Running a 200tdi on biodiesel

I'm looking to run my 200tdi defender on biodiesel (not SVO ). As far as I understand, this should be fairly straight forward, I just need to watch the fuel filter after the first few hundred miles and I may need to change some hoses.

How can I tell if the hoses fitted aren't suitable and need to be replaced?

who said you needed to change some hoses ?

seanmoore2006 said:

who said you needed to change some hoses ?

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I've been led to believe that biodiesel is a better solvent than petrodiesel and can effect natural rubber parts.

pishmishy said:

I've been led to believe that biodiesel is a better solvent than petrodiesel and can effect natural rubber parts.

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not heard that one before, did a hose rep tell you that ?

seanmoore2006 said:

not heard that one before, did a hose rep tell you that ?

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Here's two sources...
Biodiesel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
And this one

looks to be just poor quality fuels that might do it

seanmoore2006 said:

looks to be just poor quality fuels that might do it

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Neither source reads like that to me As far as I can tell biodiesel does slowly dissolve natural rubber. From the sound of it - it's not an issue someone's had with land rovers.

What else I've read seems to indicate that it's a problem that'll occur slowly if at all so there'll be time to catch it as long as it's being watched for.

1. Biodiesel is a great solvent. this means that it attacks rubber hoses and seals. This is not a problem with post-about-1994 vehicles as they have biodiesel-compatible materials. With older vehicles we have seen flexible fuel lines and return lines slowly swell and lose their grip. Luckily replacement of these hoses is an easy job. Seals inside the fuel pump would be harder to replace but we have not heard evidence of problems with these. The solvent quality of biodiesel also means that it will dissolve any gunk in your fuel tanks and more than likely deposit it in your fuel filter. The solution: change fuel filter within 1000 miles of switching to biodiesel (or when problems such as sluggish performance manifest themselves). Almost all the reported problems we have come across with biodiesel have either been due to very poor quality fuel (not from us!) or due to a blocked fuel filter.

Natural rubber hoses maybe, but they're affected by mineral diesel too and haven't been used by most car manufacturers for fuel lines for flippin' ages.

Where, other than the fuel tank, were you planning on putting the BioD ? If you're not planning on using it for windscreen wash or coolant - then the only possibility for hoses that would need replacing would be fuel tank to lift pump , lift pump to fuel filter and injection pump return to fuel filter.

I've just been out to look at mine and, while I suppose it's impossible to be absolutely sure without testing a bit of each pipe, mine certainly look like a polyurethane rather than rubber - way too thin walled to be rubber.

Hope that helps,

Yep Thats correct

If you got a older vehicle older than about 10yrs watch your fuel lines as it seems that bio doesnt like older rubber composites on the 300tdi to make sure i ran a new run of top quality fuel line from the tank to the main filter ont to the pump & PS dont forget your return hose if in doubt replace them ( you can good quality hose by the mtr from any good motor factorers)

With regard to the fuel filter - Bio (depending on the mix) tends to be a little more acidic than derv and so will have a flushing effect on your tank thus flushing anything down the lines towards you main filter.

I run my 300tdi & 2001 Range Rover p38 on Bio /( German DIN spec which is a 10% - 15% mix) runs fine in both cases.
The RR i Run a tank of bio on my weekly trip and then a tank of good quality Derv - each week i do about 750-800 miles mainly motorway
When i did change over i started fueling it with Bio for about 200 miles befoe it needed a main service and so the filter change was taken care of during the service
With the 300tdi /(the weekend vehicle) its on mostly always bio and no problems whats so ever - it was trialed yesterday & saw no drop in performance either off road or on! (ironically i have had more problems with crappy derv than decent bio)
When i changed over to bio on this i placed a in line filter just out side the main tank (Please note i use a electric pump to push diesel to the main filter and have by-passed the engine mounted mechanical pump)

As the in-line filter became blocked i justed pop it off when i became fouled.

hope the info helps

PS we run bio on out renault scenic "runnabout" too without problems

Sean,

1+1 != 3 mate.

What they're saying is:
1. BioD will dissolve rubber.
2. Most of their reported faults are not to do with rubber.

Most != All

Ergo, it's as easy to read into their statement that they have seen some faults with rubber components as it is that BioD doesn't affect rubber.

Yes BioD will affect rubber components... so will mineral diesel, just more slowly than BioD. Either way, replace them with something more inert

Adz said:

I've just been out to look at mine and, while I suppose it's impossible to be absolutely sure without testing a bit of each pipe, mine certainly look like a polyurethane rather than rubber - way too thin walled to be rubber.

Hope that helps,

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Thanks, that's pretty much what I was expecting to hear. I'll check the hoses first anyhow, it's a '93 200tdi so it's just about old enough that I may have to be careful.

Adz said:

Sean,

1+1 != 3 mate.

What they're saying is:
1. BioD will dissolve rubber.
2. Most of their reported faults are not to do with rubber.

Most != All

Ergo, it's as easy to read into their statement that they have seen some faults with rubber components as it is that BioD doesn't affect rubber.

Yes BioD will affect rubber components... so will mineral diesel, just more slowly than BioD. Either way, replace them with something more inert

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yer but but but ....... hmmm i sorta see where your coming from now i have re-read it

does left-over food affect the rubber?

From plate to engine: French city powers buses with food scraps - Yahoo! News UK

For God's Sake tip the stuff in the tank and get on with life, driving a faster smoother more economical car with less pollution than it ever had before!

Do not look for problems where none exist.

The 200 tdi is a PERFECT engine for biodiesel - none better.

I suggest in winter you stand by to cut it with some kerosene to help cold starting and keep the viscosity good, but other than that go for it.

If it was me, I would always have some DERV in the tank too, maybe a gallon in five or so. Our ACTUAL EXPERIENCE says this seems to help things along very nicely.

CharlesY

Here Here Charles

youve hit the nail on the head