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bio-desiel facts

12K views 54 replies 21 participants last post by  Dave 
#1 ·
bio-desiel is great, and if you are towing a lot, cross country trips, etc. the 7.3 with the proper system can run on 100% proccesed waste veggie oil. the properties of heated and proccessed veggie oil are almost identical to that of #2, with one major exception. with not way to tell exactly what the properties are, sulfer content, lubricity, cetane level....etc.....it is NOT reccomended to run over 5% in the sick-0. i know guys are doing it, but i have seen problems, mostly injector failures, because of it. the 7.3 seems not to have any of these issues with the fuel. the biggest thing to remember if your gonna make your own is DO NOT get your waste oil from fast food places. it is very impure and is low quality oil that usually is not pure enough. the best places to get WVO is from asian resturaunts and other sit down type resteraunst that have higher quality food that they fry. just my two cents.......
 
#2 ·
Thanks Marc, that's been one of my concerns all along about switching to the bio is what percentage I could run in the 7.3. I'm past tired of the fuel prices. How the fuel went from steady 1.50's and such to 3 bucks a gallon in less than a years time is beyond comprehension. I don't keep up with politics too much, but I know that I am extremely dissappointed with who we have in office. Some stations are still selling diesel for 2.89 a freakin' gallon. Ridiculous.
 
#3 ·
in your 7.3, you could probably get away with 10% bio.....but you can run 100% waste veggie oil.........thats the verdict ive seen on a lot of fords testing.....although they dont reccomend that high on the bio
 
#5 ·
most guys dont know much about it, technically WVO is biodesiel, but the bio you would buy at the pump is actually a blend of three or four things......its kind of complicated and i dont even know a ton about it....just enough to answer customer questions about using it.
 
#6 ·
Sounds good. We have a guy on here (veggiedestroyer I think) who's running straight veggie on his 7.3 excursion. I'm gonna have to hit him up and see what I gotta get....I paid 2.44 tonight at the Road Ranger truck stop. Another guy was filling up his 04 6.0 and commented on my truck when I came back out from paying. He told me it was his second 6.0, first was an 03 that he had put in the shop 20-25 times until ford finally took it back. He told me he hasn't had any problems with the 04 so far. He also said he wished he would have just opted for the 7.3 when he bought his 03. Ha!
 
#7 ·
veggie power

basically its like this
wvo is USED RESTURAUNY OIL i get from not only asian but i try for japeneese es only make tempura its deep fried (shrimp and or vegetables . the key here it stays liquid and looks a carmel color not cream not black .
in cold it will thicken like syurp on cold days but doesn't go solid

making bio d. is using a chemicals methanol and lye to remove the glicerins from the metheylesters this changes the viscosity to somthing similar to water. However the biod. sometimes has leftover methanol which can melt stuff. diesel is 2.69 g .u can make from dirtier oil

so its a choice do you want to be a meth head and play with chemical in yer lab(garage). or A grease monkey and either make a dual tank sys which will let you start on diesel then as coolant warms fuelsys. u can switch to veggie

now im working my single veggie sys where ALL my fuel lines to engiine are 5/8 and the fuel pump was relocateed at front of th fuel tank. im using an aeromotive a1000 pump w/ an-10 in and outs

this summer i will try to get up to portland and take a couple runs at portland int. speedway hopefully meet some of u ppl
i think i be getting low 16 sec runs
yea u might be faster but do you get calls " we have 15 gallon plz come pick up . god bless AMERICA :boldblue:
 
#11 ·
its not the cost

the sys tem for filtering was home build under 300$ but its all about the space for it the mess and time. my sys is just three 55 g barrels clamped together . with two stacked the other is along side .. wvo is poured in to top bar. i got sone extra lids jig sawd 3 7in dai holes for large(socks) filter bags the lid is about 5 in down inside there bags r 7.25 by 30 in long top barr. uese 3 at 10 micron . this top one hass a 1 in line diag down to the
3rd barrel .the line pulles from 8-10 in from bottom so not to pick up the bottom gunk. so this all happens again at the bottom barrel but at 1 micron. lastly im using a paper cartridge filter to make sure i get all the gunk out see filter socks r not absolute filteration cartridges r
then i either use hand pump or 12v diessel tranfer pump to the vehicals right now im workout out my arms buy hand.
the filter socks r like 5 bucks each and im using like 6 i just changed them last night ooo da mess last change was in oct i think but before thx giving so 3 to 6 months prob 200- 400 gallons
u might see the filter socks on ebay now but try fluid X in salt lake city
they can filter anthing ok gl :beer: :boldblue: i think for the importance of this proccess i have been extremely cheap. but 40 k of fuel produced on this sys and now getting 3000m between filter changes so :woot
 
#12 ·
Well i'll have to look into it, right now I really don't have the garage space. I may have to relocate stuff to the barn to make room, and even then it'll still be tight, as well as cramping the barn like mad...
 
