil will contain very little of the conversion products (also sometimes called catalysts)

the excess methanol will evaporate.
and the excess lye is washed until the ph of the final product (the oil) approaches water.

If it won't pass at 3/27 (or is that 3/28 test), then I won't burn it.

We've been washing, untill the wash water is clear. That's usually been about 4 washes totally about 2X the amount of oil produced.

It has work GREAT in a home heating furnace... made hot water for weeks this summer. And we B10'd it in one car.... now we need to ramp up and make more.

I would think that ASTM (or whatever the acronym is) standard bio fuel will have no lye or methanol concerns.

I didn't like the smell of bio exhaust at first (it smelled like I had left oil in a frying pan too long), but it grew on me and I think I do prefer it to #2 diesel, though the traditional exhaust smell brings back memories of Germany where I first learned to like Mercedes diesels (they were everywhere!). I like the smell of raw biodiesel, and don't mind getting it on my hands. Not as tantalizing a flavour as petrol, but still nice

My local fueling stop seems to be using up to B5 now; I blend in between 20-75% B99, depending on the season, that I buy separately and store in fuel containers, so I am always spilling some somewhere, but make sure I wipe it up. Even after using B20 for a while, I had to replace all the fuel lines, including the ones under the fuel tank, but I suspect they were getting old. It's almost time to do return lines again - I think I'll try to get Viton ones this time.

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1976 240D "Katja"

Potassium hydroxide (KOH) is known as caustic potash. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is lye.

Transesterfication is a process that uses a catalyst, KOH or NaOH, and heat to cause a chemical reaction between triglycerides (veggie oil, animal fat) and methanol to make Fatty Acid Methyl Ester, commonly known as biodiesel.

The catalyst isn't used in the reaction and falls out of solution with the raw glycerine, unused methanol, any soaps made, unused free fatty acids, and other impurities. And yes, I make biodiesel.

I burn B100 in an '08 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD and an '82 300CD with zero problems. I make it for around $1.50 to $1.75 a gallon.

Since this thread has already left the paved road I'll ask why your cost of Bio is so high. Are you paying for the WVO? Are you recovering any Methanol?? Just wondering since I'm a noob and just starting to look at production exquipment. Thanks

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83 300D 227,xxx miles, sold
86 300 SDL 130,000 miles, sold

Likely was talking about pump store-bought biodiesel instead of homemade. They don't even sell it around here but apparently some states have biodiesel pumps in a high percentage of regular fueling stations. At an increased cost of course.

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL