Hello,

Just a little note here. I was running low on diesel this morning and the nearest diesel station was not near enough so I stopped at a convenience store and bought 3 bottles of Crisco veggie oil to put in the tank. I fired up the old 240D and away we went. I couldn't tell any difference. She ran just fine and wasn't as smokey on take off. Smells a tad different. This is not something I will do on a regular basis. I will, however, keep a gallon of veggie oil in the trunk just in case I might ever run out of diesel.

These ol' diesels are hard to beat. Long live the '82 240D!

Oilslick

That is a great story. I need to remember that.

Don

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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 local Costco has canola oil and soybean oil for about $13 for 4.5 gallons. Can I burn either one of those in my car? If so, I really want to try it and see what happens. Thanks.

Alex

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1983 300D (parked for four years)
2012 VW Sportwagen TDI Manual
2001 Miata SE
1962 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside

4.5 gallons for $13, works out to $2.88 a gallon. Now I know diesel prices have gone way up lately, but not that high. It's nice to know these workhorses would run on pure veg. oil in a pinch, but it's not cost effective.

__________________
1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

I just wanted to put in two gallons per fill up. It's definitely not cost efficient, but paying a little extra is worth satisfying my curiousity.

Alex

__________________
1983 300D (parked for four years)
2012 VW Sportwagen TDI Manual
2001 Miata SE
1962 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside

Actually it would probably be worth it to see peoples reaction to dumping veg. oil in to the fuel tank.

__________________
1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

I would be curious to see if it would work in a late model 300D 1991.

Yeah, try that in a gasoline car.

BTW: I was under the impression that straight veggie oil (SVO) needed to be heated prior to being fed to the injection pump due to the difference in viscosity between diesel and oil. Could this damage the pump?

Oh well, I guess if it isn't making any nonnormal noises, it can't be bad for it.

Sholin

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What else, '73 MB 280 SEL (Lt Blue)
Daily driver: '84 190D 2.2 5 spd.

I did some trials with used motor oil (filtered). I ran up to about 15% and think I noticed the viscosity problem. The car ran fine at speed but at idle it was quieter and seems to shake more.

Am I assuming from the post up above that the viscosity of WVO is more true since its been heated already?

Am picking up 5 gallons of WVO today to filter and try. Chinese

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

Rudolf Diesel originally invented the Diesel engine expressly for the purpose of burning veggie oil, to provide Germany with a homegrown fuel option. If you burn straight veggie oil for any length of time in your car without a flushing system (to leave the engine primed with petro- or bio-diesel fuel) you will run the risk of coking up. SVO/WVO systems like Greasecar and Greasel are based on a separate coolant-heated VO tank and fuel system - you start and end on diesel, but run on VO in between.
This is apparently not a new idea. A friend of mine was a grease monkey on a German freighter in the '60s, and they would run the big diesel engines on crude oil - by starting with diesel first and preheating the crude. Then they would flush with diesel before shutting down. Same idea, different fuel.
I just bought the Greasecar system for my 300D - I'll let you know how it works.

Don,

I think Belvario covered it. I've never burned WVO/SVO, but that's what I understand about it--start and end on Diesel.

Also, I'm concerned about burning WVO due to impurities. Seems like WVO might vary from batch to batch and have materials in it that you wouldn't want in your injection pump. Although: US diesel has stuff you don't want in your injection pump.

I've also heard (mostly rumors from Freds TDI site) that SVO is really hard on the Volkswagen PD pumps but isn't as bad on the older Mercedes pumps. MB pumps are in-line pumping cylinders and are simply mechanically stronger than the PD pump. Don't know for sure considering the info source.

I'd like to know your experiences.

Sholin

p.s Don: Darn man, you are into Diesel. Heck, I had totaly forgot that Chevy mad a Diesel Chevette. My girlfriend in High School (circa '84) had a gas auto model. What a total piece of junk, but with a Diesel, hmmmm, maybe some positive qualities. Of course, I have to admit, it was a tough car: simple engine, RWD, solid axle, not much to break.

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What else, '73 MB 280 SEL (Lt Blue)
Daily driver: '84 190D 2.2 5 spd.

Andy,
That greasecar kit looks great! Did you buy the deluxe or the starter one? Please let us know how the installation goes. I'd spend $500 for the starter kit just for the coolness factor

Alex

__________________
1983 300D (parked for four years)
2012 VW Sportwagen TDI Manual
2001 Miata SE
1962 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside

I got the deluxe kit with a 17-gallon aluminum tank. It fits nicely in the back of the 300D trunk and still leaves plenty of carrying space. Before you settle on the Greasecar kit also have a look at the Greasel kit. They now have a very nice triple hose setup that eliminates the compression fittings. I like the flush system on Greasecar better though. Greasel sells the triple hose by the foot - I'm seriously considering modding my Greasecar kit to use the Greasel hose...

On the subject of injection pumps and SVO/WVO - I have heard mixed signals on this. I've heard claims that the glycerin in the VO is actually nicer on the IP. As far as impurities go, you need to filter your oil down to 10 microns before thinking about running it through your fuel system anyway. Comparing diesel and WVO probably makes WVO look downright pure. Greasel sells some filtering bags that make oil filtering pretty easy, though they are not long-term reusable. I've been thinking about building a rig using a Frantz oil filter (replaceable element that's actually just a toilet paper roll(!) ).

If you're interested in the subject of running on SVO/WVO, I *highly* recommend getting Joshua Tickell's book "From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank" - it covers all the ways you can use VO as fuel from detailed instructions on brewing biodiesel to detailed instructions on SVO/WVO fuel system conversion. There are lots of technical details in there - it's not just an overview book. It's available from www.veggievan.org only I think.

A note on mixing VO with diesel - you should still flush with straight diesel to avoid coking of injectors and clogged fuel lines. Also, Josh Tickell says you should only mix #1 diesel (which is essentially kerosene). He ran a Rabbit for 5,000 miles on 20-30% kerosene and 70-80% VO. BUT - he had a separate tank for the VO and a flush system. He does not consider fuel mixing to be a viable long-term fuel approach (due to the instability of the fuel, coking problems, etc.) and recommends biodiesel or preheated SVO/WVO instead.

Where's FredMBurgess? He needs to be in on this thread