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  #1  
Old 10-29-2002, 10:56 PM
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Talking Veg oil in 300D turbo

Greetings all,

Haven't seen much in here recently about running on alternative fuels. Just for those who may be considering, I'm having great results running a blend of 30% filtered, waste vegetable oil / 70% diesel in my '84 300 D turbo. Just pouring the veg oil straight into the tank at fillup. The car definitely runs BETTER on this blend. No black smoke on hard acceleration, better pickup, and smoother, quieter idle. Only downside is the exhaust smells like fast food. Besides all that, the stuff is free!

I installed a Greasel conversion and did 8000 miles on straight waste veg oil in my '85 Golf. Plan to convert the 300 in next week or so. I'll let you know how it goes.

Fred Burgess
'84 300D turbo (379,000 miles and counting)

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  #2  
Old 10-30-2002, 09:29 AM
Fimum Fit
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I've been blending in used peanut oil as a "fuel extender"

for about 2 months now. The vehicle is an '85 300TD with 324,000 miles; I get the peanut oil free from a famous local tourist trap seafood place and then heat it just past 212 degrees to get out any water and filter it carefully. In warmer weather when I was getting ready for several road trips of some distance, I went as high as 40%, but now I shall stay in the 15% to 20% range, since nights below freezing are not out the question at this time of the year in SE Virginia.

Are you tuned in regularly to the biodiesel site on infopop and also tdiclub.com? The infopop site has a special section for SVO and WVO users and lots of info from Australians who have been doing this to run their generators in the outback for decades.

P.S. The hot topic on these sites lately has been the road tax situation -- there was recently a big crackdown in Wales, where police at street intersections were instructed to arrest anyone whose car's exhaust smelled like food, and this problem is expected to spread rapidly. I obtained the necessary documents to properly pay the tax in VA, and it requires a 19 page registration form, posting a $2000. bond, and a monthly report, with payment (which would be about $1.75 per month for me, at .17 and a fraction per gallon); the Federales (.24 and a fraction per gallon) have a simpler form and only require a report every 3 months.

Last edited by Fimum Fit; 10-30-2002 at 09:46 AM.
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  #3  
Old 10-30-2002, 11:35 AM
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Re: I've been blending in used peanut oil as a "fuel extender"

Quote:
Originally posted by Fimum Fit
P.S. The hot topic on these sites lately has been the road tax situation -- there was recently a big crackdown in Wales, where police at street intersections were instructed to arrest anyone whose car's exhaust smelled like food, and this problem is expected to spread rapidly. I obtained the necessary documents to properly pay the tax in VA, and it requires a 19 page registration form, posting a $2000. bond, and a monthly report, with payment (which would be about $1.75 per month for me, at .17 and a fraction per gallon); the Federales (.24 and a fraction per gallon) have a simpler form and only require a report every 3 months.
I saw that Wales story earlier this month and was shocked.

Biodiesel Outrage!!

Of course, the obvious question is how will Americans move toward using SVO/Biodiesel while avoiding road taxes, and in the process not getting popped.

I say "avoid road taxes" because what self-respecting true-blue American will voluntarily mail in a form to their government indicating that, "I used 100 gallons of canola this month, Sir."
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  #4  
Old 10-30-2002, 03:30 PM
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So how does one pay road tax on an all-electric vehicle?

Ken300D
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  #5  
Old 10-30-2002, 03:39 PM
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Exactly. They give tax incentives for hybrids and this is a diesel/veg oil, cleaner burning hybrid. I figure I just collect the incentive as I go down the road. Besides, I still use diesel.(to startup and shut down.)..just a whole lot less than before!
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  #6  
Old 10-30-2002, 03:52 PM
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Can you explain how you use diesel "to start up" and 'shut down' and why?
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  #7  
Old 10-30-2002, 05:03 PM
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If you just blend some veg oil in the tank with your diesel you don't have to do anything special. Just keep it to 20% or less and you shouldn't have any problems starting, even in cold weather.

To run straight veg oil you need to install a second, heated tank. You can see (and buy) this kind of setup at greasel.com Trick is to start the car on diesel, then switch to veg oil after the engine is warmed up and oil is heated. Have to switch back to diesel before you shut down so you don't end up with cold, thick veg oil in your injection pump, etc., which might cause problems when you start up later. So, it requires a little bit of attention to things and isn't so great for lots of short trips. For short trips you might as well just run straight diesel or a blend in the stock tank.

