Biodiesel

[gldgti]

dads been running his washed bio for about 3 yrs now. (1500 ve pump)

he's replaced a few seals in the injector pump with viton (very scary stuff, if you read up on it, but excellent for IP seals when running ANY fuels). the seals have cost in the $2 range....

a fuel filter now and then.... the clear ones from supacheap are the go.

replaces the rubber lines with synthetic. he's tried quite a few different ones. PVC is good but goes hard over time..... there are many types... pirtek has a lot of different type of fuel tubing, as do performance car places....

none of this stuff is expencive or hard to do.

no issues as yet, and i think dads done about 120K on homemade b100 so far...

[imported_brackie]

dads been running his washed bio for about 3 yrs now. (1500 ve pump)

It's proper washing that's the key to problem-free biodiesel.

he's replaced a few seals in the injector pump with viton (very scary stuff, if you read up on it, but excellent for IP seals when running ANY fuels). the seals have cost in the $2 range....

Viton's the way to go. To my knowledge all modern injection pumps use viton seals. Did he replace them himself? Not many people have the courage to do it.

a fuel filter now and then.... the clear ones from supacheap are the go.

They'll remove big gunk but it would pay to install a trap before the main fuel filter. Peter j_g installed one on my red diesel and it was a wise move.

replaces the rubber lines with synthetic. he's tried quite a few different ones. PVC is good but goes hard over time..... there are many types... pirtek has a lot of different type of fuel tubing, as do performance car places....

Apparently the swelling effect of the biodiesel can restrict flow. I've even heard of pieces of rubber (in old hoses) breaking fee and being filtered out. Erosion?

none of this stuff is expensive or hard to do.

no issues as yet, and i think dads done about 120K on homemade b100 so far...

Excellent. Done properly biofuels will help us survive the oil crash. (Coming soon!) Even Honest John Howard admitted it in his beat up of the nuclear issue. It's scary when the pollies are admitting we've passed "Peak Oil".

[hiho]

Thanks for the detailed reply GtiGld and Brackie,

I replaced the glow plugs yesterday and this morning the car started!! I tested the old plugs and 1 was faulty. Enough to require a roll start down the nearest hill every morning. My neighbours must think that im nuts.

Next on the list is to roadwothy the 2 GLD's that cost $125 each (and they look it too). We will register one and sell the other. One needs a replacement short motor (which we have) and the other needs a head gasket (and hopefully not a new head)

Also I am planning a WVO conversion as we have excellent access to top quality used oil. THis will reduce the need to process all the oil we recieve. Will still use BD in the main thank though.

I just love these cars!!

[gldgti]

hi again...

to answer the question about the viton seals...

yes, dad has done it himself. he was a little worried to begin wih but got hold of some schematic data on the pump from somewhere i think, and had no trouble pulling it apart and replacing the seals himself.... as yet, i've not done it to my pump, mainly becuase i dont use bio all the time - about every 3rd tank.

about the filters...

a neat trrick that i think i've invented with those clear supacheap filters is to install two of them in parallel - this significantly decreases the flow rate through the filters and so i find that 1) the filters trap water and other sediment that might normally go through them in the bottom and 2) as a result they stay largly very clean, for longer.

my tank had quite a large amount of rubbish in it to begin with, and i found that for a while, having a sinlge filter installed would see me having fuelling issies after sometimes only 500km.... i switched to two filters and i could go many thousands of km without touching them.

i'd even reccommend it to people not using bio - the cleaner your fuel, the better!

[gldgti]

my 2 filters (left) just before replaceing them.

note - the pvc is a worthwhile modification! (air tubing that is!)

[imported_brackie]

Filters and traps

Here's a pic of the setup that peter j_g put in the red diesel.



If I were running on home made biodiesel it would be the minimum I would accept.

[brackie]

Reply

This is a test

[GoLfMan]

but if you are careful with your homemade bio-diesel and wash it properly it should be alright? keeping it in an airtight container also helps does it not?

[Edison]

Golfman : but if you are careful with your homemade bio-diesel and wash it properly it should be alright? keeping it in an airtight container also helps does it not?

I don't know, but I know it would be foolish not to try, the savings made by alternate fuels far outweigh the cost of anything it might wear out. Spending thousands of dollars on premium petrol to protect a $0.50c rubber hose in the engine has always struck me as false economy. Despite the best efforts of the oil co advertising.

[smithy010]

Dirty fuel tanks

I've heard from my fairly extensive research on biodiesel, that biodiesel acts as a cleaning product for all the gunge buildup from when you used petro diesel in you vehicle. It tends to make sense, since petro diesel is often extremely dirty and contains water- use of a diesel for ages would lead to rust and other buildup in the fuel system. If you use clean biodiesel (which is great for your engine), you will still get gunge and crap in your fuel filters for, i would estimate, probably the first half a dozen tanks full.

I haven't tested this theory, but i've heard it said on a couple of biodiesel sites.

I plan to weld up a Stainless steel fuel tank for my conversion. When i finally find a diesel engine.

Smithy

[GoLfMan]

smity... try and find a 1.9TDi and gearbox out of the mk4. if you stuffed one of these into a mk1 it would seriously fly... even better get a mk5 2.0TDi direct injection!!! talk to loon about importing engines he should know if you could source one of those

[syncro]

smity... try and find a 1.9TDi and gearbox out of the mk4. if you stuffed one of these into a mk1 it would seriously fly... even better get a mk5 2.0TDi direct injection!!! talk to loon about importing engines he should know if you could source one of those

Find out about the immobiliser first.

[Golf Loon]

Yeah or build your own loom and go aftermarket.

[syncro]

It's not the loom but the computer and the key must match.
I've seen a lot of van conversions with a key in the engine bay.

[smithy010]

Aftermarket diesels

Hmmmm, a Mk5 tdi- great if i had the cash.

For anyone planning on doing a custom (non VW) conversion, remember if the engine mounts are not oem, you will be smacked for an extra $500 engineers certificate.