Eke diesel out with veg oil

[TheBeastie]

I confess to getting very confused with all this stuff using vegetable oil but with prices where they are it has to be worth finding out a bit more.

At its most basic can I simply pour 4l of cheap Tesco/Asda/Costco vegetable oil into a 3/4 full tank of diesel on a 200Tdi with no modifications and genuinely suffer no ill effects or breach of the law?

If so then it probably makes sense to do so if no huge expenditure on conversion kit needed or trying to source guaranteed supply of used chip oil.

[Shox Dr]

Yes. Yes. Yes

I have a 300tdi and drove 258miles to the inlaws and 258 miles back home on nothing BUT Veg oil at xmas. It ran like a train. Currently running 70/30 mix

[Eightpot]

yes you can, but if you can find cheap veg oil at the moment, can you let us know where it is please!

Most supermarkets are selling it for around 110p/litre - up from around 54p six months ago. At that price it just isn't worth the hassle and having to dispose of loads of plastic containers.

[Shox Dr]

I'd rather have the hassle of emptying 1ltr bottles than give this Government another 1p in bloody TAX

[TheBeastie]

OK

Perhaps finally then going to the supermarket will have something to look forward to.

Any old oil off the shelves, i.e. cheapest, or are there some "rules" to watch out for.

[Shox Dr]

Rape Seed is your best, I buy mine from Tescos, I find them to be the cheapest for oil, the brand is called PURA. Unfortunately it has gone from 53ppl to 107ppl in less than 4 months. However it is still the cheapest by 10-15ppl.

A bit of a pain it been in 1 ltr botlles but like I said, better in my pocket... Get the kids to fill the tank for you, any stillage isn't going to hurt anything

[jimmy_neutron]

I confess to getting very confused with all this stuff using vegetable oil but with prices where they are it has to be worth finding out a bit more.

At its most basic can I simply pour 4l of cheap Tesco/Asda/Costco vegetable oil into a 3/4 full tank of diesel on a 200Tdi with no modifications and genuinely suffer no ill effects or breach of the law?

If so then it probably makes sense to do so if no huge expenditure on conversion kit needed or trying to source guaranteed supply of used chip oil.

Rapeseed is good .. Sunflower also works ... But the best of all is.................

Grapeseed .. cos its green !

[TheBeastie]

Well I got 5 litres of the Pura rapeseed oil at Tesco for £1.07 a litre.

They did have grapeseed oil too at 97p a litre but was not sure whether my leg was being pulled since it is very green. Will it work though since at 97p a litre that is almost back to old diesel prices!!

Is it OK simply to pour in or would I be best making a sort of 50:50 mix with diesel in a jerry can then pouring the mix into the fuel tank?

Sorry for being such a numpty

[Shox Dr]

I mixed a small amount of PURA and Diesel in a transparent container to see how easily it mixed by just been poured together, I found it mixed very well. So just fire the Rape Seed into the tank and then fill up with Diesel

[Gromit]

At its most basic can I simply pour 4l of cheap Tesco/Asda/Costco vegetable oil into a 3/4 full tank of diesel on a 200Tdi with no modifications and genuinely suffer no ill effects or breach of the law?

The 200tdi injection pump is fine with veg oil.

The main thing to watch is polymerisation of the engine oil. Diesels normally contaminate the engine oil with diesel.

This normally thins the oil. If the engine oil is contaminated with veg oil, it'll thicken it with obvious consequences.

Direct injection engines are more prone to contamination and extended idling also increases contamination.

Check your oil frequently, if it's sticky, change it.

[smo]

I run my 200Tdi on 100% veg oil, i started off on a 50/50 blend with diesel, but it got less and less diesel and more and more veg until about 3 months ago when i didn't bother with the diesel at all....she runs fine, a little smoky on start-up but runs fine and as i had 250l purchased @ 49p a litre im still enjoying cheap motoring....well, cheap playing as i only use her once a week.

[Shox Dr]

smo, where did you purchase the oil from. Cheers

[letsgetdirty]

I confess to getting very confused with all this stuff using vegetable oil but with prices where they are it has to be worth finding out a bit more.

At its most basic can I simply pour 4l of cheap Tesco/Asda/Costco vegetable oil into a 3/4 full tank of diesel on a 200Tdi with no modifications and genuinely suffer no ill effects or breach of the law?

If so then it probably makes sense to do so if no huge expenditure on conversion kit needed or trying to source guaranteed supply of used chip oil.

be careful not to usse to much oil with diesel,i run 70/30 and tickover can be 500revs higher and its rough in the winter,heating the oil with glow plugs is harder than diesel so it makes starting a bit harder in cold weather,myself and my friend have been running vegatable oil(new not used) for two years in 200tdi defenders,most of the time they run perfect but put a bit to much in and tickover and startup is compromised,if you find it cheap enough i greatly reccomend it,just be careful....stay away from used oil it furres up the pump and fuel lines...(sorry bout spelling,but she want to go shoppin!!)

[gemsbok]

Well I got 5 litres of the Pura rapeseed oil at Tesco for £1.07 a litre.

They did have grapeseed oil too at 97p a litre but was not sure whether my leg was being pulled since it is very green. Will it work though since at 97p a litre that is almost back to old diesel prices!!

Wow! What does diesel cost in the UK now? I am paying the equivalent of 70p per litre in Botswana and was thinking the other day that it was getting pretty expensive to fill the 120 litre tank!

