BIO DIESEL

deian · Post by **deian** » 11 Aug 2006, 18:27

still cheaper, plus the added feelgood factor that you're doing your part for the environment, no worries caveman, not in a real rush, i will surely sniff it out sooner or later.

Just one question, say my lucas pump does act funny with biodiesel, can i just put normal diesel back in and it'll clear itself up?

thanks

BonceChops · Post by **BonceChops** » 11 Aug 2006, 20:17

deian wrote:Just one question, say my lucas pump does act funny with biodiesel, can i just put normal diesel back in and it'll clear itself up?

Yes, unless it knackers up the rubbish pump that is.

fivelighters · Post by **fivelighters** » 12 Aug 2006, 02:08

Guys i swear by it i used it in my xsara 98 td for ages the only problem was in the winter months it can freeze. My brother in law makes the stuff all above board of course. Hes a farmer and does a bit of haulage on the roads and by law on the uk roads you cant drive a tractor for more than 5 (i think) miles using red diesel or them custom people get you. He sells a lot to the lorry drivers that come over here as i have posted before at 65pence a litre in a 900litre cube(n.ireland) and as most of you know in the south of ireland fuel is cheap but not as cheap as the bio i think at the moment its 85 pence in or money thats about 1.20 euro or so. So to end the long story short your car will smell like the local chip shop

.... NOW DRIVING MY VTS SAXO LOVE IT AND ALAN S GOOD LUCK ON THE XSARA VTS YOU GOT A NICE MACHINE THOUGHT ABOUT 1 BUT WENT FOR THE SAXO. KEEPING THE BORA FOR THE SUNDAY CRUISE

f00lzz · Post by **f00lzz** » 13 Aug 2006, 13:49

slim123 wrote: I have run a diesel on veg oil for ages, quarter of a tank of diesel, the fill up with whatever is the offer of the month at the local supermarket, rape seed, corn oil, anything goes.

If you see someone walking out of Tesco's with a trolly full of veg oil, I havent got fat kids, it's my fuel.

Regards
Slim

Me too.... I understand that you should only do this if you have the Bosch pump..... I havent noticed any difference in running performance, but I only put about 12 litres per tank full in mine ..... from Costco by the way which I think is about 0.56p per litre..

KP · Post by KP » 14 Aug 2006, 19:09

Yeah after reading up the lucas pump soon dies a horrible death when its used unless its modified so im enquiring as to how much it would be to get a pump modified, get a used pump, get it refurbished and made veggie safe then keep the spare one and maybe get it done to it just incase

deian · Post by **deian** » 14 Aug 2006, 19:15

why is the lucas pump not so good with biodiesel then? what is it about it that makes it bad at the biodiesel? thanks

LeeDJC · Post by **LeeDJC** » 14 Aug 2006, 19:45

I think you guys are getting confused between biodiesel and SVO/WVO (straight/waste vegetable oil)

Biodiesel will work in ANY diesel with NON-natural rubber piping. Generally cars built after the early 90's. It can't be used in cars with natural rubber as the biodiesel will break these down.

S/WVO can be used quite safely in XUD engines with the BOSCH pump, not with the lucas pump though as it doesn't like the extra viscosity and breaks down very quickly.

I use SVO in my 1.9XUD with no problems. The only thing you need to watch is the viscosity. When the weather is cold you need to use about a 80% diesel to 20% SVO mix so as to reduce the viscosity. As the weather warms up you can use up to 100% SVO depending on the temperature. Some people use 95% SVO to 5% unleaded petrol, I can't personally recommend that as I haven't tried it myself.

The best thing to do is to start with a low amount of SVO, and increase the ratio until the engine starts 'hunting' on cold startup.

It is possible to get kits to allow almost any diesel car to run on SVO...google is good for more info

KP · Post by KP » 14 Aug 2006, 23:01

Yeah its the bearing/shaft of the impellor ive been told that due to the oils extra thickness doesnt flow around the shaft quickly enough to cool it down during startup and causes it to sieze without warning and writing the pump off. Im looking at sourcing a second hand pump and seeing if it can be modified, otherwise the only choice is to have a two tank system with remote switch where you start the car on diesel untill warm and then flick over to SVO and the same before shutdown to purge the SVO from the pump. this isnt a cheap option from what i can see unless done totally DIY mind i reckon it could be done on a cheap budget with a remote switch or suchlike.

