Glow plugs knackered?

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What about a 300 running on biodeisel ???


In that case a short glow will probably help a lot to get it fired up quickly, which saves the starter motor from needing turning too long. On a really cold day if you don't glow it, the battery may go flat before it fires up. WITH glow, it should fire up quickly no matter how cold it is.

BioDiesel is generally less easy to ignite from cold, but makes the engine run more smoothly, which you should notice.

Once the engine is running on BioDiesel, the emissions from the exhaust will be MUCH less, and you will smell the Bio quite easily.

CharlesY
 
Just watch yourself with Bio-diesel, there's a lot of companies who don't know what they're doing with it. I used to buy it from a local man 15 minutes away, who was selling it from a large plastic container in his garage. He bought it in bulk from Spen Valley Bio-Diesel in Bradford, and the fuel was pure ****e. At least one third of the plastic tank contained glycerine which had settled in his garage. This is what you're paying the 'bio-diesel processing' companies to remove. He tried selling me a 20 litre can of glycerine at one stage so I told him where to go. I also ran two tank loads from Leeds Bio-fuels in Sturton and there was too high a quantity of ethanol, which basically dissolved the adhesive that holds the paper element into my fuel filter. It was a Britpart, but the same happened with a Cooper and a Fram fuel filter. The best thing to do is just run it on pure veg oil, but thin it down yourself with 10% white spirit. Some home tests that I've run myself prove that it doesn't congeal under cooler temperatures. It does, however, saturate when it absorbs water / moisture.

-Pos
 
I'm upto 60/40 at the moment (asits getting cooloer), and have no problem starting - is use highly filtered WVO from a local bar - infact it starts better than when on pure diesel - i suspect this is because the injectors are leaking slightly and loosing pressure when its switched off, and the slightly thickened oil leaks less.
 
Good point - well made. Not so sure about the Puma engines either as it has optical sensors in the fuel line to look for contaminated fuel. If it cant see through the fuel the ECU wont let it crank let alone start. Completely rules out used engine oil unless you can bypass the optical sensor.

That probably isn't difficult.

Measure it's resistance (disconnected) when looking at clean fuel in the line.

Go buy a resistor of that value from Maplins. It might cost as much as 10p.

Connect that resistor across the wires that used to connect to the sensor.

With any luck the system will think "Coo, look at that lovely clear smelly expensive Dino-Diesel!" when in fact you are running on filtered used engine oil that is as black as The Earl of Hell's waistcoat.

CharlesY
 
Just watch yourself with Bio-diesel, there's a lot of companies who don't know what they're doing with it. I used to buy it from a local man 15 minutes away, who was selling it from a large plastic container in his garage. He bought it in bulk from Spen Valley Bio-Diesel in Bradford, and the fuel was pure ****e. At least one third of the plastic tank contained glycerine which had settled in his garage. This is what you're paying the 'bio-diesel processing' companies to remove. He tried selling me a 20 litre can of glycerine at one stage so I told him where to go. I also ran two tank loads from Leeds Bio-fuels in Sturton and there was too high a quantity of ethanol, which basically dissolved the adhesive that holds the paper element into my fuel filter. It was a Britpart, but the same happened with a Cooper and a Fram fuel filter. The best thing to do is just run it on pure veg oil, but thin it down yourself with 10% white spirit. Some home tests that I've run myself prove that it doesn't congeal under cooler temperatures. It does, however, saturate when it absorbs water / moisture.

-Pos

You have been buying dodgy bio diesel, are these people claiming to be proper bio diesel makers? If they are selling it should meet fuel standards. If it's not and you suspect it is not fit for use then tell them and also point out to them that they are therefore not selling up to spec diesel fuel which it must be to be sold.

The glycerine that you were seeing in the guys tank means that they were selling the bio diesel too soon after making it and not letting it settle out properly. That is all they had to do, for large quantities wait a few days, even a week and it will settle out perfectly.

Too much alcohol (methanol or ethanol) also shows they are not actually sure of their chemistry and are just going for the "more will be better" plan which as you saw failed.

If I had to choose between bio and veg oil, I would go for bio diesel every time. It just deals with so many of the issues veg oil presents.
 
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Err I didn't think I got a choice on whether the glow plugs glow - don't they come on with the ignition?

And I'm on my 3rd tank of Bio - loverly smell :D
They come on when you turn the ignition on, you have a choice as to whether you crank the engine straight away or wait for the glow plug light on the dash to go out. The length of time this takes depends on how cold it is
 
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