C250 Veggy Conversion

[stevewales]

Just wondering if anyone on here has a converted C250 TD running on Straight Veggy oil?? I have been thinking of doing it as im only getting 29mpg at best out of the car So it would bring down my fuel expences a LOT and smell like chips all day.. yummy..

Cheers
Steve

 

[230K]

Hi

Run her on 50/50 for a while with no mods to see what you think. Someone i know has had very pleasing results from a C250TD running in Lidl's finest.

230K

 

[Jensen]

C250 Veggy

I've a C250TD. Are you sure this won't do ANY damage and what if ANY are the risks

 

[stevewales]

I have been running a mix for some time now without any problems, i guess the temperature is nice and warm(ish) in the UK now so the viscosity of the oil is not an issue. However during the winter i might have some porblems, so i was thinking of one of these kits with the Heated elements to thin the oil before its introduced to the fuel pump. I would save me a fortune in the long run!!
It wont do any damamge to the engine or fuel pump if used correctly, As the C250 isn't a common rail injection system its indirect i believe - perfect for cooking oil

Cheers
steve

 

[c250 turbo diesel]

Beware

COOKING OILS, Just lookout the customs an excise dont stop you, the same punishment as for red diesel !!! have fun

 

[mjtray]

Hi, I run my current W124 300D and have run my previous W124 300D on a 50/50 veg/diesel oil mix and they run just fine. My previous W124 covered 30,000 miles without problem and infact they tend to run quieter as veg oil is naturally oxygenated, which means that it burns better.....yes you do get a smell of fried food out the back, but its nicer than regular diesel fumes.

As a recommendation, I would suggest that after the first tank using veg oil, that you change the fuel filter,as veg oil is heavier/more viscous than diesel and it does a good job of scouring the crud off the insides of your fuel tank/fuel lines. After that its plain sailing.

I get 20 litres of veg from Costco for £8 which is much nicer than paying @ £20 for 20 litres of diesel.

Veg mainly works best on old style diesels, ie indirect combustion diesels, rather than the later TDI, Common rail style engines.

The C250D should be fine....just try her off on 15 litres of veg and 45 litres of regular diesel......put the diesel in first and then the veg.

Is it any wonder that older Merc diesels prices are increasing!!!!!!!!!

 

[Silver Arrow]

My wife's Audi A6 Quattro sport V6 turbo diesel has a bit in the handbook about bio diesel. They don't reccomend more than a 50% mix, especially in winter.
An old landrover is OK with 95% chip oil and thinners. It seems to be legal if you pay the duty on the price of the scrap chip oil you are using! (ref Jeremy Clarkeson)
:twisted:

 

[mjtray]

Remember that Veg oil is different from Bio Diesel.....Bio Diesel is made from pretty nasty chemical mix of Rape seed oil and various cetane boosters and other chemicals that enable it to run in all types of diesels.....what surprised me is that Bio Diesel is normally 95% diesel and 5% Bio!!!! Bio Diesel is quite a corrosive product which can damage some older diesel injection pumps that have rubber O rings etc within the pump mechanism. It also tends to strip away some of the lubricants in Diesel, which can lead to the injection pump packing in.....I imagine that this is why they have to dilute it so heavily and maybe the reason why they say to only run a 50/50 mix in your Audi

Is your Audi a new TDi?

In terms of Veg oil it has a lot of natural lubricants and you don't have the wear issues that you have with Bio Diesel. The only problem with Veg is that its probably not best used in some of the very high pressure diesel pumps used nowadays, although I hear it works just fine in older VW/Audi TDi engines as long as you keep to a 50/50 mix or less.

Have a look at the following website for further info on the types of cars that can run on grease

http://www.greasecar.com/

 

[Silver Arrow]

It's the V6 180 bhp unit. with a 6 speed box. I don't think that the bigger job is out yet. This has shed loads of torque!

I also have a Mitsubishi L200 double cab which is a TDi. A bit different to the old Landrover diesels it is quite spritely!.

The greasecar site is interesting. I notice that it's US based. I had a 6.2 V8 dlesel Suburban when I lived there. It was big and unsophisticated mechanically but went well as the horsepower was based on huge Yank carthorses.

I wonder what the customs chaps here use to test the fuel these days?

A few years back (well lots actually) when there was one of the several fuel crises, I carried around a load of customs forms to fill in if I had to use red diesel in my Landrover should the 'proper' stuff be unobtainable. Never had to fortunately!

George.

 

[nicky]

Just wondering if anyone on here has a converted C250 TD running on Straight Veggy oil?? I have been thinking of doing it as im only getting 29mpg at best out of the car So it would bring down my fuel expences a LOT and smell like chips all day.. yummy..

Cheers
Steve

Dont think it is a good idea to run on strait veg oil,a 50/50 mix is about the best to run....In winter best to run a 25/75 mix...

 

[nicky]

Here is a link to look at on veg oil.....

http://www.ravenfamily.org/andyg/vegoil.htm#4

 

[steve kane]

TV Veg Oil Conversion(£500!!)

Hello, what an intresting thread, I have just caught the tail end of some "reality" show on TV where the chap was directed to a specialist garage to have a "conversion" at a cost of £500 so that his old VW Diesel camper would run on Veg Oil, they did not say what the conversion entailed or whether it allowed the engine to run on Veg Oil only, they did however say that there was no mechanical conversion and that the engine could be switched between the 2 fuels, I wonder if it was some kind of fuel heater?? Intrestingly there was no mention at all about the Fuel Duty. Lastly I seem to recall reading about people making up their own fuel which consisted of Veg Oil (is Sunflower just as good??) and Methanol, which is (was)surprisingly cheap, the two were mixed and allowed to settle I think, before it could be used, just tipping in 50% Veg Oil is clearly much easier if it works okay, there was a spate of this in Wales a year or two ago and I think the police became active checking fuel tanks up and down the valleys.
Steve

 

[eyelight]

Seems it's only in Europe they try to tax you on this.

Started reading more about this the other day after seeing a W123 240D for sale.
Here's an interesting article from Florida, where they don't have to worry so much about cold weather starting.
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050710/NEWS/507100312/1021

A great idea but one which seems to be doomed by the government here in their attempts to tax absolutely everything.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,878122,00.html

There's also an environmental angle to it -
http://www.ravenfamily.org/andyg/vegoil.htm#4

Driving on veg oil is dead easy to do. Why aren't more people doing it? Confusion about whether or not it is safe and legal. Well, I think it is time the Government took a lead.
By mandating a 10% vegetable oil content in diesel fuel sold at the pump, non-renewable emmissions from diesel vehicles will be cut, at a stroke, by 10%. That's most of our Kyoto commitment for all those HGVs, taxis and White Vans. Our worst polluters will become a shining example of how to do it. There's no technical reason not to go ahead and change the law right now. Proper at-pump duty would remove the bureacratic hoops through which we currently have to jump. It would incentivise people to shift to even greener levels of veg. It would make a difference.