I just enjoy fooling with the car, and I only paid $860 for my 300D turbo, so I don't have a big investment on the line! (that's the line for my wife...we aren't going to add up parts receipts!)
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  #8  
Old 10-30-2002, 07:40 PM
The Least of These
 
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Fred,

That sounds great!!! Now you really have me thinking... I have a '92 300D that I drive about 500-800 miles a week. I would love to save as much as I can on fuel. Just a few questions:

Is there any conversion needed in order to run filtered or straight veg oil like you are now?

Can you go back and forth with blended veg/diesel and straight diesel?

How do you filter the waste veg oil?

Thanks for your thoughts.
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  #9  
Old 10-30-2002, 08:57 PM
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In a pinch, could I add supermarket vegetable oil to my tank? If so, what is the maximum concentration? 20%? 30%? I was in NYC driving home and I just barely made it. The car was kind of shaking a bit when I finally pulled into a fuel station. Could I have added a few liters of clean veg. oil to a few gallons of diesel? Thanks.

Alex
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  #10  
Old 10-30-2002, 09:00 PM
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I have read of people walking into a supermarket, buying vegetable oil and putting it in their tank. This is particularly attractive to people in the UK where fuel taxes raise the price of diesel way about the cost of cooking oil.
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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13
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  #11  
Old 10-30-2002, 09:02 PM
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I believe that there was a guy awhile back that was buying it at Walmart and dumping it straight into his tank. No mix whatsoever. He was from Wales or something like that where the veggie oil from the shelf was actually cheaper than diesel.

The forum mentioned earlier in this thread is a very fun place to browse. There is a story there about a guy who took a car into Mexico and only used WVO. He'd go until he'd run out and then start begging grease. It was a hugely read thread and covered 2-3 weeks on his journey.

Don
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DAILY DRIVERS:
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'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)

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  #12  
Old 10-30-2002, 09:15 PM
geojer
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good biodiesel site.

I've looked into this quite a bit over the past few months, and bought a MB diesel to do this project. The main purpose of shutting down on diesel is to prevent coking in the injectors which vegetable oil can cause. Veggie oil has actually proven a better lubricant than diesel in the engine as proven by higher compression on motors previously run on diesel and currently run on veg (go to website at the end of this post to see these data). The MB indirect injection engine is probably one of the best bio diesel motors out there. Pump is lubricated by hot engine oil that helps heat veg oil, veg oil is more viscous than diesel so needs to be "thinned" in order for your motor to run properly. You can do this by chemical conversion before putting it into your tank (deesterfication) or by heating it before it hits the combustion chamber. The MB also has those little spheres that the fuel hits against before combusting, this helps to atomize the mixture. Basically these motors were made to run on all kinds of fuel since they were sold all over the world, and the quality of diesel varies quite a bit depending on where you are....go to eastern europe sometime and check out the air quality from all the "dirty diesel" sold there.
for lots of good info. check out this site....
http://www.biofuels.ca
they sell the kits, but more importantly the guy that designed the system is very helpful and knowlegeable. The subject of his masters thesis (which is available online) is running biodiesel in a VW rabbit. hope this helps.
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  #13  
Old 10-30-2002, 09:17 PM
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I saw in car magazine, a while back, that there were these people driving cross country in a W123 TD running on Hemp oil. Wonder what the exhaust smelled like on that car hmmmmmmmm. I have never looked into it, but off the shelf what would it cost to buy a whole gallong of veg. oil. Is it cost effective.
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  #14  
Old 10-30-2002, 09:29 PM
geojer
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It takes a little more work, but you can get fuel for free. Go to your local chinese restarurant and offer to cart away thier fuel. At first they will think you are crazy, but when they realize you will RELIABLY come and get it they will be glad to give it to you (they have to pay to get rid of it).
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  #15  
Old 10-30-2002, 10:02 PM
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Rick,
I only inquired about the veg. oil because I was kind of in an emergency situation. I don't think I'd do it on a regular basis, but I wanted to know if I could if I were in some kind of pinch. I wouldn't never try to run it on pure veg. oil, but adding a few liters to a few gallons would help tremendously in a crunch. Thanks.

Alex

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