Running on Vegetable Oil

The easy answer is yes, but do you wonder everyone in the world doesnt do it? its becuase its hard to get right and the reliabilty of your diesel car would probably suffer.. It takes alot of time and money to get a set-up right for a vegie oil powered vehicle, first of all the viscosity of the oil is way,way to thick and would never go through you conventional fuel lines/filter so its has do be mixed with a chemical thinner, that doesnt harm the properties of the oil. You could use a separate tank.. but its all more money. Its the processing thats the hard part(and the costly part) and thats what most people dont understand, but it definetly can be done...

Hi Deni, Thank you for taking the time out to respond to my query, I guess it is just the Nat Geo saying that it is an easy process that anyone can just do it.

generally larger lines and a higher flow filter are used instead of a thinner. In addition in many cases a line is run from the engine coolant thru the fuel tank to get it to proper temperature since the oils tend to coagulate at low temperatures, thus starting in the cold is difficult. SVO is what you should google to start getting ideas. Stands for Straight Vegetable Oil... If you get a kit make sure you read up on it first and that you find someone who's used it before to find out how good the kit is. worked on a bio-diesel volvo that went thru two kits... First one was a piece that didn't run for shit except under perfect conditions... Second kit and the car ran better than it did before he converted the car. I beleive it's the SVO systems that don't require processing. Good luck m8

Hi Adam, Thank you for the information and for taking the time to answer my query.

The easy way to do it is to have a second tank with diesel in it to start the car, When the coolant in the engine reaches 70 degrees you swich to veg oil that goes through a heatsinc to bring it up to temp and thining it down. There are companys that do convertions over here for landrovers.

Hi Rhys, thank you for taking the time out to answer my query.

i have a friend with a diesel rabbit. he runs everything from veggie oil to motor oil to transmission fluid. his fuel filter got clogged so he put a bigger one on, and said hes going to change all the rubber fuel hoses to metal because they corrode within about 6 months with other oils. but theyre called oil burners for a reason :)

Hello user, thank for the insight on my query - so far your answer is the easiest to do. Will send on this thread again if I succeed with the endeavor.

I run a 91 landcruiser on recycled vege oil .no modifications ,put 20% diesel for the detergents in the tank first ,ad oil then mix with swerving. Have been doing this for 2 years ,no probs. Rang up toyota because herd vege oil is assidic,they said what do you think diesel is. If anyone tells you you need seperate tank ,or special injectors,oil needs processing. Tell them to take a hike ,they dont know what they are talking about. To go right back to when the diesel engine was invented,it was made to run on canola oil & it does that without any modifications. Diesel in the winter has to have a thinner added to it to stop it from gelling,can do the same thing with vege oil. Have a brother inlaw that works in a refinery ,operating the hydrocracker, makes all the different types of fuel ,says the worst thing that would happen is your fuel filter would block, therefore ad more diesel to the mix in winter. Refineries dont even filter their diesel ,that gets left up to the service stations. All i do with my oil is run it through a diesel fuel filter 5 microns with water seperator connected to a 12$ drill pump to fill my vehicle. Engine runs quieter ,more lubrication in the ejector pump. Engine oil stays alot cleaner & the bonus is if you hit a deer you can cook him with the vege oil. Cheers Zeke

Thank you Zeke for the insight! I really appreciate the info!

I think that the simplest of forms is what is the best as Rudolph intended way back at the turn of the century! The real issue for all the so claimed costs to convert is driven by a profit just as we experience with the oil industry around the world. Fuels need not cost us what we are charged because of the costs of locating and developing, it is 99% about the profits. Look at it this way......300 billion barrels of oil a day by just one country, the USA multiplied by the market value of a barrel of oil ranging between current prices of 90-110 U.S. dollars per barrel!!!!!!!!! Now add the governments taxes!!!!!!!! Do you think it is about what it costs to get that barrel of oil which still costs less than 40 bucks to produce? Hardly!!!!!!

I have been making Bio-Diesel for 6 years with no issues. I use it in my tractor , generator and car. From Fryer to Fuel tank was my bible.

2.8 pajero/shogun no modifications it runs perfect on veg oil straight from shop, used veg oil has molecules and thay bond together going through the fuel filter and clog it up, so i just use veg oil straight from shop, i just keep my eyes open wen out and about sometimes cheap shops like fultons or farmfoods sell big drums of veg oil cheap, better than wholesalers price, and in winter months i do 50/50 veg and diesel never a problem, runs sweat as a nut.