General Cooking Oil

[tmawer]

Apologies if this has been asked many times! Can I run my 2001 Scudo EL on cooking oil bought from my local supermarket? What problems may I come up against and how do I get round them? Please keep things simple as I know almost nothing about vehicles. Many thanks!

 

[jenks69]

You can run any diesel engine on cooking oil, however some of the problems are as follows:

Some fuel pumps die pretty quick as they need the lubrication from the diesel.
Cold starting can be a nightmare on 100% veg oil
It is recomended to heat the veg oil before it enters the engine - loads of kits out there for this.

Veg oil can solidify within the engine and fuel lines etc which will obviously cause issues.

I ran my C15 on 100% veg oil with the only problem occuring when trying to start it in the mornings. (took about 25 seconds of starter motor to get things going) which killed the starter after about 6 months.

My dads series 3 landrover is running 50% veg oil with no modifications.

I haven't tried my scudo on veg oil yet, I've got the 1.9td if I did I'd try a small mix 75% diesel 25% veg oil, see how it goes sort of thing.

 

[tmawer]

Thanks for that. I have read that rapeseed oil is less likely to thicken when cold so I may, as you suggest, mix with diesel and see what happens. I would expect the oil to lubricate pump but seems to be an issue with fuel filters too. Is it worth the hassle and risk I wonder?

 

[udtrev]

The way the prices for veg are rising it's hardly worth it.

August 04 I paid 0.46 per litre
June 05 I paid 0.46p per litre
June 06 I paid 0.54p per litre
June 07 it's £1.16 per litre

I ran my surf on 100% for a couple of years, yes, it was lumpy when cold, but started fairly well.

you do need to keep a filter or two handy, veg will drag up the crud in the early days of running.

There can be issues with Lucas fuel pumps, Denso ones are more tolerent

Mixing is the safer option.


Trev

 

[Mike J 51]

Tescos diesel already contains 7% bio-diesel (re-cycled Veg oil).

 

[Bill3455]

Biodiesel is not just recycled veg oil. It is a chemical conversion of veg oil.
Have a look on this forum for more information on running on veg.
http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk

Here is a supplier of veg oil twin tank kits
http://www.biomotors.co.uk/CarsVans.html

I run my scudo 2.0JTD on biodiesel made from the conversion of waste veg oil.