Vegetable oil

do/would you use vegetable oil in your 2.8 normally aspirated?

I have some used vegetable oi (only a few litres but every little helps). I am thinking if I filter it and use it about 50 to 1 or so in a tank full it will be fine. But what do I filter it with and where do I get the filter material from? How big is a Hiace fuel tank anyway? I get about 26mpg and when the warning light just comes on I get about 55 litres in the tank.

I have a friend who says he puts all sorts of rubbish in his citreon camper - mind you maybe thats why it didn't start in the cold weather! Not like my Hiace. Not used for a couple of weeks, a few seconds of heating and started first turn.

I used to do the same (ish) ....bit of asda veggie with a very small quantity of white spirit...feels smoother...quieter, quicker...much better. But I could'nt get the image of old cruddy chip pans out of my mind.
If it really was better it would be sold as an additive in auto shops....unable to work out if it was smart or not (looking on the internet) I gave it up...

the tank size is 70 ltr I don't know anything about veggie oil though

Bumf here...................

http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=46433&p=472947&hilit=used+veg+oil#p472947

Just found this forum. As to question about vegetable oil - small amount of veg oil can be added to the diesel tank or better yet - install a heated parallel veg oil fuel system. I did and have clocked 10s of thousands of kms using it as a free fuel for my 1990 Hiace.

I just used to let it settle for a few weeks and then syphon of the top 1/2 2/3's. 20 litre tubs semi see through with a bright light behind. All the left overs poured together minus any sludge/water and allowed to settle again.

Lots of filters out there but my way cost nothing.

Out of 200 litres from my local chippie I would get 150 or so that went straight in the tank.

Be very AWARE of using used oil with any transesterfied bio diesel can lead to big problems.

Clive, I was told suspended water and a significant amount of particulates that don't settle out could be a problem. The particulates would lead to more frequent fuel filter changes and suspended water will lead to injector pump damage. After settling, I heat the veg oil then put it through a centrifuge to remove suspended particulates and water. It fuels both my Hiace and 6 kw generator (I live off the grid).

Veg oil in my diesel tank clogs my diesel fuel filter on cold days (-35 C around here).

I never had a problem, I'd add a liter of petrol, .I did leave it for 6 to 8 weeks though. Would still be doing it if I could lift 20 litres without pain.
When the oil went cloudy around -5 C it was time to add Diesel to avoid bad starting.
I did install a cheap disposable inline filter before the main one just in case, I got ten still got 5 or 6 after 6 years not a great problem as I say.

On the subject of WVO and will your van run on it , yes it will I get mine from the local indian takeaway but be very careful to settle out the sludge and water for at least 3/4 weeks , then I pump mine through a 1 micron filter add 10% petrol mix thoroughly before putting it in the tank, also I have fitted an inline  strainer then  a electric lift pump plus the necessary  flat plate heater before the fuel filter. Plus a vacuum pressure gauge to monitor filter clogging . Must mention to check for water I do a hot pan test often, just a tea spoon in a very hot pan if it smokes with no spitting its OK ,I have so far not found any water. So far I have done 10,000 miles only down side apart from collecting and filtering is rough running after heater plugs cut out and until engine gets up to operating temp . I pay 20p a ltr for the WVO and am left with about 1/2 ltr sludge per 20ltr , the sludge goes on the compost heap to bio degrade the containers so far have gone to recycling. So to conclude although it has been far from trouble free learning about WVO I am happy to be doing approx 150 mpg at pump prices, any one thinking about going to use WVO there is loads of info on the web .

An effective 150 mpg is rather good for a Hiace, or any vehicle!!!

I've been doing veggie oil for 4 years. I haven't had a problem and have had a look in my injector pump and fuel tank - both were glistening clean.

The key is to get good oil. I lucked out and have a supplier that gets his oil from a catering outfit (they only cook with the oil once, therefore there's minimal acidity and salts in it). He runs it through an industrial centrifuge, it comes out looking like new canola.

