simple bio-diesel?

I am running 3 300tdi vehicles on WVO and have had no adverse effects.
I use a mix of 20ltr Diesel, 2ltr petrol and 58ltr WVO. I have a heater on each of the injector pipes just before the injectors and have replaced the plastic pipe and banjo to the injector pump with a 30cm length of steel pipe with a banjo silver soldered to the end. This also has a heater on it. The heaters are regulated to 100 deg C.

The standard fuel filter is more than capable of delivering at a high enough rate to prevent the lift pump being stalled.

I get no smoke, the engine runs more smoothly and it also is quieter. I have noticeable increase in power and I get the same mileage.

The WVO is cold filtered to 5 microns.

I am considering a band heater for the fuel filter to allow me to use hot filtered WVO as any animal fat will then pass through the standard filter meaning virtually no waste product from the filtering process other than solids.

I have another 2 vehicles to convert one being a 200tdi.

A mod I have done to the Defender 300tdi is to move the turbo boost pressure lines from the output of the turbo up to the intake plenum. This has given me a 1 psi increase. The other mod I have done is to put a T piece in the wastegate actuator pipe and bleed directly to the atmosphere. What this has achieved is another 2 - 2.5 psi of boost and a much shorter spool up time of the turbo. The other advantage is that the wastegate stays shut until closer to the opening pressure.

Performance has been greatly enhanced. I have no figures as yet but will be looking to put it on a dyno soon.

I realy like the idea of running diesels on alternative fuels ... Its kind of amazing to me to think what I cook my chips in can also get me to and from work, infact, I think its brilliant!
I remember watching the news years and years ago when they done a story of a bloke from Gosford (from memory) that had made diesel fuel from WVO and showed trucks that were running on the stuff, it was a fascinating watch! The finer details about the story are quite vague to me now.

Here's a question,

What are the cost savings relative to just going to the pump and filling up with regular diesel?
Factoring in costs to modify the fuel system, making the fuel, costs of materials, time ... Once its all said and done, what is the final $$ value/litre on what you have just made?

I'd worked out my costs at around 40 to 45 cents per litre, when the pump price was 99 cents/litre.

This included allowance for power, (heating the oil for the reaction) water, as I water-washed thoroughly, and buying the filtered WVO at 15 cents per litre.
Also accounted for was a 60km round trip to pick up the oil at 200 to 280 litres at a time.

And yes, I was doing it for several years with no problems at all, either in my own vehicles or any of the others that regularly ran on it...

But all this is purely academic now, as the govt now demands 38 cents / litre excise, and offers a rebate of..... 38 cents per litre, if and only IF, you jump through a zillion hoops.

Which is the main reason I stopped making it... Was *NOT* going to contribute to public servants being paid to do less than nothing productive.

So now you can buy ordinary diesel, or mixed in with Gull's diesel in ??? % (read the fine print, their BioD is "...UP to 20%")

My apologies, I was talking about making bioDiesel.

I did try heated WVO and it ran fine, though with a stronger exhaust smell than my bio...

My Bongo wagon did'nt have enough spare space to go the dual-tank plumbing nightmare etc of WVO, and I preferred to do my 'fiddling' OFF the car.

But with some ingenuity anything is possible... such as a Mazda 626 with a WVO tank built next to the radiator, on the passenger side. Quite elaborate and used up most of the available space, held, I think, 18 or so litres. Tank had a few loops of pipe carrying hot water. And a large enough filler lid to accept scoopfuls of lumpy fat.

Fuel filter was a Z9 oil filter, kept up to temp via a heated clamp.

The Big Secret to WVO is to filter, filter...and filter it first. Then keep it warm enough to be as runny as normal diesel. Cold filtering is excellent, though usually done 'Off-vehicle'.

James in Perth