Veg oil in my 2001 TDi 90bhp Octavia-my Experiences so far..

[whitep]

I ran WVO on VAG group cars for about 10 years, I have done maybe 250-300k accross 2 cars nop mods really and I even performance modded them, never any issues, never any fails, never any problems. 50MPG, 650 miles to a tank and I took a 110 ASV lump up to about 160BHP!!!

 

Advance your timing to +3 if I remember rightly and in winter add 5l to a tank.

[sebring]

650?? i can only ever manage 450

[whitep]

650?? i can only ever manage 450

Mr muscle the turbo, a good service, new air filter, blank off the EGR, 110 injectors and a blacksmoke remap and 600+ was an every tank event. Once I did 702, but it was on fumes and was in autumn when its cool and humid, so excellent running conditions. And get the timing right!

 

This was on my 90 ALH lump though, my 110 ASV was never so good for some reason.

Edited 26 June, 2015 by whitep

[sebring]

so what was the bhp from this then? (the alh)

[Phil-E]

Hmmm..  do you think vee8essie may be slightly anti-police Phil?

 

Hehe... just slightly.

 

650?? i can only ever manage 450

 

Doesn't seem right to me... but a lot can be down to journey types and driving styles. I can get about 450 miles out of the tank if I've just done short journeys and not driven economically. Then on the flip side on a run sticking to the limits I can get over 650 miles.

[ufitsy]

Woodie, I know nothing about cars running Veg oil. Can you go to the supermarket and fill up with Mazola or alike or will it cause tax duty on fuel issues

 

I don't think they're that bothered anymore (up to a certain mileage), but customs and excise used to hang around the veg oil aisles in supermarkets (allegedly) looking for bulk buyers.

 

Apparently they were called "The Frying Squad"

[WoodieGuthrie]

Rapidly approaching the time for a 25% blend of wvo..

car has been serviced and is running sweet:)

[WoodieGuthrie]

i

so what was the bhp from this then? (the alh)

it is 90bhp as standard

[Lang Hayr]

I've been running 100% SVO in my 1999 GLXi 1.9 TDi 90 bhp AGR engine for the last 7 years. So far done just over 100,000 miles on veg oil. Here are some of my experiences.

 

Buy the best quality oil that you can (currently 64p per litre in COSTCO) for new stuff. If you are using WVO, make sure it has been de-watered, and does not contain animal fats. A simple way to do this is 1. let it stand for a couple of weeks and all the water will settle to the bottom. 2. cool it down (save it till winter time and process it then), the animal fat will solidify when cold. Then filter it to 5 micron. If you can not process it in the winter, for summer use, make sure that you always carry a spare filter, and the tools to change it at the road side. Even in the summer it can be 20 degrees during the day, but on a clear night, it can drop to nearly freezing, and the animal fat solidifies and clogs the filter first thing in the morning!, i know by experience!

 

I run 100% SVO, and have twin tanks. A small custom made alloy tank in the poystyrene spacer around the spare wheel (and hence under the boot floor, leaving me with a full size boot), and an ATG solenoid kit to swap tanks and purge the system. The car runs on diesel until warm and then switch over to oil. This is passed through a heated, aftermarket fuel filter which has a specially designed filter element for biofuel, thus injecting the oil which is now warm.

 

Change the fuel filter every 10,000 miles, or 5,000 if using crap quality wvo. Change engine oil regularly , especially if doing a lot of short journeys.

 

I've been stopped a couple of times, and both times pc plod has asked me what i'm running the car on (they could smell it when following me), when i replied with 'cooking oil', their reply was fine, coz they know its perfectly legal. I've also had the tank dipped once, and again, they couldn't do a thing.

 

I've worked out the figures, and get 45 - 55 mpg on normal everyday driving, 45 around town, 55 on longer runs. 67 mpg on a 150 mile run where i sat at 55 - 60mph all the way, and 42 mpg with a full car, towing another car on a trailer behind me.