#13 ·
Here is a good site for Biodiesel. http://www.biodieselnow.com I've run as high as B50 in my 6.0. The things I've noticed are less MPG, and a little less power. This is due to Biodiesel haveing less BTUs that Dinodiesel. Keith
 
#14 ·
Bio

I have run almost 20 tanks of B100 through my 95 stroke. I have never had any problems. The truck seems a little quieter. I get the bio from a dealer, so it is good quality stuff.
 
#15 ·
Drinking Incident Question...

Ok so there I was....... Saturday night, well... maybe it was Sunday morning (not sure)... My sober friend was driving my truck, drunk lil bro in back seat, gas light comes on.... lil bro says hit Pacific Pride (a pump your own place for businesses and he has a card)....

Sunday around noon I remembered us filling my truck up.....:eek: :eek:

This morning, :eek: (enlightening moment), my sober friend tells me that we filled my truck with Bio-Diesel????????:eek: :help:

My truck is sitting at 91k. I bought it with 81k on it a year ago... I have done the regular oil changes, etc..... But with this bio in there now, am I going to need to change the fuel filter soon????:confused:
 
#16 ·
Biodiesel issues

Hello all,
I have been researching biodiesel since purchasing a diesel truck.
I have heard mixed answers to my questions.
The first is that it is a great product and yes, do not get oil from fast food places.
The second is that the products that have lye and methanol are causing issues with injectors after long term use. The mixing of these substances in the garage or wherever is mostly being done by amatuers who don't know how to mix these products.
My mechanic says that some of the guys that are coming to him with problems are having their fuel lines, injectors and tanks being eaten by the improper mixing of these products.
There is a company that sells a system that is run solely on vegetable oil.
They are on the internet and can be found with a search engine.
Since it is not okay to post advertisements, I cannot say the name, but they use veggie oil.
I am waiting for the ability to purchase one of these units since they cost about $1800.
I figure that I would spend $3000 on diesel from the petroleum companies in about 100 gallons, so the expense is okay with me.
I just have to find a good source for oil. Probably a Chinese restaurant.
have a great day,
chefbutthead
 
#17 ·
so I got issues

ok in jan i lost my fuel pressure reg + the seals of the fuel drain
is -this because of veggie or just good luck.whatever holds the spring was gone!!! spring was down fuel return pipe
. i have also discovered the the aero motive A1000 fuel pump rotor absorbs veggie or diesel and swells then snaps . plastic rotor now alumiun rotor.
and so we still wollen:burnout
 
#18 ·
mschn99 said:
most guys dont know much about it, technically WVO is biodesiel, but the bio you would buy at the pump is actually a blend of three or four things......its kind of complicated and i dont even know a ton about it....just enough to answer customer questions about using it.
Biodiesel is made like this:

After filtering and removing the water from the WVO, you are basically left with glycerol esters. It's one glycerin molecule with three ester chains connected to it, making the molecules large and the viscosity high. By mixing methanol and lye together, and then mixing it with the heated WVO, the glycerin molecules are broken off of the ester chains and go into solution. The glycerin is eplaced by an ethanol (or methanol) molecule for each ester, making the product much thinner (less viscous). Lye is a catalyst and is not consumed in the reaction, but is removed after processing as waste. The glycerin and lye can be transformed (sometimes by accident) into mild and effective soap products, if you want to use more of the by-products.

After reacting, the mix is filter and left to settle so that the bioD rises and the glycerin and any saponification product settle. To ensure that no harmful methanol remains in the bioD, you can either let it settle for a period of time or reheat the bioD. At about 150 degrees F., the methanol evaporates, and it doesn't take long to get rid of it. If you are particularly frugal, you can capture and distill the methanol vapors and recover about half of what you used, saving even more money. The fuel is then 'washed' to remove remaining impurities and residual entrained water.

Filter and pour into fuel tank - treat like regular diesel. There is no acceptable reason for your fuel to end up with excess methanol or lye to mess up a fuel system. It happens through haste or lack of attention.

Voila!
 
#19 ·
Hi guys, I am new to this Forum. Just bought a 97 7.3 PSD F250HD 4x4.
I have checked out a site called greasecar.com which has a system to run used veggie oil in cars and trucks.
I am interested in doing this as i will be towing an Airstream type trailer some distance. I thought you could not mix regular diesel with veggie oil, but if you can, why couldn't I use one of my two on board fuel tanks for the veggie and one for the regular?
 
#20 ·
you can do it

the best thing about these vehicals is that they come with two tanks so all you really have to do is add a heating element to one fuel tank and extra filtration . then you 'll have a two tank sys where you will start on diesel and switch to veggie when hot.. fuel temp and fuel press/vac are some of the gauges you will want . check out greasel. and frybrid , vegiestroke, plantdrive .
 
#21 ·
I'm about 1/2 way through my first tank of biodiesel. This is 99.9% - local guy sells it as a blend as well, but has been running his 7.3 PSDs on it
(100%) for over a year and a half. It runs a little quieter, which I guess is normal - and it smells like, well, french fries! His current supply came from walnuts/walnut oil.

