Offroad-Express

Hi there

Forgive me if this has been asked, I've done a search but can't find specifics ....

I have a 1989 Toyota Surf (2 Door), with a 2.4 Turbo Diesel
Of course I currently run it on the diesel you buy at the pump - ouch

I have a friend who owns a fish 'n' chip shop who reckons I can simply put 50% diesel in my tank, and top it off with 50% oil from his shop - with NO modifications to the truck. Is this true?

1) doesn't oil solidify at cool temps (ie: this morning with a frost on the roof, wouldn't oil be hard to start?)
2) I need to let the oil sit for 3 weeks to let crap settle, do I need to filter it too?
3) do i need to get a 44 Gallon drum, mix the oil & diesel in this and then transfer it to the truck?

I saw a post online somewhere that you need to add an Oil tank with Heater, and then when the Oil is at 100c you switch over from diesel to oil - sounds expensive to fit & plumb

I'm guessing if it's a 50/50 mix it should be okay? or should it be a 70/30 (diesel/oil) mix?

send a PM to dazza, he apparently smells like a fish n chip shop when you follow him

click on the link to send a message.............

ucp.php?i=pm&mode=compose&u=967

you might be get away with running a blend
i know the main reason cooking oil shouldn't be used in most diesels is most of them use a rotary pump which uses the diesel itself to lubricate the pump unfortunately cooking oil doesn't have very good lubricating properties so running running SVO (straight vegetable oil) through works for a little while but eventually the pump fails

the best engines to run on cooking oil are mercedes benz diesels with mechanical injector pumps not that i am biased

i know a couple of guys you run it.

it depends on what oil they are useing to cook with. take a sample of it and sit it outside overnight and see what happens.

you still need to clean the oil by passing it through some very fine fuel filters otherwise bits of chip with foul up the pump !
mate also hads a special fuel additive to stop it going solid at low temps.

you can run 50/50 but proberly better off with less vege in the colder months. also it would be good to use a small fuel heater. the winter pack surfs sometimes had electric fuel heaters which are quiet handy (element inside fuel filter). have alook at wrap around fuel filter element or engine coolant based fuel heater. i think the old nissans had some built into the block. there is a few on trademe under the guise of fuel economiser !

one big thing.....it will clean out all crap from the tanks so have plenty of fuel filters spare and also if any fuel lines or fuel pump gasgets are on the way out it will eat them out to. so check for leaks, you may be in for a pump rebuild if you havn't done one allready.
provide the oil isn't to thick then pump wil handle it ok.

Mot of the oil I get has not been cooked in, the mistakes are made before it gets to the cooker and it gets written off.
Thats when I get it.
I let it settle out any water and other added solids 1-2 weeks depending on whats happened.
Then I pump from the top of the container down using a bulge pump always leaving the last 5 ltrs which gets added to a second settling container.
To use it I half fill the truck with diesel then pump in the oil.
Never do the oil first as you end up with a lot of oil and very little diesel in the fuel system and you will have fun trying to start it once the motor cools down.
It seams to mix ok in the tank. I have been meaning to do some simple tests in a clear container to see how well it mixes and stays mixed.
In the winter I run 50\50 mix but in the summer I run 75 oil \ 25 diesel with no problems.
The 50\50 gives me good starting on frosty mornings 'cause my truck lives outside.
With used oil I would suggest two things
1-Clean the oil: Settle it and then as "Tweekie" said filter it ... Google "toilet roll filters"
2-Put some outside on a cold night and see if it goes cloudy, or completely solid
If this happens do trial mixes with diesel until you find a mix that does not change the viscosity too much when it gets cold and then try that in your truck.
Start small then increase it until you notice a difference in performance - a slight drop in power, then go from there..

A couple of interesting links
Straight vegetable oil as diesel fuel

Vegetable oil as a diesel fuel

HI there

thanks heaps for the replies ... while this has helped me find out more, I'm not sure I'm 100% there yet.

