Its called Bio-diesel (WVO) and needs to be processed before use, or many people process and sell it themselves. Theres many many sites discussing this and a quick search will give you all the info you need, its not for every engine and is generally only suitable for non-commonrail diesels. An alternative is new veg oil (SVO) but again best in older diesels and both are better mixed with some normal diesel, otherwise yes, its a good alternative fuel and if you process yourself you can get the cost of a litre down to approx .30p or buy it in at .80-90p.
Theres loads more you should really know but thats the basics
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We quite often use straight new veg oil if we see it on offer at Tescos. We use it without any treatment but obviously it's a lot cleaner than used chip fat.
But.
It does depend very much on the type of diesel engine you have. I believe (and I'm not the mechanical expert in the family by any means!) that if you have the newer type of diesel engine (the term "common rail" comes to mind but not sure) that this sort of fuel isn't really viable by itself. We have several older Land Rovers and have no problem at all.
We have more than one fuel tank in the Land Rovers and have one with veg oil and one with diesel.
I think (I don't tend to drive the diesel ones) that my husband tends to start the engine on diesel and then switch to veg oil once the engine is warmed up and if he can he switches back to diesel when approaching home.
By the way - for anyone worried about avoiding duty - it's totally legal to use WVO or SVO as long as you're using under a certain amount per year (which I can't remember - but it's a LOT).
Theft of cooking oil from cafes, restaurants and the like is becoming increasingly common. We all like a bargain but if you are going to buy the recycled stuff for your buggy make sure you trust the source or you could end up before the beak.
My lad uses it in his astra,gets a load of old oil,fine strains it then,mixes it half and half with diesel to stop it freezing in winter.His car does smell like a mobile chippy though,,
Quote: Originally posted by jeff juke on 31/8/2012
My lad uses it in his astra,gets a load of old oil,fine strains it then,mixes it half and half with diesel to stop it freezing in winter.His car does smell like a mobile chippy though,,
What reg is it jeff ?
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I had a Mazda Bongo and used used veg oil, with no problems, for many thousands of miles. You only need to go through the caustic soda and methanol rigmarole if you want to convert it to biodiesel. I just left it to stand for 3/4 weeks, pour off the clear stuff and filter it through coffee filters.
Ideally you need an old style IDI(indirect injection) engine, although some DI(direct injection) engines are OK. Bosch fuel pumps, or their clones, work best, but Lucas ones are not so happy with the thicker viscosity of veg oil. I generally used a 50/50 mix with diesel but, if going on a long trip, I would run until the engine was hot and then fill up with straight veg oil - you did need to stop to put some diesel in before the end of you're trip though, just to bring it back to a 50/50 mix. It would start on SVO, but really didn't like it and was very lumpy - plus, other campers didn't appreciate the clouds of white smoke billowing from the exhaust
No way is it suitable for common rail diesels though, although I have recently heard of people trying it at about 10-20%, but they haven't been doing it long enough to see if there are any problems - I'm not risking it myself.
we used to fill our old citroen with it we used to pay a visit to bookers cash and carry once a week for couple off drums off catering oil and fill our car used to save a fortune ...unfortunatley some boy racer samshed into the back off it . Our new car wont take it :( xx
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Topic: Chip fat diesal