Apparently I would void the warranty on the TDCi if I used veg oil, but I guess with diesel at this price I have got nothing to complain about.

[pinny]

Wow! What does diesel cost in the UK now? I am paying the equivalent of 70p per litre in Botswana and was thinking the other day that it was getting pretty expensive to fill the 120 litre tank!

Apparently I would void the warranty on the TDCi if I used veg oil, but I guess with diesel at this price I have got nothing to complain about.

were paying between 1.25 to 1.38 over here and its still increasing weekly thay said 1.50 by september but it will soon be there chris

[BogMonster]

Apparently I would void the warranty on the TDCi if I used veg oil

Yes you would.

[smo]

smo, where did you purchase the oil from. Cheers

Local supermarket - the normal price was 56p a litre, add in 1 till monkey and a 250l customer order (a pallet load!) and you get 49p/litre!!! I got mine 3 months back now and am only just getting to my last box - it can be a pain storing 20+ boxes of oil tho as they are 1l bottles. This is by far the cheapest way to get it, i looked into bulk upto 1000l containers and nothing could match it or even get close on price.

gemsbok - voiding the warranty would be the least of your worries if you put veg oil in a TDCi

[letsgetdirty]

Wow! What does diesel cost in the UK now? I am paying the equivalent of 70p per litre in Botswana and was thinking the other day that it was getting pretty expensive to fill the 120 litre tank!

Apparently I would void the warranty on the TDCi if I used veg oil, but I guess with diesel at this price I have got nothing to complain about.

your lucky to be paying 70p,it really is terrible over here for diesel,but theres nothing we can do to stop it only plan our journeys better,were getting stung twice,were paying higher fuel and our food prices have gone up very high because of the cost of transporting the goods etc,a loaf of bread over here can be as much as £2.00 and averages £1.20 in supermarkets, but fuel is the worst,i went for fuel on thursday at £1.28 a litre,on sunday i went to the same garage 3 days later and paid £1.31,its out of control and i can see £2.00 a litre coming sooner than we think,i know a 4 years ago i used to put aside £150 for fuel a month,now i have to put £250 to £300pound aside for the same mileage.........the government could help if it wanted to by lowing fuel duty,and if they were desperate put the loss on cigerettes or alcohol,but they wont,and even if they halved fuel duty it would still be near £1.00 a litre......,The only option we have is to use veg oil but as highlighted its nearly doubled in price,lpg is creeping up to,really the only way to combat it is plan your journeys....

[Shox Dr]

There's a lot WE can do. A fully supported fuel boycott, and a fully supported can't afford to go to work days. The Gov would soon do something.

[Graham Thomson]

I quite agree, the price of fuel is ridiculous........and it is difficult to see what can be done. Diesel is now at the £1.30 mark, and when I get my V8 back at least it runs on LPG.

The oil companies are making record profits........surely there's something there for you Gordon......

And for every 30p increase in a litre, the government rakes in an additional (just over) 5p in Value Added Tax.

I spend £140 per week to drive from Manchester to Sheffield, and it is starting to hurt.....

For every £1.30 litre, 57p is fuel duty and 19.5p is VAT, so 76.5pence straight to the government...

The OPEC countries are holding us to ransom; perhaps it's time we tell countries like Kuwait that next time the bad guys come to get them, we won't be sending our young men and women to die for their cause.....

Every day the general election gets a little nearer........vote with your pocket!

[letsgetdirty]

There's a lot WE can do. A fully supported fuel boycott, and a fully supported can't afford to go to work days. The Gov would soon do something.

HERE HERE!!!!!

[jacks906]

i've been told you can use heating oil and mix it with engine oil using this it goes like stink apparently, wouldnt no were to get any from tho, a mate used it in his 200tdi disco an was gettin it at 68p a litre an it had more power than normal desiel.

law wise you are braking the law because your getting fuel tax free never heard of anyone getting dun for it tho

if you do run it i'd do a mini service every 3500 - 4000 miles to keep everything going well

dave

[Old Spot]

There are many other cheap fuels that will burn ok in manual injection diesel engines, transformer oil, spark erosion fluid and industrial parafin can all be mixed in so leep your eyes open for any thin oils at work . These are all tax free and so should not be used as a road fuel

[letsgetdirty]

seperate tanks to solve that and hope for a dopey transport officer

[jimmy_neutron]

i've been told you can use heating oil and mix it with engine oil using this it goes like stink apparently, wouldnt no were to get any from tho, a mate used it in his 200tdi disco an was gettin it at 68p a litre an it had more power than normal desiel.

law wise you are braking the law because your getting fuel tax free never heard of anyone getting dun for it tho

if you do run it i'd do a mini service every 3500 - 4000 miles to keep everything going well

dave

I thought it was 2/- oil that ya mixed keroscene with. The reason being that kerscene lacks the lubrication that is required by the injector pump etc. Adding 2/- puts the lubrication back into things.

So maybe ... theoretically... a mixture of say keroscene, 2/- oil, mixed with veggie oil will run very well for about 100,000 miles, in fact till the vehicle reached 200,000 miles cos the first 100,000 would of course of been on diesel.. Theoretically of course!

Must of been an indirect injection engine though like i once saw in an astra 1.7td.. The isuzu engined version would be even better.