205td Straight Veg Oil Hybrid Project.

[Guest BrainFluid]

Hiya nutter

 

Glad to hear your having such luck!

 

I have thought about just using the one tank but I'm in scotland...brrr.... and I just dont trust it just yet! Still your stories give us hope.

 

What I have been thinking about though is maybe i'll use the main tank during the warmer 9 months with a small extra tank with the diesel in it for starting and ending. Then switching around when its damm cold for 3 months. Either way i'll always be able to just use diesel if I need too, with it being a whole seperate system, filter and all. It would mean that I can fill the main tank up and be carriying less weight about over all, with less frequent veg oil fill ups.

 

Couple of things...What petrol/oil mix do you use? (I read that while petrol is good, white spirit is better esp with lucas pumps)

 

and, just out of curiosity, what happed to your two previous diesels that you got rid of them?

 

Cheers pal,

 

Nathan.

 

(oh, I cobbled it all together today by the way, so I'll be testing on a long run tonight as I drive south to see me kid who I dont live with. I'll be gone for a few days, next post all revealed!)

 

(fingers crossed I dont get nicked, my car impounded and sent to jail for an unpaid fine)

 

...

 

[scott8629 0]

Interesting topic, I have been running on waste vegetable oil now for about 4 years, only switching back to diesel when the temperature's below 0 C as cold staring becomes an issue (Also slot in an MOT just in case the tester takes a dislike to the smell).

 

I run one tank and use petrol to thin the fuel as duty is already paid. I don't know what would happen if you got caught using kerosene or paraffin to thin the fuel as duty has not been paid and there is no box on the C&E form to do so.

 

I have and would recommend registering with C&E as people can smell you a mile away........ (you don't notice it after a month or so!!)

 

I do no modifications to the car and have had a ford fiesta 1.8D, golf 1.9D and now a Citroen ZX 1.9D the Citroen has a Lucas pump and so far has not let me down although everyone says the pump is made out of tin foil (been a year now).

 

The beauty of it is cost, its quieter and a bit faster.....

 

Only down sides are poor cold starting but a two tank system will fix that and remembering to send the Duty form off to C&E every month.

 

Good luck with it and welcome to the world of fuel at 0.271 pence per liter.....

 

I have a PH2 306 TDs whith a lucas fuel pump.

 

Im very interested in running this on cooking oil and petrol so I would like to know what ratio petrol to oil you use and any other tips.

 

I look forward to your reply!

 

Scott

[Flying205Nutter 4]

Nathan

 

It depends on the oil, I get it from different sources and some is thicker than others but I would guess at 10 - 20% I just keep mixing till it looks right

 

It might also be worth mixing diesel into the equation so say 60% veg 10% pet and 30%diesel? I know that with diesel in there it helps to cold start as the petrol does not burn for the first 30 seconds making the engine hunt and a small amount of white smoke from the exhaust.

 

White spirit might be better but you have no way of paying duty and who knows what harmful emission it will produce when burnt?

 

If using waste veg oil then I would suggest fitting an in-line disposable filter before the main fuel filter, I bought a clear one so I can see when its clogged as no mater how I filter my fuel some contaminants still get through.

 

"and, just out of curiosity, what happened to your two previous diesels that you got rid of them?"

 

Well the ford rusted away but that's no surprise (it was 9 years old )........ The golf was a bit of a dog to start with (got it very cheap) and everything started to fall apart and then the bottom end started to knock so got rid of it quick Looking for a Passat estate now as I need more space and a bigger car for towing my boat. (looking for a diesel engine so I can run veg oil in that as well!)

 

scott

 

Have a look on the following sites as I know they say the lucas pump will fail and it sounds like many have. But if you are mechanically minded then you can buy a new one on ebay for a few quid and fit it in 2 or 3 hours, but if not it could be a costly mistake. I bought a spare ages ago just in case.......

 

http://www.dieselveg.com/

 

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_svo.html

 

http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/index.html

 

http://vegburner.co.uk/links.html

 

http://www.geocities.com/vegoilcar/selecting.html

 

http://www.vegoilmotoring.com/

 

I hope this helps, I know that a lot of people say I am mad and mechanics say it will ruin my engine, pump, rubber lines and seals but I have not had any problems and I now pay a lot less for my fuel

 

Anything else just ask and I will try to help but I don't know much that's not listed in the web sites above. I just registered with C&E and poured in the vegetable oil.

 

Adam

[scott8629 0]

So as you say

60% Oil

30% Diesel

10% Petrol

 

Do you mix these up before pouring into the tank or do you pour each individually into the tank?

 

I can do a few things around the car however im new to diesels and have never have fitted a fuel pump, is it an easy job or a nightmare?

 

Scott

[Flying205Nutter 4]

60% Oil

30% Diesel

10% Petrol

 

I would say this is a good cold weather mix (5 - 15 C), in the summer (15+ C) I have used about 98% veg oil and 2% petrol

 

Don't know much about the 306 phases but I take it this is not an HDI as I no knowledge of running veg oil in these (a search would probably tell you).

 

Yes I mix these in a 20L container, if you just poor them into the tank they don't mix properly unless you are a very spirited driver

 

Changing the fuel pump in not a lot more difficult than changing the cam belt, I haven't done it but have done belts on my 205's and mi's, Looking at the pump it does not appear to be a difficult thing to change but I am sure its been covered on the forum somewhere or have a read through the Haynes Book of LIES...... Also remember that if a pump fails you need to change the fuel as well otherwise the new pump could go the same way.......

 

The web sites I listed before have all the info I have and I have spent hours reading them, however I feel that some info is not relevant to veg oil as its always down to the individual and I think there is a lot of misinformation and scaremongery. I know that if you call one of the companies that sell the two tank setups they will laugh at you if you say you are adding veg oil without any form of conversion. I have only ever spent a few hundred pounds on my diesel work slag (Ford £30, Golf £150 and £250 on the citroen) and as such have never cared if they blow up or disintegrate.

 

Adam.