Engine: TDI: French fuel situation and Diesel in particular, veg oil?

[tt82]

I was reading about it on the BBC news website earlier and it doesn't seem as bad as it's made out to be. My advice would be to stop for fuel frequently and try not to let yourself go lower than half a tank.

[Bungo]

Originally Posted by tt82

I was reading about it on the BBC news website earlier and it doesn't seem as bad as it's made out to be. My advice would be to stop for fuel frequently and try not to let yourself go lower than half a tank.

You're right. I thought it odd that their advice was to keep topping up along the way when they're spouting doom and gloom. But then doom and gloom makes better news stories aye.

[dingov70]

Afternoon Mr.Lee , I have done thousands of miles in non common rail diesels with no problems using fresh veg oil as a fuel . Both Bosch & japanese rotary injection pumps cope wel with veg oil & bio diesel . A common fallacy is that veg or Bio possess less lubricity than pump diesel , however the addition of veg or bio raises the lubrication levels to replace the sulphur removed during refining . Sulphur acts /acted as a lubrication agent in pump fuels before being reduced in quanity in the finished fuel . My V70 Tdi runs quite happily on neat dew fresh & sparkling sunflower oil with zero modifications .

You do slightly less miles per gallon using veg but overall lower costs of veg versus dino diesel means you do save money .

I have used neat fresh veg & correctly manufactured bio diesel with no problems in 2.9 sprinter , 2.5 tdi v70 , 2.2tdi toyota , 3.0 toyota , 1.8 tdi mondeo at ratios in excess of 75% veg to pump fuel . Personally whip into Tesco's or morrison's & buy 25 - 30lt & simply tell them you enjoy eating lots of chips if they find it

[c_lee]

Originally Posted by dingov70

Afternoon Mr.Lee , I have done thousands of miles in non common rail diesels with no problems using fresh veg oil as a fuel . Both Bosch & japanese rotary injection pumps cope wel with veg oil & bio diesel . A common fallacy is that veg or Bio possess less lubricity than pump diesel , however the addition of veg or bio raises the lubrication levels to replace the sulphur removed during refining . Sulphur acts /acted as a lubrication agent in pump fuels before being reduced in quanity in the finished fuel . My V70 Tdi runs quite happily on neat dew fresh & sparkling sunflower oil with zero modifications .

You do slightly less miles per gallon using veg but overall lower costs of veg versus dino diesel means you do save money .

I have used neat fresh veg & correctly manufactured bio diesel with no problems in 2.9 sprinter , 2.5 tdi v70 , 2.2tdi toyota , 3.0 toyota , 1.8 tdi mondeo at ratios in excess of 75% veg to pump fuel . Personally whip into Tesco's or morrison's & buy 25 - 30lt & simply tell them you enjoy eating lots of chips if they find it

I have replied to your PM Steve - Colin

[Simon Jones]

Veg oil seems to dislodge a lot of gunk in the system so it's advisable to replace the fuel filter more frequently. Additionally, rubber seals and pipes tend to become softened with extended use.

By all accounts, the hypermarkets and A road petrol stations still seem to have fuel so I don't think you need to be too concerned as long as you fill up whenever opportunity arises.

[960kg]

Although French diesel bought at the pumps does contain some percent veggy oil it is illegal for the owner to run on the stuff in France if not bought at a pump as you are evading tax!

So could be a dodgy move because of the strike if more are doing this?





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[Simon Jones]

You could argue bringing a 5 litre jerry can of diesel over from the UK is also evading paying French tax. They would also have to prove you'd filled up with veg oil in France rather than the UK.

[Rooster]

We used to get a 2.5tdi V70 in at work that the customer ran on veg oil,

Apart from the smell from exhaust you would never know,

I have a friend with an old 306 d-turbo and he runs that on veg oil

[jonperry64]

I did over 100k running SVO in a 1.9 tdi Passat with no issues. However, I had a simple conversion done beforehand. Essentially, this involved installing some sort of relay to keep the glow plus on longer and a heat exchanger installed before the fuel filter. I think all of this was only needed in cold weather when SVO is thicker than diesel. I didn't notice any difference in performance or mpg. Eventually, though, it will take its toll on the fuel pump - even the old Bosch VP37.

[brickman]

I ran my d5252t on pure new veg from Glasgow to Vienna summer before last (hot weather). First tank was neat, second I added my usual amount of 2 stroke oil, made probably only a difference to lubricantion of fuel pump

Economy down about 15/20%, though was flogging it with 5 folk, a full boot and ac on the whole time. Power down too, esp in the lower rev range (below 1500rpm with no boost was dire).

In the UK it's not warm enough to start on pure veg unless you have a tank or stage heater.

I would mix 30/70 diesel to majority veg at the best and 50/50 if you intend being anywhere below 16c as you won't be able to start it.

Do not run on high levels of veg if your fuel pump belt and cam belt are anywhere near the end of their life as the lower viscosity puts much more demand on these belts.

Tank range on mine is 650/950 depending how you treat it on good diesel (get euro truck diesel if you can, this engine loves it), as above don't gp below maybe 200 miles left on the tank and take maybe just two or three 25l cubies of veg and I wouldn't put any more thought into it than that