 

I also use other fuels, e.g. waste hydraulic oil, and 320 grade fully synthetic gearbox oil. It runs great on a mix of 40% diesel and 60% 320 grade oil!!!. I mix it like this to give the same viscosity as cooking oil!

[simontaylor]

I have done 30,000 miles in 18 months in a 110 motor.

100 % WVO, I filter it to 1 micron.

and I tow with it too.

Yup, it is getting sluggish, yup a bit smokey in the mornings.....but there was 180,000 miles on it to start with.

 

I estimate it costs me 3p a mile.

I cant be bothered to really calculate it accurately as I know I am making a killer saving of 75% or more compared to Diesel.

I see about 55 MPG average overall..

[WoodieGuthrie]

this sounds like it bodes well:)should be on the 25% wvo mix this weekend

[FUBAR]

I have the same car 2001 TDi 90, but I am failing to get optimum mpg having changed the steelies for Mk1 Octy alloys. 

 

Yesterday was my best mpg on commute to work so far (normally indicates 71-73mpg), 25 miles from cold on B roads with lots of hills and have to go through 4 towns. Last real world tank average was 63.4mpg which is about as good as I get from it (trip 2 indicates about the same within half a mpg for last 2000 miles odd). The car has had a quiet seldom used life until I bought it almost a year ago and not for the first time is being used as a normal daily driver. I did suffer a noticeable loss of mpg when I changed from the steel 195/65/15's to a set of Mk1 alloys on 205/60/16's. I like the alloys a lot and they really freshen up the look of the car, I intended to change back to the steelies for winter just to use up the tread, but I know I'd be getting around 70mpg from a full tank if I was on them today :(

 

Yesterdays commute:

 

I pay 99.9ppl for diesel and the car has just hit 51K miles last week. Would it be advisable to try veg oil in peoples opinions, or should I leave it alone? Car is mechanically tip top with everything changed just to give it a level playing field after I bought it, so I intend to keep this car as a clean hack for some time. 

[WoodieGuthrie]

I have the same car 2001 TDi 90, but I am failing to get optimum mpg having changed the steelies for Mk1 Octy alloys. 

 

Yesterday was my best mpg on commute to work so far (normally indicates 71-73mpg), 25 miles from cold on B roads with lots of hills and have to go through 4 towns. Last real world tank average was 63.4mpg which is about as good as I get from it (trip 2 indicates about the same within half a mpg for last 2000 miles odd). The car has had a quiet seldom used life until I bought it almost a year ago and not for the first time is being used as a normal daily driver. I did suffer a noticeable loss of mpg when I changed from the steel 195/65/15's to a set of Mk1 alloys on 205/60/16's. I like the alloys a lot and they really freshen up the look of the car, I intended to change back to the steelies for winter just to use up the tread, but I know I'd be getting around 70mpg from a full tank if I was on them today :(

 

Yesterdays commute:

 

I pay 99.9ppl for diesel and the car has just hit 51K miles last week. Would it be advisable to try veg oil in peoples opinions, or should I leave it alone? Car is mechanically tip top with everything changed just to give it a level playing field after I bought it, so I intend to keep this car as a clean hack for some time.

good work:) if you give me another month or two I'll be at 75% or more veg- see how it goes in my cheap 185k miler before trying it in your 51k minter:)

imagine your car must feel very different to drive from mine-mine could do with a suspension refresh!

[sebring]

your car will be fine on veg

[FUBAR]

good work:) if you give me another month or two I'll be at 75% or more veg- see how it goes in my cheap 185k miler before trying it in your 51k minter:)

imagine your car must feel very different to drive from mine-mine could do with a suspension refresh!

This is a great thread and I will watch it closely. My car is nice enough (but someone put a small dent just below window on rear passenger side door in a carpark......   Not even so much as a stone chip on rest of car :( Could do with a good machine polish to make it look like new again. This is it's first year being used as a normal car again, so it's sheltered garaged from new life is over. Just booked MOT tonight in 5 weeks time to get it a month early, I'd think there are a few bits n pieces that will need changed bushes etc wise as they are likely pretty old and having their first run through the seasons. After that it will be a totally refreshed car though. 

