Bio Diesel??

[oompalompa]

I have been seeing a few company vehicles around Christchurch from a bio diesel company. What is the deal with biodiesel. Where do you purchase it? Is it any good? What mods? and just is it worth doing/ investigating.

[geeves]

2 things sold as biodiesel
one Straight vegy oil You get it from the fish and chip shop filter it and throw in the tank. The catch is you have to heat it before it will go through the injectors so a conversion kit is needed but the fuel is cheap
two proper biodiesel. Take the same oil filter mix with caustic soda and methanol let it cook for a while and separate off the good stuff. Still smells like fish and chips but will run in a standard engine. Lots of good info on the net on how to make but do read the warnings Caustic soda takes skin off Methanol makes you blind and burns down workshops

[oompalompa]

is there any where you can buy it all ready to go ie pump stright into the tank. are there any downsides,( aside from smell/ blidness/ loss of skin etc) lack of performance, degredation of seals/gaskets etc.

[slightlydodgy]

Not a good idea to drive past here on fish and chip night

[geeves]

I dont know what they are selling in Chch You would have to ask them which it is. Otherwise no comercial suply in NZ.If its made properly it doesnt damage seals and depending on the base oil can give more power
You can make your own if you have a supply of oil. In NZ there is no direct tax on diesel apart from GST so no tax issue making your own fuel. Other countries do this differently though so check your local rules

[cmtaraba]

dude:

take straight veggie (ie. oil (not lard) from ANY fish/chip place)...put in a barrel to let settle...put it straight in your tank during summer months...for winter add 10 to 20 % diesel. THE TRICK !!! diesel has parafin wax in it!!! you will have to put a furnace filter before the oem fuel filter to catch ALL of the wax that comes from the lines and the tank. The veggie seems to act like a solvent for wax and peels it right off....clogs frickin everything.....other than that...you dont have to heat it, you dont have to do anything to it.....been running lots of mechanical injection diesels on it for 4 to 5years. thousands of km's...without the diesel blend the engine is a little hard starting, even on warm mornings....block heater plugged in for about 45 mins sparks the old girls right up. or spend the money and blend some diesel in it.

regards,
chris

[wbski007]

Chris, I've been burning veggy oil for years also, I just let it settle out and then filter it good, I run 80% veggy to 20% diesel, thins it enough so I have no worrys, about every 500 miles or so I run strait diesel with an additive for 50 miles to clean things out a bit if need be. I have 3 filters under the bonnet, last one is a Racor 2 micron with water seperator , also oil is heated via cooling system thru heated lines before it goes thru filters so its hot and filters better, so far its been great, with no problems.