Does Bio Cause Damage

[jims-terrano]

What's everyones opinions about Bio Diesel such as SVO or WVO. Does it actually cause damage to the cars fuel system or engine.

I've heard lots of stories about the fuel filters getting clogged and needing changing, the fuel pumps breaking down and even oil going passed the piston rings and over filling the sump.

What's the myths and truths about Bio Diesel?

 

[makeitfit]

1st off SVO and WVO are not Bio
Waste veggie oil, needs filtering drying etc and is the base constituant of making Bio. Do not use as is.
Straight Veggie Oil, like Rapeseed etc is new oil, like from a supermarket and can be used as is in the summer and mixed with diesel to say 50 / 50 in the winter. SVO will drag muck out of the fuel system and clog up the filter for the first few tank fulls. After that you should be fine.
BIO is an almost direct diesel substitute made from cleaned and dried WVO and methonol and wizzadry. No problems that I'm aware of on all but common rail oilburners Oh and it runs neat all year round and as such is the best cash converter :naughty

 

[makeitfit]

Forgot to say I run my Merc Vito on neat BIO.
My wife's Focus on neat BIO, and the trol and the Maverick. :clap

 

[ste68blue]

Ditto what makeitfit said...
WVO stands for waste veg oil
SVO stands for straight veg oil
Bio is a product made from either of the above with the added chemicals methanol and sodium hydroxide mixed to create methoxide and added whilst heated to the oil to convert the fatty acids to glycerol, which becomes a waste product and give or take a little bit thats it....bio diesel

I run my terrano on it with no problems and my vauxhall vivaro van too, any diesel engine should really run on well made bio, its the poorly made stuff that causes problems....

On the note of the fuel filter, thats what it is there for to catch any crap before it gets to the vital working parts, i was told when i first used bio that after 2 or 3 tank fulls to change the filter, it costs about £10.00 and takes ten minutes to do, so its not a major service item and always worth changing on a regular basis.

The filtering system on my bio set up filters down to 1 micron, the standard fuel filter only filters to approx 7-8 microns.....

Hope that helps?

 

[Terranical]

What's everyones opinions about Bio Diesel such as SVO or WVO. Does it actually cause damage to the cars fuel system or engine.

I've heard lots of stories about the fuel filters getting clogged and needing changing, the fuel pumps breaking down and even oil going passed the piston rings and over filling the sump.

What's the myths and truths about Bio Diesel?

On the subject of SVO, is it a fact that it lowers emissions? My T2 is coming up for it's Spanish MOT shortly and I'm pretty sure that the cloud of smoke on start-up, and the smaller cloud on blipping the throttle will mean a failure.
I was considering letting the tank run down to the red on the day of the test and sticking in 10 litres of veg oil to get it to the test station. Is this likely to help, or is there any downside to doing this?

 

[makeitfit]

On the subject of SVO, is it a fact that it lowers emissions? My T2 is coming up for it's Spanish MOT shortly and I'm pretty sure that the cloud of smoke on start-up, and the smaller cloud on blipping the throttle will mean a failure.
I was considering letting the tank run down to the red on the day of the test and sticking in 10 litres of veg oil to get it to the test station. Is this likely to help, or is there any downside to doing this?

Correctomondo Hardly any emissions on veggie or bio :clap

 

[geoffdown]

On the subject of SVO, is it a fact that it lowers emissions? My T2 is coming up for it's Spanish MOT shortly and I'm pretty sure that the cloud of smoke on start-up, and the smaller cloud on blipping the throttle will mean a failure.
I was considering letting the tank run down to the red on the day of the test and sticking in 10 litres of veg oil to get it to the test station. Is this likely to help, or is there any downside to doing this?

yes it will lower emission but can u use veg oil in spain some countrys wont allow it:nenau

 

[Terranical]

yes it will lower emission but can u use veg oil in spain some countrys wont allow it:nenau

Good point Geoffdown, I've just Googled using veg. oil in Spain and apparently it is legal, in fact any day now the Spanish government are going to slap a tax on it, presumably to cancel the difference in price with diesel.
Thanks for the info guys, very useful.

