Diesel newbie question

[rfegley]

We bought the 2000 Excursion, 7.3L, as a primary commuter for the fiance (maybe me, if she has trouble keeping it between the ditches) since she has a pretty short commute (8-10 miles one way) but also for 4+ hour roadtrips with 3 adults and 3 dogs. We've made the trip about 40 times in a year since we still have a fixer-upper house out of state, so the lack of comfort in the 1996 Explorer was just too much. Nevermind that the 7.3L gets better mileage than the 5.0L gasser!

The ultimate plan is to run as high a concentration of biodiesel as is fuel-system friendly and probably do an veggie conversion, too. We live in Texas and go to Oklahoma a lot, so cold temps are really only issues when in OK during the beginning of the year.

Since I've read many BD, SVO/WVO, and diesel forums over the past couple of years to research switching our cars to diesels, I know that there is a very high risk of carbonization by running SVO/WVO at high viscosity or low temperatures, say under 140-160 degF. So, my question is this: Prior to converting to BD or xVO, is the risk the same of just jumping in and hitting the starter without letting the glow plugs warm up? If that is THE risk of not waiting for the "wait to start" light to go out, is it increased with colder outside temps and not a real issue while it's still in the 90-110 degF range outside?

I want to stress to the family how best to drive this beast, but want to be sure that I stress the right reasons.

BTW, I've gotten great feedback thus far from this forum on another newbie question. So, if anyone wants to advise me to RTFM, I'm already on it, but the manuals don't always convery real-world experience, so that's what the forums are for.

Thanks, as always!

Rob Fegley

[mschn99]

If you have any veggie questions, PM Chenry...he is running a strait WVO system in his truck..


As far as the rest of it, just play it safe...wait for the wait to start light ETC...

When running bio, you will need to be very regular about fuel filters...every 5-10k since it will clean your lines and such out since it acts as a solvent. Also, rubber lines can be a problem..they tend to deteriorate with bio...