Another experiment to try.

[BlackC55]

I remember Dieselman filling his fuel filter up with engine oil as an experiment to see if if his E300TD would run on it and it did with NO smoke at all.

I tried the same on my Caddy last week and I can confirm that it works.

This got me thinking.

If it can run on new oil why not used engine oil.

At the moment I have a MK2 Golf GTD as a run around so I decided on friday to fill the tank with 3 litres of used engine oil and topped up with 10 litres of diesel.

I have run the car all weekend, Monday and Tuesday and have no ill effects such as smoking or bad starting.

I realise that the fuel filter will have to be changed more regulary but £3 for a fuel filter is cheap enough.

I don't think I would like to try it on a modern new diesel but on my old car it seems to be working fine.

Anyone have any comments?

 

[andy_cyp]

Since its working fine on a 3/10 litre combo why not try and adding more oil slowly, ie 4ltrs to 10 diesel and if that works fine then go for 50/50 and obviously stop there as your gains on a 50/50 will be highly significant.

Just a thought.

 

[tim.100]

Since its working fine on a 3/10 litre combo why not try and adding more oil slowly, ie 4ltrs to 10 diesel and if that works fine then go for 50/50 and obviously stop there as your gains on a 50/50 will be highly significant.

Just a thought.

Stationary engine fans burn waste engine oil in their Listers and Petters. However they filter it extensively before use as fuel. There will be solid particulates of carbon and metals in the used oil.

There is also the fact that fuel duty must be paid.

 

[BlackC55]

Stationary engine fans burn waste engine oil in their Listers and Petters. However they filter it extensively before use as fuel. There will be solid particulates of carbon and metals in the used oil.

There is also the fact that fuel duty must be paid.

If I use less than 2500 litres per year I pay no duty I think.

I will change the fuel filter often and I have thought of attaching a magnet to the filter to help catch the small metal particles.

 

[glojo]

Hi Ollie
Are you confident about any long term issues regarding the different pumps? Certainly sounds an idea.

Regards
John

 

[BlackC55]

I am sure with regular filter changes an not a too high concerntration of oil the pumps will be ok short term.

As this golf is old and beaten up Its a good car to start from to see if there are any adverse effects. It is still too early to tell as I am at the beginings of the experiment.

 

[television]

Do you mind if we call you "oily" from now on

 

[Dieselman]

Pour all your waste oil into a holding tank and don't draw from the bottom of the tank, then filter it through a large diesel filter and finally a bypass filter from Kleenoil.
This will polish it cleaner than regular pump diesel.

Let me know if you want a bypass filter as my Brother has one kicking around that is new but surplace to requirements now. It's from a proposed veg oil conversion on a large van but is too large to fit into my engine bay.

It would be worth checking the acid content of the oil. As you say, in a "beater" car it hardly matters anyway though.

The release from fuel duty is only for veg oil or biodiesel...however....

 

[fredfloggle]

I remember Dieselman filling his fuel filter up with engine oil as an experiment to see if if his E300TD would run on it and it did with NO smoke at all.

I tried the same on my Caddy last week and I can confirm that it works.

This got me thinking.

If it can run on new oil why not used engine oil.

At the moment I have a MK2 Golf GTD as a run around so I decided on friday to fill the tank with 3 litres of used engine oil and topped up with 10 litres of diesel.

I have run the car all weekend, Monday and Tuesday and have no ill effects such as smoking or bad starting.

I realise that the fuel filter will have to be changed more regulary but £3 for a fuel filter is cheap enough.

I don't think I would like to try it on a modern new diesel but on my old car it seems to be working fine.

Anyone have any comments?

Please think about all the nastiness dissolved/entrapped within engine oil , all released again when you burn it - you really need to treat it first.

 

[R W]

BlackC55.
I work for a large generator company using Cummins 50ltr V16 engines.In one of the countries we were working in this experiment was tried,ie;adding used engine oil to the fuel.It wasnt for economical reasons,purely to dispose of the wast oil.I cannot remember the ratio now as it was many years ago. But the engines subjected to this experiment suffered many more injector failures ( as on a Cummins its the injector that compresses the fuel)than other engines running on pure diesel. After several months the fuel lines were also blocking up with carbon deposites from the oil. The experiment was dropped as it was causing more problems & expense than it was worth.
Maybe as members advise a good filter may avoid the problems we had.
This is just my two pence worth from the experiment we tried.
Regards
R W

 

[BlackC55]

Pour all your waste oil into a holding tank and don't draw from the bottom of the tank, then filter it through a large diesel filter and finally a bypass filter from Kleenoil.
This will polish it cleaner than regular pump diesel.