 

[makeitfit]

I think it's not illegal to use it but you need to pay the duty on it or it's Spanish equivalent.
In the UK you can use 2500 litres for your own use before duty is payable
Per year that is

 

[RJL Services]

i run straight svo all the times when i took my mistral for its MOT test in september they had a job to get a smoke reading as it was so low but tester says i cant fail it because its so low only if it is too high so its a plus on that emissions test mine seems to run quieter on it and of course a tank of svo goes a lot further than a tank of diesel i am only paying 92p a litre for new svo from bookers and i get it in 20litre drums which when empty go in the recycling box so now hassle of having drums around i do have a clark 12v fuel transfer pump which makes a lot quicker in filling tank up :lol i must admit i tend to change my fuel filter about every 3 months anyway because tesco's fuel seems to have a lot of crap in it:thumb2

 

[melissachels]

I think it's not illegal to use it but you need to pay the duty on it or it's Spanish equivalent.
In the UK you can use 2500 litres for your own use before duty is payable
Per year that is

even at that if you pay cash & dispose of reciepts they have little to go on cos a store ain't gonna keep cctv when theres no crime commited on them they'll tape over it lol
:thumb2

 

[cncfabs]

even at that if you pay cash & dispose of reciepts they have little to go on cos a store ain't gonna keep cctv when theres no crime commited on them they'll tape over it lol
:thumb2

Think youre supposed to keep all receipts so if you get stopped you can prove what has been used

 

[Terranical]

Just bought 10 litres of sunflower oil in Lidl in southern Spain, equivalent of £4.85, so I guess it's about the same as the UK.

 

[jims-terrano]

OK some interesting replies. A few years back there were threads on here and people seemed to jump in and say that any of the BIO Veggie Oil fuels cause problems with the injection system. So now people have been running around for a few years I take it that this hasn't happened?

Also around the same time there were also people on here saying that unburnt fuel was also running passed the piston rings and over filling the sump. Has anyone noticed any thing like this happening. Before the obvious gets pointed out again oil shouldn't be getting passed the piston rings anyway.

So has anyone had any negative experience of using any of these alternative fuels.

I used to stick SVO in and mix with standard diesel in the warmer months but due to warnings from members on this site I decided to stop as the truck really doesn't do that many miles so cost savings against possible repair bills were a bit of a worry at the time.

 

[geoffdown]

Just bought 10 litres of sunflower oil in Lidl in southern Spain, equivalent of £4.85, so I guess it's about the same as the UK.

thats about half the price compared to here i think :bow, whats the price of diesel there

 

[melissachels]

Think youre supposed to keep all receipts so if you get stopped you can prove what has been used

shhhh! u keep a few then just so ur always under the 2500ltr,

"i just started using it a couple of months ago officer" :augie

 

[Terranical]

Just bought 10 litres of sunflower oil in Lidl in southern Spain, equivalent of £4.85, so I guess it's about the same as the UK.

That's for each 5 litre bottle btw!

 

[geoffdown]

That's for each 5 litre bottle btw!

ah i see it read that u bought 10litres and cost £4.85:doh

 

[makeitfit]

Jim, in theory yes there will be some contamination of the sump oil. It must be very small though as all my cars are fine on it, just check your oil now and again.
Gumming can develop but after bloody high mileage using veggie I think. That should not be an issue with bio though. Google it if you you need but I reckon it'll just be full of naysayers
I run bio so I can still enjoy my hobby. My work van is on bio and does about 10k in it I guess A friend of mine delivers pet food in his van (on bio) and does a lot more miles than me, all's well.
Go for it boyo and enjoy the savings in any way you like, car tax :doh

 

[puddle hoppers inc.]

hi everyone, i am assuming that svo is okay for all the 2.7 tdi's then? i have an 03 plate and don't want to wreck it lol! i ran an old vw transporter 2.4 on this stuff with no issues at all. many thanks, mike.