Bunch of questions about WVO as fuel

[sobermoode]

I've been seriously thinking about using WVO as a fuel but I have a long way to go before I get there, so I wondering about the feasability of this. I have a bunch of questions and I looked through the FAQs here and on Greasel.com, but I didn't find the answer to any of these questions. I am not a "car guy" - I have barely any knowledge of a car's parts or how it works, so please forgive me if I ask a dumb question or if some of this has been covered before.

I have a 2002 Ford Explorer and gas prices are killing me. I know I have to switch to a diesel engine to take advantage of WVO, so first:

-- I was wondering if its even possible to convert my existing engine to a diesel engine, or if I can replace my engine with a diesel engine (just from the nature of this site, I can see that there are several different types of Ford diesel engine).

-- If this is possible, what would be the best engine to use?

-- How much would this engine cost and how much would it cost to have my current engine replaced with the new one? How long of a procedure is that?

-- The greasel.com FAQ stated that you can expect to get the same sort of fuel economy out of a greasel engine as from your current engine (see here). I'm confused - aren't you supposed to get drastically more miles out of a tank of gas when you mainly use WVO as a fuel? I don't get what this particular answer is trying to say.

-- If I replace my current engine with another Ford engine, will maintenance (also take into account that I cannot maintain the car myself) be a hassle? One part of the greasel.com FAQ seemed to indicate that although some parts of the car could not be covered by maintenance from a regular Ford dealership, most of the car could still be serviced normally.

That's it for now, I guess. I mainly just want to see if this is even possible with what I've got and if it would be worth it in the end. If anybody can direct me to other websites with this information or other forums that deal with this type of stuff, then great.

Thanks for any help.

[Oklahoma]

Hi, glad your contemplating switching to a local renewable type fuel. I'll try to answer your questions, been through engine swaps before.

1. I don't know the Explorer, it is possible to swap almost anything if it will fit in engine compartment but not recomended. You can not convert gas to diesel. For swapping out, front end would have to be beefed up to handle the heavier diesel engine. Also it can get extremely hard and expensive for this process. Basically, my response is to not try it. Buy a diesel vehicle instead. FYI- I bought my 5 passenger Ford F-250 diesel in the $8K range; excellent shape inside, outside, & under hood with new bedliner, tires, tool box, & exhaust system. Just for reference against your Explorer price. That's here in OK in a county that has more registered PUs than passenger cars though.

2 & 3. See above.

4. The fuel economy stated is dealing with the WVO/SVO fuel not the diesel in the other tank. If you get 18 mpg on a fill up of diesel, you will get ~18 mpg on a fill up of WVO/SVO.

5. See #1. The maintenance is usually just one more filter, if you are referring to vehicle parts only. Other on parts is every so oftern checking over your vegy oil setup for leaks, hose wear/cracking, connections. But that should be done for whole vehicle anyway no matter what you drive. It just adds a few minutes to your check.

Goatindustries in UK is a good site. Vegy van is another here in U.S. Do a search and you should find at least 3-6 great sites with multiple users. A lot more sites that people have put up to detail their conversions for others to follow.

[sobermoode]

[ QUOTE ]
4. The fuel economy stated is dealing with the WVO/SVO fuel not the diesel in the other tank. If you get 18 mpg on a fill up of diesel, you will get ~18 mpg on a fill up of WVO/SVO.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the response.

Oh, so - if I use, say, 1/5 of the diesel fuel in the tank to use all of the WVO in the tank, then I'll get 5x as many MPG before I have to refill the diesel tank? In most people's experience, how many WVO refills do you get for every one fillup of diesel?

[94_turbo]

what he was saying is about same mileage for dzl as wvo--except straight wvo costs far less than dzl!!!!!!!! and smells better tooo!!!!!

[Lobstah]

I'll second what's above in terms of "converting"...don't bother.

WAY more trouble than it's worth. Best bet is to buy a suitable used diesel powered vehicle. If you're planning on using WVO, you should research IDI diesel engines (InDirect Injection, as opposed to DI).

Some of the older Ford trucks used them, like mine (6.9L IDI...had 186K on it when I bought it) Some of the older VWs and Volvos also used IDI, you'll have to do a little research to figure out what years/models.

Lob

[sobermoode]

So, you can use either some diesel/some wvo, or just all wvo? I thought you had to start and finish using diesel and therefore you needed both for this to work. This is according to the greasel.com FAQ. If you can run the car on straight wvo, that would be great.

[Lobstah]

There are problems with "straight" WVO. For one, it gels at a much higher temp than normal fuel does. So if you were running straight WVO, and drove say 100 or so miles, then turned your vehicle off, and it got cool, then your injector pump (kinda like the carb on a gasser) and your fuel lines would all be filled with geled fuel, which means no fuel to the engine.
By having separate tanks, you can start on diesel, and then switch over to the WVO tank, and before you reach your destination, switch back over to diesel. That cleans out the injector pump, as well as the fuel filter, so you avoid any potential geling issue.

There are other issues as well, mostly minor, but that's the biggy in my book. Again, this is for IDI engines, not DI engines.

Lob