Jones0027

Gentlemen,
Is my truck biodiesel compatible?

Tazman

Jones0027,

Ive asked this very question to a very reputable injector pump re-builder.

It seems my call was timely as he was heading to a major fleet owner's yard currently running bio. (not sure of the percentage, I got the impession it was B100)

They run 5.9 cummins in all their equipment and had 4 VP-44 failures in 1 week. The rest are smoking bad and no power.

He has been hired to investigate root cause be it VP compatability or bad fuel.

If you can hang on for a few weeks, I'd be more than happy to forward the outcome. I promised to maintain confidentiality as far as names were concerned.

In short, I always thought we were "good to go".

I'll be very disappointed if otherwise.

Cheers

darrenG

most of what i've heard or read says that no, we're not good to go. but from what I understand, some people in here are rockin' the biodiesel with few to no problems. Bosch and Cummins will always say they take no liability and we'll probably not hear from them on it.

Buckshotmckee

I've seen problems here @ work with VW Diesel Ip failing. I will not run Bio-garbage in my truck! Maybe when/if all the bugs/info becomes acurate or at least the same for everyone else. It's more expensive then #2 and your fuel mileage drops. So why? Just my opinion.

dodgediesel4x4

It is more expensive at the pumps (at most fueling places), but not if you make it yourself. I've heard of people making for $.60/gal. True, it does hurt power and it will drop your milage, but not to the extent that you're thinking.

Buckshotmckee

But dont you have to drop some $$$ to by the machine to make the stuff? Then you gotta find the waste oil. I was watching trucks this weekend or last and they had a show on Biodiesel. The machine to make the stuff was about $5 grand if I remember. It would take alot of fuel to justify the expense to make it?

dodgediesel4x4

That is true, sorry I forgot to mention that. These types of setups are rather costly, but not nearly as expensive if you get a few buddys into it together. Plus, the one on TRUCKS was the top of the line model. What Stacey didn't tell you was that you don't need that expensive setup to get the same results with off the shelf products from container stores and so on.

Sorry, off the topic, but just trying to clear somethings up.

F. Flack

Interesting comments... here in MN we don't have a choice. Our all-knowing legislators passed a law that forces all diesel sold in MN to be Bio... only stipulation was that we had to build the in-state manufacturing plants before we can force people to buy it. Talk about putting the cart in front of the horse. The law was passed a couple years ago, and the current prediction is that there will be enough bio-diesel available to force a state-wide integration later this year -- starting with B02 and working our way up to B20.

John Faughn

I do not call myself an expert, but I have been researching this for some time and using a few university studies, I've got about a full page in my favorites -site adress's , and I've been noticing that there is a lot of bad aditude [ I call it propaganda responce,becouse of the uninformed doing the ba hum bug thing ] if you want to stay uninformed fine , just let everybody els get on with finding out more, it gets to the point of having some info that can help with a posted ? but when I see the bad aditude posts then its like why bother , and thats what the guys on the top of the piramid want so they can keep selling us oil. and this process happens with almost anything that really matters , information is power and I was under the impression that that was one of the major interests in this site [ power for our trucks, needs power of your mind first ,to be applied properly]

darrenG

will the state pay when your IP seizes?

infidel

BD wasn't really ever intended to be run at more than a 20% concentration, which will work fine in every CTD made with little power or mpg loss. The guys pushing the envelope are the ones making it themselves. In most areas of the country B20 is now cheaper than straight #2

infidel

MN is just the first state to have this same law come into effect, last I heard nine states had pasted similar laws. Even more states have passed laws that will require all gasoline contain a certain percentage of ethanol.

It's all in an effort to stretch dwindling oil supplies and rid ourselves of the Arab addiction.

F. Flack

I received a mailer sponsored by the American Lung Association of Minnesota. It implies that B2 through B20 will not harm our engines, and will actually enhance performance and improve engine lubricity. It doesn't explicitly state anything about not being harmful to our engines -- I'm sure their lawyers made sure they kept that out for litigation purposes. When the bill was being heard in legislation back in 2002, the "experts" were very adamate about B20 being safe for ALL diesel engines (including farm tractors, generators, etc) -- the State AG did not want the state to be sued for damages. I agree with infidel in that (up to B20) should not hurt our engines.

Tazman's original post indicated the fleet with the VP problems was possibly running on B100 -- pure bio, no fossil fuel. I'm interested in reading his follow-up...

CSAGrey1

If you have enough time to spend hours reading on the subject you will find a plethera of opinions here at DTR. I have seen where some say that you can not run B100 in your common rail setup as the extreme pressure of the fuel rail changes the bio at the molec level causing it to become stringy and clog filters but that B20 will work just fine. However, I have seen that with the 2nd gens and older you can run 100% with little to no side effects other than a slight decrease in power that can be overcome with bombs you purchase with all the money you save making your own fuel.

I am planning to order this kit that I found the link for in a thread here at DTR.
Really cheap fuel!!!