babber

I've been told the law has changed now and it's perfectly legal to use vegetable oil in diesel vehicles. I do a fair amount of miles per year in a sprinter van and wondered if using vegetable oil was safe ?

It is my own van, so I don't want to do any damage to it

Thanks Phill

scoobystiv8

Dont use veg oil in a sprinter the injectors dont like it. Especially those slow 311 CDis

babber

Have you tried it though? What about a 50 / 50 mix? Be nice to save some money on fuel Is there a vegetable oil that is safe to use?

Thanks Phill

PS Seriously thinking about getting the van mapped / chipped and I'll be out hunting down 313 CDi s

scoobystiv8

A mate of mine tried it and I think the bill was about £1900 from Merc to fix it. So I just never tried. I am the same as you Its my own van so dont really want to risk it.


PS you wont catch me mine has 150BHP
http://www.vanaaken.com/europe/index...+++++++:thumb:

The Zohan

Try a search on this, there was a thread som e 2-3month ago about this subject or on BioDiesel thnat grew into this subject.

From what i remember veg oil is fine on older diesels, say '99 and older as the newer diesels have very, very high pressure fuel systems compared to the older engines. The newer higher pressure engines rely on the diesel and additives to lube the fuel pumps, etc.

Simon 69

Biodiesel, which is RME (rapeseed methyl ester) will probably be safe, although I wouldnt use it in a high output common rail diesel (unless the manufacturer states that their vehicles wil run on EN14214 fuel). Older cars using a Bosch-type mechanical fuel pump will probably run well enough, Lucas-tyre pumps will fail because their plastic impellors cant cope with the high viscosity.

nd17

If its good enough for mcdonalds ..... FT.com / Home UK / UK - McDonald's to power delivery lorries with recycled chip oil

Simon 69

That isnt vegetable oil straight from Sainsbury though, it is biodiesel. Biodiesel is filtered and dried waste vegetable oil, mixed with methanol and a dash of caustic soda. After a couple of hours at gas mark 5 you get a saucepan of biodeisel and a cup of glycerin.

what would scooby do

You can buy kits in the usa that warm up the cooking oils to stop them clogging up systems. Still only on early vehicles though.

Don't forget to filter any used oil as bits of chicken nuggets will not be good for any diesel

Simon 69

RME - biodiesel is duty free, if you produce less than 2500 litres a year. I dont think that straight vegetable oil will ever be duty free. Currently it is regarded as a substitute fuel and as such, it is taxed at exactly the same rate of duty as DERV.


Simon

lightwave693

i used to run my old rover 825 turbo diesel on veggie oil no problem, on a 50/50 mix. used to get odd looks pouring bottles of it in my tank in tescos car park lol

never had any problems in 20k miles.

David Lock

I think there are now systems to use LPG in diesels so might be worth a check.

My pal converted his Mitsubishi diesel turbo pick-up to veg oil. Did it himself for about £500 but he is good at that sort of thing. No problems.

babber

Had a mate doing exactly the same with no issues. Is that cause his cars older and can cope with it.

I was thinking of using it to save on costs. I would use dirty oil as apparently the car smells like a chip shop

Also been told about the pre-heater thing.

Phill

ian_sadler

A builder mate runs his van on 100% tesco blue label veggi oil and hasn't had any probs yet.

babber

What type van is it? Be funny going shopping in tescos for the fuel for the van lol

Phill

ian_sadler

Astra van 1.9 TD and he does get some funny looks

babber

Lol so older diesel then. I wonder how much veg oil is in tescos?

Phill

Spec'c'57

iTrader: (1)

Online Grocery Shopping & Delivery Service - Tesco.com

sbk1972

Ive been using veg oil in all my pajero fro the last 2 years. The old rule stated that you had to register and pay the necessary duty the end of each month. Now, the rule states that uynder 2500 litres a year, you dont have to register.

The trick is to use RAPESEED oil, not vegtable. Rapeseed is thinner ! Also, the mixture you use depends on the weather, in a the hot summer I go up to 75:25 oil/diesel, cold winter, 25:75 oil/diesel.

Rapeseed oil is a natural cleaner, and will clean ur fuel systems. However, it can cause problems to your fuel pump and the seals, and its common to here that people that use veg oil suddenly have leaks. I did on my old 2.5 pajero. Sometimes returning to normal diesel stops the leak.

Using oil, well, your engine will sound like a right old bang of nuts / bolts, very mechanically, very raw. Also, my truck;s performance is knocked, and I produce a ton of smoke, still it saves ££££

It's wise to swap the oil / fuel filters every 5K though. Also, some super markets complain. I often go in and buy 18x3litre bottles of oil, get strange looks and often get the manager over complaining.


SBK

Simon 69

Youre mistaken. As I posted earlier, SVO is classed as a fuel substitute and as such, it is liable for duty at the same rate as ULS Derv. The lower rate of duty only applies to biodiesel and it is only biodiesel which will be exempted (<2500 litres per person for non-commercial use only) from August this year.


Simon

boxst

Why does the manager complain? I would be asking him for a discount!

Steve

JackClark

Worked just fine in my Defender at 50/50

Nate

iTrader: (2)

Sorry to drag this up again , But ......

I found this the most informative place about this subject

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

Is that deep fried or sauted???

I can't believe no one else picked up on this!!!

Brendan Hughes

Biodiesel-powered taxi for Kieran...

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

I pick up another manky diesel laguna on saturday never had any trouble running my previous laguna on svo apart from in the winter when I had to mix in some diesel to thin it out a bit.