The best for cooking

[TehAgent]

As most of you are aware it is now legal for us to use cooking oil in our cars* to power them and get that lovely frying pan smell (always a crowed puller)

So my question is this, what is the best veggie oil to use?
What price did you pay or do you know of a cheap oil / stockist that can be used?
What is your experience with it?
Did you have to do anything special to use it?
And most importantly what car do you drive?
What is the best way to go about it? (mixing % for veg and diesel)

**
You are only allowed to use up to 2500lters per year

[weety]

As most of you are aware it is now legal for us to use cooking oil in our cars* to power them and get that lovely frying pan smell (always a crowed puller)

So my question is this, what is the best veggie oil to use?
What price did you pay or do you know of a cheap oil / stockist that can be used?
What is your experience with it?
Did you have to do anything special to use it?
And most importantly what car do you drive?
What is the best way to go about it? (mixing % for veg and diesel)

**
You are only allowed to use up to 2500lters per year

i use KTC oil from makro currently £9.85 for 20 litres

my xantia td (Bosch fuel pump) runs on 90% veggy 10% diesel and the only mod it has is an electric heater (didnt want to cut coolant lines on a TD)

my clio runs a twin tank system (lucas pump) with old marine tank (£30 e bay) pollak fuel switching valve (e bay usa £30) coolant heater (e bay £40) and heated fuel filter (old 205 diesel one in back of my garage) plus fuel line (10 metres from car accessories for £17)

and i have converted a ZX to a twin tank for similar cost

veggy makes your engine run a lot quieter (very strange first time you drive it) and produces a sort of frying smell

your td will run quite happily on a veggy mix with no conversion....how much veggy to diesel is up to you (but change the percentage slowly and you know when you have the max veggy percentage when it doesnt drive/start right).... in winter you will probably have to increase the amount of diesel.

if you add a heater (either electric or coolant) it will increase the percentage of veggy you can use.....mine uses a VOW heater available on e bay (with a temp gauge so i can monitor the heat of the veggy)

now the downsides

cold veggy kills lucas pumps, cold veggy should only be introduced to Bosch pumps....fortunately most XUD9 TD's have Bosch pumps (notable exception being the 2.1TD)

the veggy will clear all the crap from your tank/lines and dump it into your fuel filter (you need to carry spare fuel filters)

the veggy can contaminate your engine oil (keep an eye on the level and change it frequently)

the veggy can 'gum up' your piston rings (usually as a result of cold veggy being introduced to the engine)

however if , like me, you are driving around in a car which is only worth a few hundred pounds your fuel savings should vastly outweigh any problems you encounter in the future

[TehAgent]

Well i had me car running on a veggie mix that xac had brewed up, it ran quieter and the performance was a lot nicer (really noticed the difference when i had to put pure diesel in the tank after)

Didn't pay to much for the car so not fussed about that. (see sig) and its got some heated thingy on it before it gets to the Bosch pump, so not sure what that is. but does heat up nicely.

Will have to give it a go when i next get payed.

[AndersDK]

Now I've had it with you veggies

Around here people are screaming scared of using veggie - without costly mods to the car. Those mods includes a heater, an extra tank (for clean derv), 2 electrovalves and a selector switch (to select derv for starting and just before stopping the engine). Even "special" injectors (?)

Its quite the same as the good old LPG setup - which also was costly and screaming scaring to people. (I mean : gas - in a car ???? )

But you guys are running with that salad dressing straight in the tank - no mods - and get away with it ?
Only precaution is to increase derv mix percentage during winter time ?

Its about time someone puts a bit of common sense into the diesel heads around here - based on numerous D/TD drivers experiences just over the other side of the pond 8)

[Xaccers]

KTC veg oil from Costco (either GM or non-GM) seems to be either soya oil or a mix of veg oil with no definite label of what it is, depending which one you get.
£10 gets you about 20l
Comes in plastic containers in a cardboard box, or a metal drum with a built in spout (like what some oil bottle's have)
I found that if you get a funnel from Halfrouds etc, rip off the tube bit, it fits quite snug on the metal drum's spout, then using the back of a chair, rest the can on it and punch a hole near the top of the can with a screwdriver.
Makes the veg flow fast and you can have a cup of tea while gravity does the hard work.