8304 · Post by **8304** » 15 Aug 2006, 08:34

why go to the trouble and expense of modifying a lucas pump? you might aswell get a bosch one from the breakers - it would probably only cost about 20 - 30 quid.... (you would need the injectors, injection pipes and leak off pipes aswell)

i think another problem with the lucas pump is that it relies totally on the diesel to lubricate its inerds whereas the bosch had sealed bearings with grease in them. When rapeseed oil etc is used in the lucas pump it doesnt lubricate the moving parts well enough so it eventually goes out of tollerance.

KP · Post by KP » 15 Aug 2006, 09:09

The problem is as far as im aware ive never heard of a bosche pump from a 1.9td being fitted to a 2.1td as im sure theres a bit more to it than just the pipes and injectors. are the injectors not slightly different in size for example on a 2.1td? do they have the same thread dimensons? would the pipes actualy fit straight onto the car without modifing?

There must be other differences as well that havent been thought of suchas how the ecu for the 2.1 interfaces with the pump for information?

8304 · Post by **8304** » 15 Aug 2006, 23:42

SORRY!

i was being a retard i didnt realise we were talking 2.1 - i thought it was 1.9..................

ill read more closely next time...

so they didnt offer a bosch pump on the 2.1 then??

KP · Post by KP » 16 Aug 2006, 09:34

Not from any information i can find. Im going to ring Paris Autos in manchester and see if they think a pump and bits from a 1.9 bosch system would fit or not.

If not the choice is either get the pump re-worked with sealed bearings and all for £380 as well as price of a second hand pump and then fitted as part of a cambelt change. OR go for a twin tank system. which i think would be more hassle in the long run unless i get a small switchboard made up to enable auto switch over and then a manual kick off switch for purging...

KP · Post by KP » 16 Aug 2006, 13:57

Just been told there is no way the pump and bits from a 1.9td would fit the 2.1 due to the way the ecu reads info from it as well as other bits not being a good fit or anything. guess the twin tank or rebuilt pump is best way to go,

Quoted £380 for the pump work alone so once i find one and see how much it is and factor in other bits ill see what the total comes to as for the price of running SVO its like converting a petrol to LPG but still retaining the MPG and performance

caveman_si · Post by **caveman_si** » 16 Aug 2006, 15:32

IF you are prepared to do the work yourself you do a 2 tank conversion to your car for not much depending on what bits you have hanging about.

You need a spare tank, doesnt need to be that big, can pick up a new plastic marine one for not much £30-100 depending on size. 2 sets of pollock valves for 35-40 each a couple of switchs about £20 for the pair and some extra fuel pipe for about £15. So thats the whole thing done for £150 ish assuming you do thework yourself.

If you want to get a proffessional system id look up http://www.smartveg.com/ they do full systems, either for self installation or you can get them to fitt it!!

KP · Post by KP » 16 Aug 2006, 16:42

The easiest and cheapest tank option for a 2 tank system ive come up with is to simply holder the 20litre drum in the boot and modify a normal screw on cap for the tank and from that cap have a feed that goes out of the boot, thru a sealed access hole, iirc there are 2 on xantias, then along and under the car to the engine bay and up to where the fuel line enters the pump. Fitting an inline fuel filter along the way of course and then having some sort of switching soleniod as you describe. This would then cut switchback time right down as there isnt all the fuel in the fuel filter or lines to contend with running out of the system before switch off. You then have the advantage of if you have some know how creating a small PCB and using a thermal sensor or such like, sense when the temprature on the pump hits the correct amount, auto switch the soleniod, and then just have a button to switch it off to switch back to diesel

To be honest the twin tank system isnt something id really want to bother with and the replacement pump sounds a much better option.
Pitty it cant just be swapped for a bosch unit from a 1.9td instead but they do look wildly different

ill see what i come up with on my travels

French Car Forum

BIO DIESEL

bio???