Let me know if you want a bypass filter as my Brother has one kicking around that is new but surplace to requirements now. It's from a proposed veg oil conversion on a large van but is too large to fit into my engine bay.

It would be worth checking the acid content of the oil. As you say, in a "beater" car it hardly matters anyway though.

The release from fuel duty is only for veg oil or biodiesel...however....

That bypass filter would be handy. How big is it? How much do you want for it?

 

[BlackC55]

BlackC55.
I work for a large generator company using Cummins 50ltr V16 engines.In one of the countries we were working in this experiment was tried,ie;adding used engine oil to the fuel.It wasnt for economical reasons,purely to dispose of the wast oil.I cannot remember the ratio now as it was many years ago. But the engines subjected to this experiment suffered many more injector failures ( as on a Cummins its the injector that compresses the fuel)than other engines running on pure diesel. After several months the fuel lines were also blocking up with carbon deposites from the oil. The experiment was dropped as it was causing more problems & expense than it was worth.
Maybe as members advise a good filter may avoid the problems we had.
This is just my two pence worth from the experiment we tried.
Regards
R W

Thanks for the info. That is interesting.

 

[IanA2]

Do you mind if we call you "oily" from now on

.....as in oi, Oily.....!!

 

[eurico]

My Clio has 240k km with original, untouched injectors and pump thanks to every three full tanks being added 1 litre of cheap new engine oil. This compensates for the lack of sulphir in the fuel.
Ollie, I would say that if you don't overdo it, you will have a dirtier filter but a better lubricated fuel system.
Good point, Dieseliman on the acidity. I believe this would be an issue if:
1) water was present in the oil
2) oil is mineral based and heavily oxidised

 

[glojo]

I commend Olly for trying this on an older car that is now perhaps on its last legs because he has nothing to loose and perhaps also he will make a nice financial saving. Putting undues stress on fuel pumps, injections pumps is a gamble for those of us with vehicles that are not on their last legs and it might prove very expensive in the long term.

Older type diesel engines will be far more tolerant of what goes through their pipes but the more modern the engine then perhaps the fuel systems might get destroyed by pumping dirty, or thicker liquids through their systems.

A few years ago we had an excellent article by a very highly qualified engineer who specialised in diesel fuel systems and he reported how quickly seals, and the pumps themselves were destroyed. His comments were mainly aimed at bio-diesel being used in modern Common Rail Direct Injection engines, but this very topic was also briefly mentioned.

Some Russian truck engines will operate on just about any inflammable liquid.

Good luck
John

 

[BlackC55]

Exactly John. I always have loads of ideas.

BTW the Golf engine and dash is going into the Caddy so it does need to be reliable.

Watch this space.

 

[fredfloggle]

I commend Olly for trying this on an older car that is now perhaps on its last legs because he has nothing to loose and perhaps also he will make a nice financial saving. Putting undues stress on fuel pumps, injections pumps is a gamble for those of us with vehicles that are not on their last legs and it might prove very expensive in the long term.

Older type diesel engines will be far more tolerant of what goes through their pipes but the more modern the engine then perhaps the fuel systems might get destroyed by pumping dirty, or thicker liquids through their systems.

A few years ago we had an excellent article by a very highly qualified engineer who specialised in diesel fuel systems and he reported how quickly seals, and the pumps themselves were destroyed. His comments were mainly aimed at bio-diesel being used in modern Common Rail Direct Injection engines, but this very topic was also briefly mentioned.

Some Russian truck engines will operate on just about any inflammable liquid.

Good luck
John

Saving is one thing - does the environment not count for anything? burning contaminated used engine oil has got to release some nasty stuff - not to mention the additives in the stuff when it was new.

 

[glojo]

Saving is one thing - does the environment not count for anything? burning contaminated used engine oil has got to release some nasty stuff - not to mention the additives in the stuff when it was new.

No disagreement from me but I'm a coward and feared the wrath of the masses if I dared to say such a thing.

Regards
John the wimp

 

[fredfloggle]

Shun the masses and bite the bullet - be "John the Merciless".

 

[Dieselman]

I think most waste oil in this country is burned in power generation plants anyway, very little is recycled.