Bought my 2000 Octavia 1.9 TDI 3 months ago, one of the best cars I've had (well, so far ). The green interior took some getting used to though

I run it on homebrewed biodiesel, travelling 120+ miles a day.

Hello and Welcome to Briskoda

Make sure you upload some pictures!

Homebrewed biodiesel - Please tell us more...

welcome to briskoda, please tell us more about your biodiesel.

Davy

Welcome

welcome

I'll get you some pics of the lovely interior tomorrow, its full of tools and bits at the moment due to a clutch pedal problem.

Biodiesel is the reason I bought the car, I save enough money a month to pay the loan which covers the car, insurance and tax + plus a shed and all the kit needed to make it

Essentialy you mix up some vegetable oil with about 20% methanol and some lye at 50-60 degrees. This takes out the glycerin from the oil and any contaminants, leaving you with a fuel that acts as a better detergent and lubricant that fossil diesel from the pump. It is also better than using straight vegetable oil as it has a lower viscosity and doesn't cause coking.

My last batch cost 98p/l including chemicals and leccy, quite a saving over £1.30. But that was with oil bought from Costco. Ideally however I collect used oil from local restaurants ( take aways and cafe's are best. Chip shops generaly use solid fats, which are no good really). It's a little harder to make from WVO (waste vegetable oil), but of course it only costs 15-20p/l.

If you care about such things, its considered carbon neutral and doesn't contain any sulphur.

There can be problems, its still more viscous than fossil diesel. This can cause issues with HDI/PDI engines and some fuel pumps.

It also tends to have a nasty effect on rubber. All Skoda's, VW's and Audis since 2000 have been made with resistant fuel lines and seals though, hence my choice.

It can have a lower cetene level, depending on the oil used and how good your process is. So there can be a loss of mpg and power. Figures quoted are around 10%, I've not noticed any loss and still get 60mpg.

That's it in brief

I'll get you some pics of the lovely interior tomorrow, its full of tools and bits at the moment due to a clutch pedal problem.

Biodiesel is the reason I bought the car, I save enough money a month to pay the loan which covers the car, insurance and tax + plus a shed and all the kit needed to make it

Essentialy you mix up some vegetable oil with about 20% methanol and some lye at 50-60 degrees. This takes out the glycerin from the oil and any contaminants, leaving you with a fuel that acts as a better detergent and lubricant that fossil diesel from the pump. It is also better than using straight vegetable oil as it has a lower viscosity and doesn't cause coking.

My last batch cost 98p/l including chemicals and leccy, quite a saving over £1.30. But that was with oil bought from Costco. Ideally however I collect used oil from local restaurants ( take aways and cafe's are best. Chip shops generaly use solid fats, which are no good really). It's a little harder to make from WVO (waste vegetable oil), but of course it only costs 15-20p/l.

If you care about such things, its considered carbon neutral and doesn't contain any sulphur.

There can be problems, its still more viscous than fossil diesel. This can cause issues with HDI/PDI engines and some fuel pumps.

It also tends to have a nasty effect on rubber. All Skoda's, VW's and Audis since 2000 have been made with resistant fuel lines and seals though, hence my choice.

It can have a lower cetene level, depending on the oil used and how good your process is. So there can be a loss of mpg and power. Figures quoted are around 10%, I've not noticed any loss and still get 60mpg.

That's it in brief

How long have you been using this method? What problems have you had - Installation Wise and Car breaking if any?

Thanks for the information - Looking forward to the pictures.

I made my first batch on the 12th of April. So its been a couple of months.

The only issue I've had has been soaps in my original batch due to bad process. I've had to change the fuel filter a couple of times due to this, but I was expecting that as the fuel will clean the pipes and tank rather thoroughly anyway.