Does anybody run their van on waste vegetable oil?

[earthkin]

Hi,

I've done a lot of reading about WVO conversion on diesel vehicles, and for that reason I bought myself a 93 Ford E350 cargo van. There are a number of kits out there, and select number of groups that install these things. But I don't want to go out to Pittsburgh or further from NYC only to find that no one but the person in Pittsburgh can service it.

Question: I have very, very little knowledge about auto mechanics. I have a friend who would be psyched to do the job, but he doesn't know much about diesels, and I don't want him to do trial and error for months. If anybody here actually runs their diesel van on veggie oil, has it worked well, and if so, how could I replicate it?

-Wendy

[stroked_van]

Used to be a veggie forum here. Not finding it now.....guess it is no longer around.

For all practical purposes, a veggie kit just adds parts that run in addition to the stock system. You will start the van on regular diesel (or bio-diesel) and switch over to the wvo once it warms up. Prior to shut down, you will switch back over to the stock fuel system long enough to purge the wvo from the lines.

As far as having the van worked on.......any competent diesel mechanic can still work on it as it is still nothing more than a stock system with a few external parts added.

As for servicing the wvo.....you might talk to your local mechanic to see if he/she would feel confident about working on it when the time came that it needed work.

I believe a few of the veggie van guys may still be around here. Hopefully one of them will pop in with more info.

Good luck with it all.





Well..............since this was moved to the bio and alt fuels section................I guess it does still exist.
You should get good info in here now.

[Greenvans]

Hey hey.

I run three vans on WVO and have collectively close to 100,000 miles on grease without any major issues. I use the veggistroke kit (Vegistroke, Bio Diesel, Alternative Fuel, Vegetable Oil Fuel Systems | Dino Fuel Alternatives) and I have found it to be the most user friendly, easiest to manage kit on the market. I didn't know anything about diesels before I bought and converted my first van, but I think with anything else, the more hands on experience you get solving certain problems, the better you get at understanding how these diesels work. You certainly need an experienced diesel mechanic to work on your van, but the tech guys at dinofuels are very helpful in walking the average user through any troubleshoots.

Hope that helps.

-Andy

[luckuslucas]

Originally Posted by stroked_van

I believe a few of the veggie van guys may still be around here. Hopefully one of them will pop in with more info.

We're still lurking...

I would go with a system from Vegistroke (Dino Fuel Alternatives), Frybrid, or Greasecar. A '93 will have the 7.3 IDI, which is a very easy conversion. Any of those companies will be able to set you up with a good conversion kit.

[airfooter]

The DFA/Vegistroke is not for IDI's and the greasecar kit is junk resembling middle-school science project (so are the other 'contenders'). That leaves Frybrid, who just happen to build the highest quality system available. I have seen 2 IDI vans running Frybrid kits and both had 1000's of trouble-free miles.

What you want:
- (2) tank system that only heats the VO to be burned, NOT the whole tank (Frybrid-exclusive in-tank HE cannot be beat, extremely effective)
- NEVER heat the diesel
- a system that is as close to OE quality and fit as possible (this helps ALOT w/the servicing concern - trust me, I have met dozens of greasecar kit owners, several who have flat out been told 'NO way, we're not working on that')
- a seperate fuel pump and filter for each fuel
- never switch over until VO is up to temp (180*F or higher)
- controlled loop return - this 'recycles' the heated fuel back to IP, rather than returning to tank
- minimum 3/8" aluminum TIH (tube in hose, aka HIH, hose-in-hose) PEX does not make reliable fuel line. another Frybrid exclusive - NEW STYLE HIH ends make VO/coolant contamination almost impossible
- heated fuel filter (the coolant-heated Frybrid unit is VERY effective, but 2-300 watt elect blankets may be ok)
- at least a 16 plate FPHE (flat plate heat exchanger) just before IP
- NO cross-contamination, VO should NEVER go into diesel tank (6 way valve GARUNTEES VO in diesel tank)
- minimum purge time that ensures no VO is left in IP or injectors
- should 'switch over' in under 10 miles and purge in under 1 minute

I travel all over the country for work and have met dozens of VO people and seen a bunch of conversions. Across the board, everybody that had any miles on anything other than Frybrid or REALLY nice DIY had lots of issues. I have not met a single GC kit owner who has not replaced IP. I have met at least 3 who threw GC kit away and replaced w/Frybrid.

Here's the facts. If you drive much, you WILL get your money back. If you spend the money up-front and buy a high quality SYSTEM, you will likely get your money back FASTER. Why? It will work the first time, and every time. The hidden secret is those who claim success often can only use liquid (non-hydrogenated) VO and still struggle in the cold. Many have ridiculous purge times and still fail to clear the IP and engine of VO and return VO to the diesel tank. VO will often seperate from diesel and line the bottom of tank w/sludgy, cold VO. Since the diesel pick-up is in the lowest part of the tank - when you start engine cold, it is slurping up cold, thick VO and injecting (as best it can) it into a cold combustion chamber. Unless you are really, really new to this - you already know cold VO is BAAAAD.

I like to tell people to choose wisely, or at least post pictures of the carnage!

good, informative, fact-filled (with back-ups and reasearch) info at frybrid.com