He recommended changing out my fuel filter after I run this tank out, so I'll do that. He does an extra 1 micron filtering after he gets it, and has a water filter system on his pump. The only thing he does is change his fuel filter a little more frequently than recommended and he's never had a problem.

The guys that have #2 for $2.89 a gallon - I'm jealous! It's been $3.20 or so for awhile here, and I JUST saw it under $3 for the first time in a long time.

The biodiesel was the same price - I just did it because I thought it was a cool idea. Changing all my fluids to synthetic - I could have a "Middle-East-Oil-Free" vehicle. Take that Hyrbrid lovers! Ah, just kidding. If you have a Hybrid, that is. Some report a little power loss, some report a slight increase-who knows. Before I tow heavy, I'll probably wuss out and buy #2, since I can't get BD on the road...
 
#22 ·
so on the two tank set up if I live in a warm climate, Georgia... would I still need a pre-heater? I hear that you canfilter the stuff ( wvo) and run it after the truck warms up, if you also switch back to regular diesel a few miles before shutting her down.
If that works I would only need a storage container, and good filtering...am I on the right track here?
 
#23 ·
do you have to mix bio-diesel with regular diesel? or can i run it straight like it is? i've ran maybe four tanks and no problems exept the first tank really sucked as far a mileage goes. but now it's just as good as it was on regular diesel. now my know it all friend talls me i cant run straight bio, i have to mix it with regular. he saw on the new's about people complaining about it. i've not put a lot of time in reasearchin bio but i've never ran acrossed anything about having to mix it. :cookoo:
 
#24 ·
There is a little misconception here....

WVO or strait veggie oil (depending on if its been used or not) is NOT pump bio. It is however a form of bio. Technically bio diesel is any form of diesel not made from ground oil. Wvo, Svo, Soybean oil, algea oil, ETC are all bio diesel oils. You can run some strait with the proper set ups......HEAVY on the proper set up thing though, and others are prossesed to be run strait, just as normal #2 (pump bio)

If you want to run WVO or SVO, you need a seperate tank with heated fuel lines, seperate fuel system all togethter, and a heated tank. You will start up and shut down on regular diesel to run it properly and not risk any problems

If you want to run bio, it isnt nessicarely cheaper than #2, but as long as its made properly, it will have similar burn qualities. No need for any worries as far as start ups or shut downs......although some have reported lower MPG's and or a little less power....some others say this is hearsay...
 
#25 · (Edited)
Marc, I have to disagree with you. WVO is oil. Nothing more. It is in no way anywhere near the same as biodiesel. They are two totally different things. Bio is made from new or waste oil but that is where the similarity ends. As you mentioned bio is made through a chemical process with methanol and lye. Bio requires a chemical reaction or it is not yet bio.

I have a 97 and ran B100 for months until my supplier disappeared. I had to replace two return lines under the hood but that was the only issue I ever had. Those who say it is not safe to run b100 in the 7.3 are simply mistaken. People may need to replace the first few fuel filters in a shorter than normal time span but this is not universal. I have changed it once in 6 months and upon closer inspection it was not dirty. Bio will have approximately a net 0 change in economy although some, including me, have seen economy go up a mile or two. The cetane level of bio is higher than #2 and compensates for any lower energy levels.

edit - got called away...
 
#26 ·
Bio will have approximately a net 0 change in economy although some, including me, have seen economy go up a mile or two. The cetane level of bio is higher than #2 and compensates for any lower energy levels.

You certainly aren't the "norm". Bio/WVO tends to decrease economy alil as it's cetane level is lower the #2 diesel (not much but it is lower).

do you have to mix bio-diesel with regular diesel? or can i run it straight like it is? i've ran maybe four tanks and no problems exept the first tank really sucked as far a mileage goes. but now it's just as good as it was on regular diesel. now my know it all friend talls me i cant run straight bio, i have to mix it with regular. he saw on the new's about people complaining about it. i've not put a lot of time in reasearchin bio but i've never ran acrossed anything about having to mix it.
With BIO running a mix intially is what you have to do. Dumping B100 directly in will clean out your fuel system in a hurry and give ya all kinds of plugged filter problems generally. That is why it's recommended to start with a mix below B20 and gradually work your way up.

WVO/SVO is a different ball game. It will still clean out your fuel system but it really works best when pre-heated and then ran thru the engine vs. running it cold.

so on the two tank set up if I live in a warm climate, Georgia... would I still need a pre-heater? I hear that you canfilter the stuff ( wvo) and run it after the truck warms up, if you also switch back to regular diesel a few miles before shutting her down.
If that works I would only need a storage container, and good filtering...am I on the right track here?
It is pretty important to pre-heat WVO to 160* or so before you run it thru the motor as any fatty acids in the oil will be more solid then fluid below that. Filtering and washing WVO is very crucial to making sure you have quality fuel.
 
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