Biodiesel

[SilverSaloon]

I think the older Mercedes-Benz diesels are perhaps much better suited to these fuels but from memory our expert only discussed the Cdi engine

yep, best to ignore the 1 post user here methinks - troll?

 

[macash48]

Help

I have been running 100% Bio Diesel in Mercs for years my latest is a C250TD running on my home produced Bio B100 and has done over 60,000 mile on the stuff with no failures

Hi zippy1970 I wonder if you could contact me so I can pick your brains about Mercedes C250 as I am getting one in a few days time with view to running it on B100. Need to ask things like, do I have to change the fuel lines and O rings etc as there is very conflicting info out there. I will be making my own biodiesel. Hope to hear from you. Cheers

 

[nick.ged]

a 'friend' of mine used to have a p38 range rover diesil with the bmw 2500 engine in it.

'he' ran a fule ratio of 20l of cosco oil to 5 liters of unleded in it for three years with no problems what so ever. this wasnt the thinnest rapeseed oil, it was veggie oil. the ratios of this werent specifically measure, it was guessed from filling one or two drums at home then then driving to fetch the petrol.

'he' onece ran 100% oil from cosco over the summer, and one day it failed to start, about september on a cold morning. 'he' went to asda and fetched two 5 liter cans of unleded, poured them in the tank and then cranked it for 5 mins till it started, no problems after that.

i have been reserching performance on the net for a few weeks due to my missus having a newish alfa desil. it seems a lot of the peugot boy racer brigade are usoing a 5% ratio of unleded in there cars to increce performane.

adding the unleded must lower the viscosity and increce the burn rate of desil / cooking oil.

on top gear they once mixed 97% pure cooking oil with 3% white spirit, shook it up and poured it into a volvo 740 desil with an empty tank, then drove it round the test track whilst recording the show, it was stil going at the end.

all i need to know is what issues the high pressure modern commmon rail systems might have, i am tempted to try 50 50 rape seed/ desil in the alfa, but scared to try it. would also consider 90 10 rapeseed and unleaded, if it wasnt me who would have to fix it if i broke it!!!.

 

[nick.ged]

a few of the previos posts have mentioned using unleaded to blend the fuel for winter, why only winter? then no one has picked it up or comented further... more advice / resech needed.

 

[nick.ged]

hear is the original top gear cooking oil program, forget the bmw racing one, they messed up the ratio of meth.
YouTube - Top Gear - Vegetable oil for your volvo diesel - BBC

 

[nick.ged]

this looks promoising, but needs a payment to access.
Combustion Study of a Common Rail Diesel Engine Optimized to be Fueled with Biodiesel? - Energy & Fuels (ACS Publications)

 

[SilverSaloon]

visit this forum. Everything is covered here for running your car on veg or bio....

Using Vegetable oil as a diesel fuel

 

[NormanC]

this looks promoising, but needs a payment to access.
Combustion Study of a Common Rail Diesel Engine Optimized to be Fueled with Biodiesel? - Energy & Fuels (ACS Publications)

Very interesting but the synopsis indicates that they only look at performance optimisation and don't consider any mechanical consequences.

visit this forum. Everything is covered here for running your car on veg or bio....

Using Vegetable oil as a diesel fuel

I just have a slight worry they they are unlikely to be unbiased.

Does anyone know of accessible, independent research which covers both performance and mechanical aspects? I'd love to read it.

 

[SilverSaloon]

I just have a slight worry they they are unlikely to be unbiased.

The forum members know their stuff though and if its not suitable they will tell you. I'm talking about the forum members (same type of forum as here) not the actual company who hosts it.

A C250 should be fine on bio or straight veg... many owners do it. as it has a saddle tank you'll get problems if the strainer is blocked from what i've read. apart from that its the usual o-rings and clear pipes, delivery valve seals etc.

i put 10% petrol in to 90% WVO (waste oil) over the winter. Car was great. I'm now starting to lower the % of petrol now its getting warmer.

 

[a111r]

FWIW, I've just sold my car to another vegetableoildiesel forum member that I know.
I've upgraded from a C250 to a E300 ... so i've got an extra cylinder now.

I make my own B100 (as in proper BIODIESEL) which currently costs me under 10 pence a litre. But one has to put in the leg work to this addictive hobby!

My homebrew biodiesel has been responsible for NO failures from 130K to 156K. It helps if the car is a good 'un to start with, on bio or wvo.

 

[Hydro13]

Hiya mate

I currently own a c220 cdi and I'm interested in running it with bio diesel.
I'd really appreciate any help you can offer in terms if sourcing or making my own bio diesel.
Also , do I need to modify my engine ?

Kind regards
J

 

[englishdas]

Just having a quick read of Using Vegetable oil as a diesel fuel website, who are very positive about the benefits available to car owners, but equally open about the disadvantages, particularly of newer cars, despite saying that Mercedes engines generally are very good at handling biodiesel (read: older, lest electronically sensitive models)

" Some initial conclusions: Lucas pumps are not performing well on high doses of vegetable oil. This pump should be avoided. Other problem areas are related to computer control systems (TDi, HDi, CDi etc.)which have an array of sensors reading temperature, flow rates etc. These sensors seem to get confused by the thick oil and instruct the fuel system to go into safe mode, resulting in loss of power. Some sensors seem to get completely destroyed by the oil, resulting in an expensive replacement pump. Another problem is with electric lift pumps which operate prior to the main pump; if these pumps fail the main pump can run dry and fail as well. Also, it seems that people are not very forthcoming if their vehicles have failed so we are more likely to here about the success stories than the failiures. One of the objectives of this database is to identify vehicles that have problems so that people need not repeat the same mistakes."

If at all, proceed with caution seems to be the MO.

 

[a111r]

Hiya mate

I currently own a c220 cdi and I'm interested in running it with bio diesel.
I'd really appreciate any help you can offer in terms if sourcing or making my own bio diesel.
Also , do I need to modify my engine ?

Kind regards
J

Hi. Have a look on vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/forum for ALL you need to know.
Merc CDIs seem to run fine on WELL MADE bio. Watch out though, a lot of the commercial stuff isn't that good, even if it's B100 / a.k.a. FAME.

If you've time, space, ability and want a new hobby, have a go at making your own, it's addictive.
HTH