 

The alloys are bigger and heavier and have cost me mpg and you can feel the difference in power..... Should I change back though..... 

 

 

[sebring]

once you switch to veg, you wont worry about mpg

[FUBAR]

once you switch to veg, you wont worry about mpg

Achieving good MPG is the main appeal of the car after less stuff to go wrong. Without that, I'd want something a little nicer to drive.

[WoodieGuthrie]

So finally made it to fuel light on in this for the first time..

672.1 miles, on 45.66L of fuel!that is 66.9MPG (imperial) or 55.7MPG US

1081.6km travelled before refuelling- nice to get a kilo tank on the first run.

I refilled it with 15L of WVO (at 50p/Litre) and 30.66L of Derv (at 116.7p/L) Total refuel cost was £43.28, giving a cost per mile of 6.4p
Next shift I'll be going for 20 or 25L of WVO i think:)

 

Car is running ok so far on the mix, and there are 2 fuel filters in the boot to cover off any deposits loosened

[artist21]

I've run WVO in a 405 and a W124, but two weeks ago I got organised with my 03 ALH TDi estate, and filtered 250 litres of WVO.

 

Then I drove to Italy and back, with luggage, 200L in the back, and three bikes on the tow bar carrier.

 

All good. MPG was about 42, but at 80 mph much of the time and over 2,500 miles you can't complain.

 

The fuel was mixed with about 5% petrol to keep it thin.

Edited 5 July, 2015 by artist21

[WoodieGuthrie]

Good effort!

I've not used any u/l to thin it yet-but that may happen if on 80%+ as we get into autumn

[artist21]

You will need to be very careful in autumn/winter with WVO. I had a nasty couple of days when quite hard frosts in late September gelled the oil in the fuel line. It was quite thick WVO (dark in colour) with no petrol in it. The VAG fuel lines are very prone to it, whereas the Pug and the Mercedes would start on WVO even in quite low temps.

 

Anything below about 4C is a problem. Some have put in new 10mm lines to help this.

 

Diesel will also thin fuel, but the effect is less. 5% petrol has the same effect as 15-20% diesel.

 

BTW 50p/l for 1 mic WVO is pricey 30p is more reasonable.

[WoodieGuthrie]

You will need to be very careful in autumn/winter with WVO. I had a nasty couple of days when quite hard frosts in late September gelled the oil in the fuel line. It was quite thick WVO (dark in colour) with no petrol in it. The VAG fuel lines are very prone to it, whereas the Pug and the Mercedes would start on WVO even in quite low temps.

Anything below about 4C is a problem. Some have put in new 10mm lines to help this.

Diesel will also thin fuel, but the effect is less. 5% petrol has the same effect as 15-20% diesel.

BTW 50p/l for 1 mic WVO is pricey 30p is more reasonable.

yeah I'd had this happen in a previous mk3 golf aaz engine. as you say, some u/l sorted it right out.

any links to such cheap veg in Scotland?-I would be very interested-esp as I now have the drag racing bug..

[artist21]

yeah I'd had this happen in a previous mk3 golf aaz engine. as you say, some u/l sorted it right out.

any links to such cheap veg in Scotland?-I would be very interested-esp as I now have the drag racing bug..

http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/mybbforum/forumdisplay.php?fid=51

[WoodieGuthrie]

http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/mybbforum/forumdisplay.php?fid=51

Ideal, cheers!

[Lang Hayr]

FUBAR, you'll be absolutely fine running it on veg oil. I ran mine on veg oil from it having 56K on the clock. It now has 156k on, six years later, and it goes through the MOT every year running on cooking oil, while they do the emmisions test. It pushes out less emmisions and less particulates running on cooking oil than it does regular dino diesel. I regularly tow with it, and just make sure every now and again i give it a dose of injector cleaner. Keep the engine oil and filter changed religiously, and the fuel filter changed at least half the recommended interval, even more if you are using WVO with dubious animal fat content.