2GO kit for using biodiesel in Golf V

[peter]

Hi,
The owner's manual for my golf 2.0 TDI says the 2GO kit should be fitted prior to the use of RME (ie bio) diesel.

Any idea what this kit consists of?

I came across the media release for Freedom fuels about biodiesel being available in Brisbane so am thinking of giving it a go. But what of this 2GO kit??

cheers
Peter

[Seano]

You may want to check with VW tecnical people (ie head office not a dealer) but I don't think you'll have much need to fit this kit (whatever it consists of). I suspect that the kit refers to pure biodiesel which is often a fuel of choice in Europe. Wheras the fuel through Freedom is a biodiesel blend 20% BD and 80% diesel.

Technically, this BD blend should then be in conformance with current diesel standards legislated by Government (currently Euro4 compliant?)..........same as for your typical diesel.

[peter]

Response from VW was as expected. They "strongly recommended not to use" biodiesel because of a lack of legislation over biodiesel fuel quality and specifications.

The 2GO kit, as it turns out, is not dealer fitted but a factory order option, which consists of a fuel heater, (extra?) filters and "various technical modifications". I suppose, we are not really at any risk of gelling which eliminates the need for a fuel heater. As for the filters... I found some extra information in this discussion paper on biodiesel released by the federal government in 2003 (http://www.deh.gov.au/atmosphere/fue...esel-paper.pdf) about the specific qualities of (bio)diesels which may contribute towards...

- injector clogging
- contamination of engine oils
- accelerated corrosion in fuel lines
etc.

One thing I hadn't thought about was that biodiesel has metallic contaminants, because of the alkali catalyst that is used (NaOH, KOH etc). Petro-diesel standards don't cover this. There are biodiesel standards established since 2003 (http://www.deh.gov.au/atmosphere/fue...sel/index.html) but are they legislated? Do biodiesel producers even have anything to comply with?

They may well be self regulating the quality of bd at present, but who knows?? More digging is needed I think.

[gldgti]

there is a standard that commercial BD is made to - ususally signage is at the pump about the standard used.

this standard, if i may say so, is poor. i often put B60 (60% bio) from volume plus in my IDI 1.5, but it can handle anything (almost) because of my own modifications. the b60 from volume plus is crappy really. i know because dads home made b100 is not only totally see through, clean smelling and free from particles of any kind due to much filtering, it also smells better, runs better and burns better.

Dad works to his own high standard. obviously the australian current standard isn't much chop.

good luck. I stronly support the use of B-anything, but be careful.

aydan

[Moonan]

Don't judge biodiesel standards by what Volume plus cut their diesel with!
The bio will have been made to the AS, but what volume plus add to it is giving biodiesel a bad name (witness your experience, and obvious thought that it is the biodiesel component of your fuel that is bad). Check out this link at the biofuels forum, they are mostly to be avoided. They may be cleaning up their act a bit, but buyer beware! http://www.biofuelsforum.com/austral..._sydney-5.html
IMHO biodiesel manufactured to the Australian std, either straight (B100) or blended with ULSD (also to standard) will not harm your PD TDI engine.
If your Golf has "not for biodiesel" or similar sticker inside the fuel door, then that means you have a diesel particle filter in your exhaust, and VW do not guarantee that the resulting exhaust will meet the latest euro emmissions std unless it is reacting with ULSD (rather than bio).
As for the factory "kit" (modification) for RME, I have ascertained that (at least for an R5 Touareg) it consists of a fuel pre-heater and (maybe) a larger capacity filter. You don't need the heater in Brisbane, and filtration will only be a problem if you get bad fuel (petro- or bio- diesel), then it will start to block, and you will notice a drop in heavy-load acceleration in plenty of time to get it replaced.

hope this helps

[gldgti]

Thanks for clarifying that for us Neil - i had wondered about the volme plus stuff - seems like bad marketing to cut the fuel and make it worse than it needs to be..

[gldgti]

everyone should read that thread on the biofuels forum! all i can say is read it!

[Moonan]

everyone should read that thread on the biofuels forum! all i can say is read it!