Best I ran on was Tesco rapeseed oil, thinner than the KTC but more expensive.

As they say on Arrakis; "The veg must flow"

[CitroJim]

Best I ran on was Tesco rapeseed oil

"As good as the Leading Brand"

Rapeseed appears to be the stuff of choice according to all I've read on the subject in various places.

[Xaccers]

If only peanut oil was available in large quantities at a low price

[weety]

Now I've had it with you veggies

Around here people are screaming scared of using veggie - without costly mods to the car. Those mods includes a heater, an extra tank (for clean derv), 2 electrovalves and a selector switch (to select derv for starting and just before stopping the engine). Even "special" injectors (?)

Its quite the same as the good old LPG setup - which also was costly and screaming scaring to people. (I mean : gas - in a car ???? )

But you guys are running with that salad dressing straight in the tank - no mods - and get away with it ?
Only precaution is to increase derv mix percentage during winter time ?

Its about time someone puts a bit of common sense into the diesel heads around here - based on numerous D/TD drivers experiences just over the other side of the pond 8)

maybe we should have a seperate veggie section of the forum?

sounds like your diesel boys are twin tanking everything that moves (for two electrovalves read one pollak valve )

changing the injectors is common with a company called elsbett who have been converting vehicles for donkeys years

horses for courses on how much you spend on the conversion

me = £200 dino diesel per month = £2400 per year

conversion to veggy = £100

veggy fuel cost per year = £1200

and a really good R reg xantia air con etc can be bought for £1000 from the trader

cheap conversion suits me..... if i had a 3k car might be more inclined to spend hundreds on a 'state of the art' conversion

[howiedean]

Now I've had it with you veggies

Around here people are screaming scared of using veggie - without costly mods to the car. Those mods includes a heater, an extra tank (for clean derv), 2 electrovalves and a selector switch (to select derv for starting and just before stopping the engine). Even "special" injectors (?)

Its quite the same as the good old LPG setup - which also was costly and screaming scaring to people. (I mean : gas - in a car ???? )

But you guys are running with that salad dressing straight in the tank - no mods - and get away with it ?
Only precaution is to increase derv mix percentage during winter time ?

Its about time someone puts a bit of common sense into the diesel heads around here - based on numerous D/TD drivers experiences just over the other side of the pond 8)

maybe we should have a seperate veggie section of the forum?

sounds like your diesel boys are twin tanking everything that moves (for two electrovalves read one pollak valve )

changing the injectors is common with a company called elsbett who have been converting vehicles for donkeys years

horses for courses on how much you spend on the conversion

me = £200 dino diesel per month = £2400 per year

conversion to veggy = £100

veggy fuel cost per year = £1200

and a really good R reg xantia air con etc can be bought for £1000 from the trader

cheap conversion suits me..... if i had a 3k car might be more inclined to spend hundreds on a 'state of the art' conversion

The 1.9td runs great without many mods, I used a fuel heater like this. I would have liked to do the twin tank conversion but could never get round to speding the money or finding the time.
I did about 30000 miles on biofuel in my Xantia running at 100% in the summer months, down to 75% in the winter.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a254/ ... P_2346.jpg

[weety]

Now I've had it with you veggies

Around here people are screaming scared of using veggie - without costly mods to the car. Those mods includes a heater, an extra tank (for clean derv), 2 electrovalves and a selector switch (to select derv for starting and just before stopping the engine). Even "special" injectors (?)

Its quite the same as the good old LPG setup - which also was costly and screaming scaring to people. (I mean : gas - in a car ???? )

But you guys are running with that salad dressing straight in the tank - no mods - and get away with it ?
Only precaution is to increase derv mix percentage during winter time ?