I do a blend of 85% veg, 10% gas, 5% ethanol in summer. In winter I mix in more diesel. I like the blend vs. heat because the solvents seem to keep the fuel system clean. My injector pump was previously leaking from running straight low sulfer diesel, but the veggie lubrication + ethanol swelled the seals and keep the leaks away. Eventually the old rubber seals might degrade from the ethanol but they were already dried up and sad.

I would recommend taking off the fuel tank and cleaning it before running veg (vs. running an inline filter) since the veg will clean out all the crud and you're van will die at random due to clogged filters.

I ran a bigger fuel line that is biofuel friendly to make things easier for the pump - the injector on the 3L engine (i'm not sure if it's the same for other engines) is known to be really good for running veg.

I have been making my own biodiesel for about 6 years. I use a 200 litre oil drum. Fill it half to 3 quaters full of used vegetable oil, heat it up to luke warm temp (after filtering off big bits of leftover food in oil). Then add 25 litres of methanol that is mixed with about 4 x cups of potasium hydroxide. METHANOL IS DANGEROUS, and has a very low combustion point. Potassium Hydroxide is also toxic and an irratant to skin. You need to wear protective clothing and goggles. Best to do in summer months. Read up first. Look on youtube. Try a small scale experiment first. If it ends up looking like burnt porridge then the mix didn't work. Might need settling for a day or two. or more methanol/sodium (mix) added. Skim the big lumps off with sieve and let it settle.My advice is only use in hot weather, and when you are going on long journey so it's through system quickly. Mix with ordinary diesel if you are worried about the quality. But visual checks should be enough to tell you if the biodiesel is soapy or water is still present. Yes you use a garden centre fine water pump spray or a hose with fine spray nozzle to WASH away impurities with water that sinks and seperates oil from water, taking all the soapy bits away. (do this several times)

Crafty you explain perfectly why I run on WVO as opposed to making bio diesel , the IDI engines run really on WVO DI engines will gum the piston rings. WVO is all about settling then filtering and in the vehicle having a FPHE to heat the oil to reduce viscosity ad as I found curing fuel starvation. It has been proved in the past you can run a diesel on Lard if you get it hot.

"Indirect Engines" run really well on "Waste Vegetable Oil" but if you are using unprocessed and therefore unfiltered (to certain degree) WVO, it would mean problems with filters, pipes and hoses ect, wouldn't it? I understood that Biodiesel processing adds extra filtering and purity. Although I can believe with these old fashion engines it would be ok. When biodiesel processing is completed the diesel looks clear like cider and is not cloudy like scrumpy and is very fluid. P.S. Just read your post above explaining your methods. Looks reliable.

Many run there old Toyota engines on 100% wvo which the more modern electronic DI versions cannot tolerate , as far as I can tell its all about viscosity and fuel starvation (had to warm up the engine this morning minus 2 deg before it would run perfect) . The new engines produced today will NEVER be able to run vedg oil and may not last long on home made bio diesel as the consistency could vary. I have a vw golf 1.9 tdi on 50/50 diesel wvo runs like a clock doe 65 mpg its a 04 redg and very much a disposable car (for sale actually) only bought it to experiment.

I bought one of those cheap chinese diesel heaters (£84). And it has run fine with the biodiesel I made. I was thinking about fitting it indoors this winter as my central heating had packed in and didn't want to get a gas engineer in with Covid peaking. Would have been expensive too, £3k with radiators that needed replacing...So I might get a stainless steel box that can fit a heater and 12v battery and drill through a wall to feed hot air from portable heater. With biodiesel there are no toxic fumes I''m aware of so smell of cooking oil shouldn't offend the neighbours too much. Just a bit of smoke on start-up. The only danger then, *if you are using biodiesel* is the heat coming from the exhaust, which can be lagged and isolated by non flammable materials or ducts. Thinking of an outside set up and not indoors because of fire risk.