Hi Rick,

Someone on this forum once said "you have to drive a 300Tdi like you just stole it" That's pretty much how I drive mine. I use it regularly (every two weeks or so) in very soft sand along beaches and tracks. I also tow a 1400kg van behind for extended periods of time every few months. I am always going somewhere!! If I'm towing, my EGT is rarely below 500C and regularly gets up to 700C on hills. In short.... the poor ole 300Tdi gets a good hammering

I keep my service intervals at 10k for oil and filter and also change the fuel and air filter at that time. I do valve clearance every 20k (although it doesn't need it) and drain glycerin out of the rear trap and filter every 5k.

I don't use expensive synthetics, just shell Helix and at 230k it uses about 50ml of oil over the 10k service period.

For the first 5000 after an oil change, the oil is still transparrent on the dip stick. As it approaches 10000 it goes a little darker, but hardly leaves a stain between fingers.

There is absolutely no difference in economy or power, but the engine runs noticeably quieter on bio and the average head temperature is around 5C lower.

I know a large group of people that make biodiesel properly. The vast majority of them don't even bother to wash it (as I don't) and none of them have ever experienced any problems with injectors, pumps or seals.

The tone of my post was perhaps a little over the top, but it's really frustrating to see a continuous debate on this issue that seems to be driven largely by mis-information and fear.

Biodiesel is a truly renewable energy that produces bugger all greenhouse gas emissions. It is far less abrasive than fosil fuel diesel and when blended at rates of just 1%, sulphur can be eliminated completely. That says something about it's lubricity.

If we are going to debate the potential down side of biodiesel, a good place to start is the fact that it's production is now causing mass de-forrestation and displacement of traditional land use for food production, that is leading to all sorts of environmental and social issues.

I'll get back off my soap box now and remind myself that it's just a million or two litres of waste oil that I am helping to keep out of landfill every year.

Cheers
Maarten