bio-diesel seems to be catching on,and now the feds. are taking good hard look as well,in the state of vermont several fuel stations offer bio-diesel,my question for everyone is what kind of MODS. are needed to burn bio-diesel in our trucks and what are the ingredients of the product, and is it cost effective?thank you for your input.

 

I too am interested in this. I have a station right around the corner of my house (one of the few that sell Bio-Diesel in DFW) that charges 2.33 a gallon for the stuff. Am wanting to give it a try and see if its worth the 10-15 cent premium over normal diesel.

Other than it being cleaner for the environment, does it do anything better/worse to the truck than normal diesel ?

 

I am hoping a station opens up near me. Right now the closest station is a 45 minute drive both ways You don't need any mods to run bio-desiel, although dodge doesn't recommend over 5% in our trucks . It's supposed to have more lubricity (sp?) and will clean out all the junk in your system, so be prepared to change you fuel filter after a tank or 2

 

No mods are needed.
A local station here now has 11% biodiesel. I have asked for it for 3 years and they said there was no interest. Last summer I drove 100 miles with a spare fuel cans and bought some 100% to try. I tries mixing it at different ratio's, form 20% to 95% . It was quieter, power was the same, maybe better. I believe it will gell quicker in cold weather so be informed.
BTW, this is a soybean fuel. Some call waste fryer oils a biofuel but that isn't correct. It is ok to run to IF you modify it first, and filter it.

 

Been running a 10 - 20 % mix pretty regular for about two years now and haven't seen any downside except that fuel mileage drops a little bit at higher mixes. First lift pump was replaced at about 60,000 miles. Wasn't toasted, but I was going on a long trip and didn't want to take a chance. I carry at least one five gallon fuel can at all times and dump half of it in when I fill up a full tank ( about 28 gallons ). The new tax break is nice 'cause it brings the price down a buck to about what # 2 goes for.

 

is bio-diesel"pre mixed"or do we have to "cut it" with regular diesel fuel,how do they decide what % the mixing ratio will be?will anti gel fuel treatment still work properly in bio-diesel,ie: winter operations??

 

bio at the pumps will be pre mixed just watch the percentages. you can also buy straight soy oil and mix your own at whatever percentage you want.

 

I've found a lot of commerically available bio-diesel is already blended at the pump with petro-diesel. B20 seems to be the most common, 20% bio, 80% petro.

You can also obtain straght B100, but from what I'm told, the tax break only applies to blends, so you'd end up paying the full price for it. Simply mixing 1% petro in it from the retailer, would qualify it for the tax break. By buying it in this concentration, allows you to mix it yourself for a higher ratio blend than what's available already blended at the pumps.

Bio-diesel has a higher viscosity than petro fuel and also a higher cloud point. It may start to cloud at temps above the freezing point. Anti-gel additives can be used, but if you read the bottles, it usually lowers the cloud point 20 degrees. So if B100 clouds at say 35F, the additive would lower that to 15F.

 

Most important it is a source of energy we grow, local farmers benifit. Someday maybe we can tell OPEC to take a hike.

Soy Bio-diesel. USE IT!

 

Big Blue Dodge, Where is the station that sells the Bio? I am in Watauga (NorthEast Tarrant County). Have you tried the Bio yet?

 

Big Blue Dodge - it gives the middle finger to OPEC and supports american farmers and our economy, but for the truck YES, it has much higher cetane, detergency, and infinitely higher lubricity. Biodiesel will be even more helpful when we switch over to ULSD fuel, which has less lubricity than our current LSD #2.

Folks, do not make a mistake and follow DR3500's advice - DO NOT get straight soy oil and start blending!! Straight vegetable oil is NOT the same thing as biodiesel!! I'm hoping he meant to say buy your own b100 biodiesel and blend at whatever percentage.

Ruralmedic -be careful with the blanket statements because normal fuel additives do not work on b100. First of all additives labels advertise DEPRESSING the pour point 20 degrees, not to 20degrees itself. Next there are very few biodiesel specific fuel additives. Primrose has just come out with one and powerservice has had their 'arctic express biodiesel antigel' out for a few years. The powerservice variant even still only works on the dino diesel portion of a blend. They recommend it for b20, and the additive severely depresses the dino diesel's cloud/gel points, which in turn lowers the points of the overall mix. As far as I know, the new primrose additives are the first out to actually be designed to alter b100's characteristics.

Not trying to be a know it all or prove people wrong, there is just a lot of misinformation around the forums regarding bio and want people to know the reality. It is great stuff, I've burned about 4300 gals now since 01..

 

Tex, you are right around the corner from me then. The station is Mikes Automotive, kinda a hole in the wall type place. They sell B20, and last price I checked was $2.33 gallong. Go 820 west, and then 35 North. Get off on Golden Triangle and go back east towards Keller. Mikes is about 2 miles from 35. If you've gone to the Albertson's shopping center you have gone too far.

I want to give bio-diesel a try, especially since I have a supplier right around the corner, one of the few in the city. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't going to harm the truck before I did.

 

I've run a few tanks of B20 in my truck and haven't had any problems at all. I did notice that the engine seemed a bit quieter at idle. Of course, it could have been placebo and the sound didn't really change. Overall, I noticed no appreciable change in power or economy and I was getting it for $1.99/gal. It was nice when #2 was relatively high around here. Now that #2 is back down to under $2/gal, I'm not sure if the B20 has followed suit.

 

I live in southern California and I can’t find where to buy bio-diesel.

 

THAT'S RIGHT