Biodiesel in a FR TDi (PD)? anyone running it?

[Mr Cellotape]

So, going back to the question..... Is anybody running Bio or normal cooking oil/chip fat anything other than shell diesel in their VAG TDI who is on this website? - might be worth asking the mods to move this into the TDI/general sections

 

[joonspoon]

not a problem mate take a look at their own website, i was the same as you when i found out http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/briefs/excise-duty/brief4307.htm

Unless I'm misreading the stuff from that link I still haven't seen anything that shows Biodiesel being mixed with the diesel I buy on the forecourt.
It appears to be giving advice about tax returns.

Not saying it isn't happening but I've yet to be convinced.

Regards Guy.

 

[joonspoon]

So, going back to the question..... Is anybody running Bio or normal cooking oil/chip fat

Don't look like it.

anything other than shell diesel in their VAG TDI

Yes me. Cheap Asda diesel.

Regards Guy.

 

[Mr Cellotape]

Yes me. Cheap Asda diesel.

Regards Guy.

Thats probably mixed with all sorts then

 

[s3tony]

i fill up wherever is closest before i run out of fuel, filled the car up 4 times since new. once @ jet on the way home from the garage, twice at total on the way to work, and once at esso, 93.9-94.9p a litre.

 

[joonspoon]

Thats probably mixed with all sorts then

Probably, but 55 mpg and car runs great.

 

[ajrimmer]

been running mixture of biodiesel for last 9 months 12,000 miles. Started 50/50 mix but last 10,000 miles been mostly 100% bio unless I run out when it gets topped up with normal diesel. No problems so far, white chip shop smoke on a cold start is only difference, no mpg/performance really noticable. 2003 ibiza tdi 130 sport + revo chipped.

AJR

 

[rob1]

sounds like good news to me if you have been doing it with a PD, my mate has been running it in his 115 golf for a while now, the only problem he has found is that he has to look into going to makro to get bigger drums and with winter approaching you have to reduce the mix

 

[muddyboots]

sounds like good news to me if you have been doing it with a PD, my mate has been running it in his 115 golf for a while now, the only problem he has found is that he has to look into going to makro to get bigger drums and with winter approaching you have to reduce the mix

Sounds like he's using veg-oil then, not biodiesel.

 

[jtmac]

On Bio content of fuels the in the supermarket have a look at ...

http://www.greenergy.com/Products/index.html

Greenergy supply fuel for tesco and some others. any they put upto 5% bio-fuel into Unleaded, Diesel and Super. In fact it's the Bio-ethanol in their Tesco 99 that increases the octane. They don't have to say whether it's 0% or 5% as long as it meets the British Standard. e.g. BS590 for diesel if I remember right.

Like muddyboots says it very important to distinguish between Biodiesel ( AKA FAME or RME) which is chemically processed to be very similar to mineral diesel, and Straight Vegetable Oil ( SVO ) which is the stuff you cook chips in. If you want to run Straight Vegetable Oil buy an old pre-turbo VW or Merc or a Landrover or buy a conversion kit from elsbett

http://www.elsbett.com/gb/about-us/introduction.html

as far as I can find out the option listed in boot is different injectors but I might be wrong on that.

Running SVO is more tempting now because you don't have to pay fuel duty on it any more as long as you keep records of what you use and you use no more than 2500 litres in a year (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/briefs/excise-duty/brief4307.htm).

Not used either in mine yet and I don't think I'm likely to anytime soon. Sticking to ASDA and an occasional dose of Millers.

 

[muddyboots]

dieselveg.com also do heated SVO kits.
I'd be very wary about using an SVO kit in a PD, until others have done so and covered a fair few miles, to know what the reliability is like and the effects on injectors. Having said that, someone recently fitted one of the dieselveg kits to a Touareg TDI (http://www.dieselveg.com/vw_toureg_2_5pd.htm) !

On the other hand, I'd be quite happy to run a higish percentage of Bio, but then from the filling stations I've seen, it costs around the same as, or more than, regular diesel. So no incentive for me.

 

[Lubi Lou]

If you want to keep your engine in top condition (and other components) I would not recommend bio.

Fuel dilution is a big problem running bio, 2% fuel dilution is deemed as caution, 3% is deemed as critical. Now fuel dilutions are in the range of 4% - 16% when running bio.

Viscosities with this much fuel in may aswel be transmission fluids.

--
Edit*

Do yourself a favour and stick with Shell/BP. I will not use places that are supplied from Greenergy.

 

[joonspoon]

Do yourself a favour and stick with Shell/BP.

So supermarket fuel is a no-no then?
A far as I know Asda/Tesco et al supply fuel that meets British Standards.

Regards Guy.

 

[Lubi Lou]

So supermarket fuel is a no-no then?
A far as I know Asda/Tesco et al supply fuel that meets British Standards.

Regards Guy.

Yes they meet specifications, but if i'm going to pay nearly £1/1ltr for fuel I want it to be top notch stuff.

I don't want the 5% bioethanol, its a killer!

 

[rob1]

thats what scares me because its PD and for the sake of a few quid savings per tank i couldnt afford risking to blow anything else up. my next car will probably be a merc c220 so im hoping they run better on SVO. biodiesel definately makes a difference to your car, i ran tesco stuff in mine for a good few months as it was cheaper and i got creditcard points from them. filter needed changing more often - dont know why?! and i had to use injector cleaner more often to get a normal pull. i ve used bp ultimate and that stuff is awesome, and their normal is quite good to. ive noticed that my local sainsbury also have good quality diesel, i dont know if its the local that effects the quality of the fuel from suppliers ? asda fuel ive noticed just varies, again i dont know if the market place just buys from different suppliers . its a big shame that people in the Uk are not willing to block those refineries again to cause a big strike to reduce prices!!

 

[Lubi Lou]

I'm not 100% on this:-

All I know is to stay well away from Tesco/Morrisons. Can't comment on any other, got nothing against these supermarkets (infact we shop @ Tesco) but I really dont see the point on saving a few quid when it can cause problems.

The Silicone scare was the cherry on the cake for me. Very nicely covered up though I must say.

 

[muddyboots]

Let's not descend a biodiesel discussion into yet another supermarket fuel debate

 

[Lubi Lou]

I've used SVO for a couple of months in my Fr130 P-Torque remapped Ibiza. I started at 5% mix, then increased to 20%. I put a slug of redex in initally, then changed to Millers DPP4 when I found out about that. There was no difference whatsoever in performance or MPG. The only change was a different smell from the exhaust.

I thought I'd give it a go and have so far covered about 2k miles. The only pain in the backside was filling the fuel tank, I'd slop SVO all over the place and it's a bugger to clean. I've stopped doing it at the mo because of this.

I'm sure all diesel sold ast the forecourt is 5% biodiesel (diff to SVO as has been mentioned). I've also looked into buying a Biodiesel Processor, but they're ridiculously priced, so I might make my own eventually.

You may also note that your used oil may have a 'green' tint to it.

 

[jtmac]

right, I'm about to add another slightly off-topic question...

Have any of those that have looked at BioDiesel processors or SVO/WVO convertors also looked at the LPG injection/conversion.

From what I've managed to look up so far you convert to burning LPG and diesel together.

Is this less of a step into the unknown?

 

[bio_derv]

I am running both a leon fr tdi 170 and a ibiza fr tdi 130 on biodiesel no problems