Veggie Oil Thread #687585

[AC7X]

Hey guys,

I know you're probably all sick of answering these questions, but I just want to be totally sure before I pour a liquid intended for frying bacon into my fuel tank!

So, can I really just tip, say, twenty litres of veggie oil into the fuel tank of my 300TDi without doing any damage? I'm thinking about a 70/30 diesel/oil mix...

Is it as simple as just filling up with diesel then adding vegetable oil (from a bottle bought at, say, Tesco) directly into the fuel tank when I get home?

What adverse effects are there to doing this? Clogged fuel filter, irreversibly totalled engine, etc.?

Do I need to take any other measures to make sure it runs smoothly?

Will the diesel and oil mix in the tank by themselves, or will they separate and get used separately?

Will I get the same MPG out of veggie oil?

And... Where's the best place to stock up on the stuff?

Sorry about all of the dumb noob questions guys, but it just seems bizarre to me, so I really want to make sure I've got the whole picture before I raid the kitchen cupboards...

(And feel free to answer any obvious questions I've forgotten about, or extra information!)

Cheers guys!

Alec.

 

[palace]

yes you can it is best to clean your sedimenter out first and have a spare fuel filter in the car at all times (never needed mine) I run a about 75% oil 25% diesel mix with no problems. occaisonally it is harder to start especially if it has been a cold night so a tin of easy start is worth having on board too. I once started it by using a blow torch unlit blowing butane down the air intake

 

[Norledge]

So, can I really just tip, say, twenty litres of veggie oil into the fuel tank of my 300TDi without doing any damage? I'm thinking about a 70/30 diesel/oil mix...

Yes - 70/30 is fine. I run 90% in this weather

Is it as simple as just filling up with diesel then adding vegetable oil (from a bottle bought at, say, Tesco) directly into the fuel tank when I get home?

Yes

What adverse effects are there to doing this? Clogged fuel filter, irreversibly totalled engine, etc.?

Change your filter more often (every 3k for me) and i'll be fine

Do I need to take any other measures to make sure it runs smoothly?

No - just check you glow plugs are in good nick

Will the diesel and oil mix in the tank by themselves, or will they separate and get used separately?

Mix in the Tank

Will I get the same MPG out of veggie oil?

I do

And... Where's the best place to stock up on the stuff?

Tesco - Bulk places (25 litre drums etc) tend to have anti foaming agents in the oil which isn't good.

 

[J.P.S]

yes you can it is best to clean your sedimenter out first and have a spare fuel filter in the car at all times (never needed mine) I run a about 75% oil 25% diesel mix with no problems. occaisonally it is harder to start especially if it has been a cold night so a tin of easy start is worth having on board too. I once started it by using a blow torch unlit blowing butane down the air intake

Easy start :doh: Dont use easy start on diesel! It will cost ya more in the long run!!! if it wont start normally then something IS wrong! i run 100% veg on a 200 tdi and even in winter it starts under its own compression! yes it may take a few turns but it will fire within five seconds!!! The blowtorch idea is cushty though, but i would use it lit and pointing into air intake! yes it will take two of ya, but its a million times better for ya engine than easy start!

 

[palace]

Easy start :doh: Dont use easy start on diesel! It will cost ya more in the long run!!! if it wont start normally then something IS wrong! i run 100% veg on a 200 tdi and even in winter it starts under its own compression! yes it may take a few turns but it will fire within five seconds!!! The blowtorch idea is cushty though, but i would use it lit and pointing into air intake! yes it will take two of ya, but its a million times better for ya engine than easy start!

Must say i have never had to use Easy start but would have given it asquirt when the battery is going flat and i cant start the bugger

 

[bobbler]

Dont clean the sedimenter or change the fuel filter until you have ran a few litres of veg through the system. A lot of peeps on here will tell you that once you start running on veggie it will drag lots of ****e through the fuel system and block filters etc so you will only have to replace them again once you have started (there will be a fair bit of crap in the system if its a tdi it will be at least 12 years old by now and prob covered a few miles in that time too).

I waited a month or 2 running on 70/30 or 60/40 derv/veg mix then cleaned up the sedimentor and changed the filter and it runs soo much better now

 

[AC7X]

Thanks for all of the help guys - I think I'll get a few bottles and try it out today. The car has been a bit more thirsty than I thought it would be (it's not significantly better on fuel than my 4.0 V8 Jag was!).

I'll wait to change the filter/sedimenter after a couple of months then - is this a job that can be done easily by somebody with no mechanical knowledge?

Also, the image of dragging crap through the engine isn't very nice - will this do any damage, or is there any way to avoid this?

Thanks again, Alec.

