Diesel/ veg oil thing?

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landy10

New Member
having just bought another landy (200 tdi) i am interested in the bio diesel thing with the veg oil, whats the best mix to use and is it new or used oil and do you need to add kerosine or similar?

Any help from the font of knowledge always appreciated
 
I've just started using veg/oil but have done a lot of reasearch. Start at 50/50 and see how you get on. Then increase the mix upto about 85/15 You can run 100% Veg oil but it's really needs preheating if you do. There are kits out there that'll do the job. Don't add Kerosene or white spirit If you do it ceases to be "bio-diesel" and becomes a liable for full duty. If it get too cold this winter just increase the amount of diesel.
 
do you have any extra maintainance to do on the engine,I only ask because I'd heard that as the veg oil cools and congeals it could block your injectors, I know that is at least the case if running neat veg oil. does it mix well with the diesel to prevent this from happening do you think ? do you notice any drop in performance ?
 
do you have any extra maintainance to do on the engine,I only ask because I'd heard that as the veg oil cools and congeals it could block your injectors, I know that is at least the case if running neat veg oil. does it mix well with the diesel to prevent this from happening do you think ? do you notice any drop in performance ?

Not yet but then I only put it in yesterday. General concensus seems to be that if it's a mix it's no different to running on diesel though you need to change your filter after the 1st 500 miles as the vegoil cleans all the gunk out of the tank and fuel lines. If ur running 100% veg oil you need a small startup tank of diesel, and a preheater to thin the oil.
 
what about after the first 500 miles how often would you change the filter then. As I understand if you're running neat veg oil the start up tank of diesel would have to be engaged just before you switch the engine off to clean the injectors. Let us know how you crack on, certainly very interested.
 
what about after the first 500 miles how often would you change the filter then. As I understand if you're running neat veg oil the start up tank of diesel would have to be engaged just before you switch the engine off to clean the injectors. Let us know how you crack on, certainly very interested.

After the 1st filter change you just switch to normal service interval. with a twin tank yes you have to switch over on start up and before switching off. Too much hassle for my liking I'll just stick to a mixture I think.
 
After the 1st filter change you just switch to normal service interval. with a twin tank yes you have to switch over on start up and before switching off. Too much hassle for my liking I'll just stick to a mixture I think.


My sentiments exactly definitely gonna give it a go especially after reading that cracking link. Cheers .:)
 
There's absolutely nothing to worry about running veg oil through your engine. I'd suggest starting at a little less than 50/50 first though, just to see what you think Maybe 30/70.

It wont really block up your injectors or any other part of your engine unless it meets water. Air doesn't have that great an effect on it. To see the effect, pour a bottle of morrisons, or asdas veg oil (not crisp n dry, too expensive) into your tank but leave a little drop in the bottle. Swill the bottle out with hot or cold water and it'll go a little cloudy and stick hard to the sides of the bottle. If you're still not satisfied blend a little diesel and some vegetable oil in the bottle, screw the lid on, run it under the hot then cold tap and leave it for a day or two. It just looks like ordinary fuel, no solids.

As long as it is mixed with diesel and there's no water in the system, there's nothing to worry about. You only need a heater kit to heat the oil up and thin it down a little if you're running on it 100% because it is thicker than diesel, and it will put a little extra strain on the pistons because it's harder to compress than standard diesel. Once your engine has warmed up, the oil doesn't need to be heated because the heat from your engine heats it up and thins it out enough to compress to its optimum potential its self.

It's good stuff. Just make sure that you change your fuel filter after one thousand miles (no less, it wont have collected anything) because veg oil is good at cleaning any crap out of your fuel tank and fuel lines leading up to the filter.

-Pos
 
If I hadn't bought a smart veg kit I would have mixed it in the one tank. Its really easy.

Mine starts and runs on diesel utill warm enough, then switches over to veg. Its real neat but costs a bit. I got a bust one off ebay and fixed it. Shame I knew nothing about the land rover fuel system.

Working ok now though. Thanks to these fine fellows.
 
To see how vegetable oil responds to your engine try this:

  1. Make a dish / cup out of tin foil
  2. Pour a measure of vegetable oil into the dish
  3. Heat the dish over a flame until the oil is hot (notice that it swishes as freely as diesel now)
  4. Remove the flame
  5. Put the vegetable oil into the fridge to cool

This is basically the same process that it goes through in your engine, all apart from that is, energy transfer and used hyrdocarbons being excreted through the exhaust system. It is simply heated up so that it thins down like diesel, then cooled to its original state, leaving no deposits, but still fluid enough to travel through your fuel system.

-Pos
 
I filter waste veg oil (WVO) I get from a local restaurant. I have successfully run my 2.5TD on a 50/50 mix of waste veg oil and diesel.
I am now trying 90% WVO with 10% unleaded petrol. Runs OK though I really need to change the fuel filter now as it is blocking up with all the rubbish from the tank. Another excuse to give the wife to visit Challenger 4x4 and look at the offraod goodies.
 
I am now trying 90% WVO with 10% unleaded petrol.

I take it you are aware that if you get pulled and they dip your tank the addition of petrol removes The Bio-fuel element and make you liable for the full duty. and/or confiscation of your vehicle If you haven't informed HMR&C. The 2500ltr duty free only applies to bio-fuels/veg oil. If you add petrol, kerosene white spirit or anything similar then you have to pay the full road fuel duty.
 
Veg oil, either new or used, isn't bio-diesel it is classed as a replacement fuel for diesel and as such attracts the relevant duty, making new veg oil actually more expensive than forecourt diesel if you own up and pay the duty.
 
Bio diesel, (not to be confused with bio ethanol) is made from rape seed oil, which is the main ingredient in vegetable oil. Vegetable oil is pure bio fuel if you use it to run your vehicle, but when it is produced in industry it is thinned down and filtered with other chemicals such as ethahnol (not bio ethanol) to become what we comonly know as bio diesel.

A couple of months ago the government changed the legilsation gegarding bio diesel and the tax implications that go with it. They produced a chart that showed how many miles you could run on bio diesel per year before you have to pay tax. The margins are very generous, but the actual strategy can not be monitored, so you can effectively run on vegetable oil without having to declare it or pay tax.

-Pos
 
I know what bio-diesel is made from. I also know that from a customs and excise point of view bio-diesel and veg oil are two different things. We've been through all this before and I can't be arsed doing it again but next time you see the ministry blokes pulling wagons over to give them the once over why not pull up alongside, tell them your tank is full of veg oil that you have no intention of paying any duty on, and see what happens. Don't forget to post the results on here for us all to enjoy.:D
 
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