Dazza85 - do you have to change your fuel filters more often? Have you had to update your fuel lines etc? How about your injectors?

I talked to my mechanic and he said I could do a 25/75 mix (oil/d) but that I should expect to change my filters etc often.
He then put me in touch with a guy who is starting a Bio-Diesel plant just south of the Bombay's ... which should be online soon with full certification to sell to the public.

I'm waiting to find out more, but I think I might wait and run that in the truck

K.

bio cleans out all the crap out of your tank and lines. so you will go through a few filters to start with. you will need to take a spare filter with you in case it blocks up while driving.

with older pumps if seals and fuel lines are getting a bit past it, the bio will tend to eat them a bit and can cause leaks. just means you may be doing a pump seal job or replace fuel lines earlier than expected.

tweake wrote:bio cleans out all the crap out of your tank and lines. so you will go through a few filters to start with. you will need to take a spare filter with you in case it blocks up while driving.

with older pumps if seals and fuel lines are getting a bit past it, the bio will tend to eat them a bit and can cause leaks. just means you may be doing a pump seal job or replace fuel lines earlier than expected.

What he said ... my pump was leaking when I started ... and got worse over 6 months on oil ...
Regarding filters ... I have not any problems with mine ... but then I am using oil that has not cooked in ...

oo00_Mr_K_00oo wrote:He then put me in touch with a guy who is starting a Bio-Diesel plant just south of the Bombay's ... which should be online soon with full certification to sell to the public.
I'm waiting to find out more, but I think I might wait and run that in the truck
K.

I am guessing that this will sold at a premium ...
A bit like the local composting operation ... every time the land fill prices go up theirs go up a similer amount staying at about 75% of land fill costs.

Hi,
A few comments from my experience.

I'm running used veg oil, (canola) in my surf with a 2l motor.
Aree with comments above.

Let the oil sit for a few weeks before taking the clean oil off the top, it still needs to be filtered to remove any bits and it should be done cold so that some of the fat that will be in the oil is removed.
I would be cautious about using oil without heating it before it goes through the filter as the filter will block with fat after a while, also I resently had a problem with the prefilter in the tank, have removed it and will rely on the cartridge filter as it is easier to change.
I am currently running a 2 tank system, start up and shut down on diesel and run on at least 80-90% veg oil.
Before I had the 2 tanks I was running about 25% veg but with heating, found it was a bit hard starting particularly when cold but ran well when hot. Initially I had heating after filter and filter blocked with fat, then put heating before filter which helped. 50/50 seems very high particulaly in the cold, risk is wrecking the injection pump.
One problem with surf is where to put the 2nd tank, currently got a small container for the diesel under bonnet, main tank has the oil in it, would be easier if it had a boot.
The other problem is that the local testing station says that my system needs certification because i have modified the fuel system, just means that it has to be able to be removed every 6 months.

Will be converting my VX cruiser soon, will probably mount the 2nd tank behing the rear diff.

Tim

one thing to be advised is the use of SVO or WVO in rotary type injector pumps is not recomended by most of the makers of kits to convert, as the vegie oil does not lub the pump as well and the seal may not last. inline pumps seam okay and also modern common rail diesels are also not recomended for svo? have been looking at it myself, I also know one of the guys involved in the biofuel plant in bombay and do not believe it will be at a premium price. kits can be bought off the net to wash the waste vegie oil to make it more suitable and remove some of the bad stuff.

Go to www.youtube.com and search for "Top Gear: Vegetable Oil for Diesel".

If the British government have put tax on doing it, it must work!! (26 pence per litre tax on top of the 3 pence cost for the vegetable oil and white spirits. Nice)

i'll have to go find it again, a kind person posted pics of his hilux fuel pump which had been running SVO for 4 years. basicly all the crap in the oil ends up fouling the pump (even after 1 micron filtered!). bio may not be to bad because of the extra cleaning thats done to it