Its about time someone puts a bit of common sense into the diesel heads around here - based on numerous D/TD drivers experiences just over the other side of the pond 8)

maybe we should have a seperate veggie section of the forum?

sounds like your diesel boys are twin tanking everything that moves (for two electrovalves read one pollak valve )

changing the injectors is common with a company called elsbett who have been converting vehicles for donkeys years

horses for courses on how much you spend on the conversion

me = £200 dino diesel per month = £2400 per year

conversion to veggy = £100

veggy fuel cost per year = £1200

and a really good R reg xantia air con etc can be bought for £1000 from the trader

cheap conversion suits me..... if i had a 3k car might be more inclined to spend hundreds on a 'state of the art' conversion

The 1.9td runs great without many mods, I used a fuel heater like this. I would have liked to do the twin tank conversion but could never get round to speding the money or finding the time.
I did about 30000 miles on biofuel in my Xantia running at 100% in the summer months, down to 75% in the winter.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a254/ ... P_2346.jpg

i wanted to avoid cutting coolant pipes!....xantias are such a pig to bleed and a coolant loss is so catastrophic i decided to leave the coolant pipes alone and fit an electric heater

nice bit of kit that includes a temp gauge so you can monitor your veggy temp....takes about three minutes from cold to get the veggy up to 70 degrees

[AndersDK]

A glowplug fuel heater - it cant be simpler
2 pipe lines ? Second one must be the fuel return - to 'recycle' the heat - right ?

A small block of alu, some drilling, a couple of glowplugs, a thermoswitch, a dash pilot lamp connection and a couple of hose studs
Must be a power relay out right to the picture (on left inner wing) ?
Nobody can be scared by that

BTW : Jim -
- you found an odd looking fuel pipe loop running along the exhaust on your 205D (?) I believe. This would also be a simple mod.
Approx how close is that fuel pipe loop running to the exhaust ?

[howiedean]

weety,
I've seen those heaters for sale. Do they heat up the fuel fairly well then?
I'd use that combined with a coolant heater giving the best of both worlds, almost instant heat 1st thing then once the engine warms up the fuel would be heated with waste coolant heat.

I had no problems bleeding the system. I moved the heater from the position shown in the picture. Coolant was taken after the the thermostat, so it took ages to heat up. I eventually moved it and tapped into the coolant pipes going to the cabin heater.

Regards

[Xaccers]

Thing is, when your engine gets up to running temp, as soon as the veg hits the hot fuel pump it's hot enough for the injectors.
The only issue is getting it hot enough (ie runny enough) for the pump to draw it from the tank, and normally during the summer it's more than warm enough anyway.
We're lucky with xud's and bosch pumps, they're bloody strong so can handle quite thick fuel.

[bxbodger]

Weety, have you had a definative reply from the excise on SVO yet?- I'm not signed up but I've been following the saga here and it still seems that the situation is vague on SVO: having said that I'm still chucking it in the tank but carrying a copy of the customs brief just in case- the SVO situation being so vague is a bit of a double edged sword- they may still try to prosecute someone depending on the fiscal interpretation of what's in the tank, and the revenue are not known for letting go easily!

The sooner they update notice 179E the better........

[weety]

A glowplug fuel heater - it cant be simpler
2 pipe lines ? Second one must be the fuel return - to 'recycle' the heat - right ?

A small block of alu, some drilling, a couple of glowplugs, a thermoswitch, a dash pilot lamp connection and a couple of hose studs
Must be a power relay out right to the picture (on left inner wing) ?
Nobody can be scared by that

BTW : Jim -
- you found an odd looking fuel pipe loop running along the exhaust on your 205D (?) I believe. This would also be a simple mod.
Approx how close is that fuel pipe loop running to the exhaust ?

the lower set of fuel lines run from the main tank (obviously to the left) are heated by indirect heat from the VOW unit then end up in the diesel filter....the fuel line then exits the filter and enters the VOW unit again (upper set of fuel lines) where the veggy is directly heated by the glow plugs runs through a final small filter before it gets to the IP

two relays (one per plug) are attached to the air filter housing on the right and in the car i have an on/off switch plus the temp gauge (sender for the temp gauge is in the unit itself)

no time at all to fit only difficulty is the unit itself gets really hot so you need to keep it away from pipes

i have now mounted it properly to a larger bit of wood that fits accross the top of the radiator/lhm pump