Yeah, and I pointed you to the 5th page of that thread, where the stuff about VP got really interesting!
I agree - read it everyone!

gldgti, if you want some good commercial bio, you only have a short drive to Rutherford, where the factory is. Only hassle is that he doesn't have a trade-registered bowser, and needs to fill (from BIG nozzle) into a drum (known quantity). Usually 200 litre minimum. I bought 400l last week. Currently (due to canola drought) the price is 1.20/litre, so you need to have an environmental conscience or some similar affliction to bother at the moment. A while ago, when bio was 1.10 and petro-diesel was 1.45 the decision was easier!

cheers,

[Seano]

When I can I use these guys.... http://www.farmersfuel.com.au/PremiumDiesel.html

Their full biodiesel product is a little hard for me to get but their premium diesel is a good product - the T4 likes it.

[Edison]

Everyone on that forum is going to be working for the oil companies soon, they are so totally playing into their hands. If you were an oil company under pressure to sell BD then what could you do? say no? you'd lose, possibly to legislation requiring it. So you sell some BD, what can you do then? a huge ad campaign full of lies and deciept, well yes, but why risk it? Just get someone to sell absolute crap that ruins everyones car call it BD and then sit back and ENJOY THE RESULT.
A current affair "Learn how BD turns you dream of a low price alternative into your worst nightmare (everything ACA has is always your worst nightmare).
newspapers "BD ruins hundreds of cars, drivers plan Class action"
Serously, nothing could go wrong with that plan, except people force them through the fair trade and court to clean it up...
anyhow I'm not on that forum, feel free to cut and paste.

[portalpie]

If your Golf has "not for biodiesel" or similar sticker inside the fuel door, then that means you have a diesel particle filter in your exhaust, and VW do not guarantee that the resulting exhaust will meet the latest euro emmissions std unless it is reacting with ULSD (rather than bio).
As for the factory "kit" (modification) for RME, I have ascertained that (at least for an R5 Touareg) it consists of a fuel pre-heater and (maybe) a larger capacity filter. You don't need the heater in Brisbane, and filtration will only be a problem if you get bad fuel (petro- or bio- diesel), then it will start to block, and you will notice a drop in heavy-load acceleration in plenty of time to get it replaced.

hope this helps

Hello Neil,

So are you suggesting that it is possible to use BD in your new gold that has a no BD sticker? I bought the Golf because it was Diesel and was expecting that this would mean that I could use biodiesel. It was not until I first went to refuel that I noticed the sticker.

Thanks
Morgs

[dmm_au]

I just read this article

http://www.npnrg.com/biodieselsupport.php

The quote is "In response to the increasing market appeal of biodiesel Volkswagen instigated a three-phase program to test and ultimately promote the use of biodiesel in their vehicles. Phase 1 includes B5 testing and extension of VW’s US warranty policy. Phase 2 expands this testing to B20 research with fleets in Germany and US. Phase 3 involves research and demonstration fleets. Volkswagen has already completed Phase 1 and is enthusiastically working toward the next phases."

[portalpie]

I just read this article

http://www.npnrg.com/biodieselsupport.php

The quote is "In response to the increasing market appeal of biodiesel Volkswagen instigated a three-phase program to test and ultimately promote the use of biodiesel in their vehicles. Phase 1 includes B5 testing and extension of VW’s US warranty policy. Phase 2 expands this testing to B20 research with fleets in Germany and US. Phase 3 involves research and demonstration fleets. Volkswagen has already completed Phase 1 and is enthusiastically working toward the next phases."

Does this relate to current models that have been sold in the last 18 months?

[DutchAussie]

I just read this article

http://www.npnrg.com/biodieselsupport.php

The quote is "In response to the increasing market appeal of biodiesel Volkswagen instigated a three-phase program to test and ultimately promote the use of biodiesel in their vehicles. Phase 1 includes B5 testing and extension of VW’s US warranty policy. Phase 2 expands this testing to B20 research with fleets in Germany and US. Phase 3 involves research and demonstration fleets. Volkswagen has already completed Phase 1 and is enthusiastically working toward the next phases."

It puzzles me why VW had to test the effect of 5% Biodiesel in Petrodiesel.
The European VW's have been running on 5% Biodiesel for years!
It is mandatory to have 5% Biodiesel in Diesel in Europe.

Regards,

Arie