 

[bobbler]

The crap should get caught up in the sedimenter and fuel filter. As far as cleaning its a piece of ****.

For the sedimenter you need an 11mm spanner to release it using the bolt above it. The fuel filter on mine (300tdi) is at the back of the engine bay and screwed in by hand. If your still not sure might be worth investing in a haynes manual to help you with this and more jobs you will find in your landy ownership

 

[AC7X]

The crap should get caught up in the sedimenter and fuel filter. As far as cleaning its a piece of ****.

For the sedimenter you need an 11mm spanner to release it using the bolt above it. The fuel filter on mine (300tdi) is at the back of the engine bay and screwed in by hand. If your still not sure might be worth investing in a haynes manual to help you with this and more jobs you will find in your landy ownership

Sounds easy enough - think I already spotted the fuel filter when I was having a poke about the other day. I probably should get a Haynes - always seem pricy to me though..

 

[bobbler]

not when you consider a oil and filter change will set you back £60 - £100 notes

filter kit is around £8 from paddocks (oil, air, fuel)
decent oil can be had for around £30

plus it will give you routine maintenance tips so hopefully your landy will spend more time on the road and less time in a workshop

 

[sp33der]

Thanks for all of the help guys - I think I'll get a few bottles and try it out today. The car has been a bit more thirsty than I thought it would be (it's not significantly better on fuel than my 4.0 V8 Jag was!).

I'll wait to change the filter/sedimenter after a couple of months then - is this a job that can be done easily by somebody with no mechanical knowledge?

Also, the image of dragging crap through the engine isn't very nice - will this do any damage, or is there any way to avoid this?

Thanks again, Alec.

Eh? What mileage did you get in yer Jag? My Disco does circa 35mpg, surely the Jag didn't? Sure you haven't got a problem there? Or are Jags much better on fuel than I ever thought they would be?

 

[eltax91]

My 200TDi is doing about 25MPG - local roads and Green Lanes, a little bit of motorway. Is that not about right?

 

[sp33der]

I would have thought you should do a little better....I feel a new (it's been done before though!) thread coming on....

 

[AC7X]

Eh? What mileage did you get in yer Jag? My Disco does circa 35mpg, surely the Jag didn't? Sure you haven't got a problem there? Or are Jags much better on fuel than I ever thought they would be?

Umm, I think I managed about 22-23MPG on the jag. Fuel has gone up a bit in price since then so maybe it just feels worse than it is. The jag also purred like a, well, Jaguar, and went like buggery so I didn't feel so ripped off paying big bucks to run it!

Put £40 in the other day (from pretty much empty) and managed 190 miles(ish) before having to refill - not sure what this works out to as MPG? Got 12 litres of veggy oil in it now though and my pockets feel fuller already!

 

[J.P.S]

Umm, I think I managed about 22-23MPG on the jag. Fuel has gone up a bit in price since then so maybe it just feels worse than it is. The jag also purred like a, well, Jaguar, and went like buggery so I didn't feel so ripped off paying big bucks to run it!

Put £40 in the other day (from pretty much empty) and managed 190 miles(ish) before having to refill - not sure what this works out to as MPG? Got 12 litres of veggy oil in it now though and my pockets feel fuller already!

So how goes ya veggie oil experiment? Im pretty sure ya gonna be smiling

 

[AC7X]

Yeah - pleased so far with the veggie oil experiment. Getting more and more bold with it too - probably got more oil than diesel in it now! Seems to run fine - takes a little longer to start up on an early morning but otherwise totally fine.

If the price of diesel keeps dropping, and the tesco 3 for £2.50 offer expires then it maybe won't be enough of a saving to bother going in and buying 30 bottles of oil at a time at tesco!

But yeah, at the moment - nice little saving and the novelty of running on veggie hasn't expired! I actually like the chip shop smell from the exhaust, too!

 

[trax99]

Easy start = Crack for engines

every engine that has a whiff of that stuff ends up a hopeless junkie

 

[Felix]

I carry a blowtorch with me to get it started on cold mornings if it need it. But then I have only got two working glowplugs. I pop the hose off from the inter to plenum end and squirt in some gas. Then put the glow plugs on and crank the engine. Can be done with one person but easier with two. Even with 100% veg.

Felix

 

[rollin danny]

I dont know why but when I put veg oil in at 25% ratio it tends to stall at junctions even when engines warm.Maybe because its an auto . Ive got about 10% veggie in at the moment and it seems fine but more concentrated I get problems.I tried a couple of litres petrol with it and still the same. Still worth it because although Im only saving a few quid with 10% oil Im getting about fifty miles extra out of a tank so still worth the hassle.