Hi all, I run an SDI on a mix of up to 50/50 SVO in the summer and have dropped that now to about 25%. It runs absolutely fine, but I popped in the garage tonight where I've had a few 5 litre bottles of the KTC veggie oil sat even through the recent cold snaps. It had gelled up quite badly in some bottles (others seemed relatively unaffected).

I popped it in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes and it all liquified fine and is still liquid now.

Firstly is it usual for this kind of varyance between batches of oil or manaufacturers. Secondly would it be safe to put it in the tank in this state? I know I couldn't put straight oil in the tank like this, but my real question is will the 75% diesel actually 'melt' the gel and make the whole mix liquid?

Edited 22 December, 201213 yr by capriman

Best thing to do is like i do, mix it before hand. I also have a 2 litre bottle with the same mix as in the tank, outside so before i start car i can check consistency. If it is just one batch that has gone funny, there is a problem and i would avoid using it. could be that its fine, but with fuels,i would say if you have to ask, probably best avoid it.

Also worthy of note, once mixed with fuel svo becomes much more resistant to gelling. I also put 1 litre of unleaded in with 10 litres of veg, as this helps viscosity and improves anti freezing properties greatly, aswell as improves running and corrects flash point.

Thanks for the reply. When you say 'once mixed with fuel' do you also mean diesel rather than petrol? We ran about 20% through the recent cold snap with regular frosts and it fired up first touche every morning with no cranking at all. You barely have to touch the key and she fires up rain or shine.

If the answer is yes then I have 20 litres of diesel outside so will put the oil in with that and give it a good shake before syphoning it into the tank.

Thanks for the reply by the way.

Yes diesel too. But petrol is a bit better. During winter i have ran 50/50 with no issues, 50% diesel and 50% svo with 10% of that unleaded, no prproblems even at minus 10 deg. Premixing and leaving 24hrs changes viscosity greatly, i use 25 litre drums

Thanks, as we are only currently running 20-25% I'll just premix it the night before. I've never tried throwing petrol in the mix. I presume being a duty paid fuel it doesn't affect the legality of the mix? Also do you find it runs any differently with a little petrol in it?

As long as you put 10% petrol in (to quantity of veg, not entire tank) its easier to start, runs smoother, too much and it starts to knock. Totally legal as is veg. Obviously if you use veg you have to pay duty if you use more that 2499 litres a year. Thats a shed load of miles in an sdi eh?

I find petrol enables me to use more veg, as it takes less to dilute it than diesel would. Above 6 degrees i was using no diesel - just used 85% veg and 12-15% unleaded, a wee tackle to start in mornin and some blue smoke on full throttle but ran fine.

What engines do you guys have? I have 90bhp ALH in my octavia 2004 model.

I used to use veg and diesel in my audi 80 tdi but it made the pump leak in summer.

Have you done any mods to the engine?

after 2002 pumps were made with vitose rubber so that wont be an issue. I have the alh, too but obviously you have to use your noggin to how it runs as to how much to use as i have larger injector nozzles which helps, 50/50 should be fine

I have a set of afn nozzles to fit.

Just out of interest and off at a tangent a little bit, What other mainstream cheap cars will deleiver huge MPG and run on lorge percentages of veg? The current fabia estate is the missus car. We actually got it preety much by accident.She had a big petroll guzzling peoplecarrier which broke down so we needed another car quickly. Mate of mine ina skoda dealership had this one. 53 plate sdi estate 1 owner with 63k fsh miles on it. MOT just out with dead rear shocks. £1250.

Fair enough its not fast at all but its nice as it has chilled my driving style out which is no bad thing either! I drive along permanently now with the instantaneous MPG showing trying to get it as high as I can!!

I'm just struggling to find one for me now. Been looking for months and the only good ones on ebay have been up in scotland somewhere or the tip of cornwall!!! Just wondering wwhat other cars I should be considering too?

The best engine for veg ever, and can run 100% most of the year without issues is the peugeot/citroen xud 1.9d or td. Basically the 1.9 that hasnt got a lucas pump, needs to be bosch dirivative.

Pick up a 306 or a 406, a xsara or a xantia. All have wee faults but capable of 300k miles on total veg.

The 306 td will also run huge percentages of veg? Hmmmm, interesting! I wouldnt mind a 306 estate actually. The TD doesnt do millions to the gallon though as I recall. I'm looking at maximum gains here. I like the fabia as its 60mpg PLUS the added bonus of veg.

We just took advantage of the 50p a litre (yes you read it right) offer in tesco and got 100 litres (max allowed) I threw 20 litres of veg into that and its done 1600 miles on that at a cost of £93. Makes me smile everytime I recant the numbers. I make that under 6p a miles or £6 for every 100 miles.

Oh, thanks for all the info lofty....top banana!!!

Edited 23 December, 201213 yr by capriman

Old school mk2 golf GTd with the SB engine code will run on 100% veg. Advance the timing, turn up the boost, turn up the fuel 115bhp & 185 lb/ft of torque. Plus plent of mods available for the rest of the car

the 1.9td engine can do 50mpg around town, and maybe 65 on a run if driven correctly, the 1.9 straight D is the one that struggles around town on mpg.

The beauty being the higher percentage on veg, far outways the 5mpg loss on the fabia. the skoda alh is direct injection and fine for veg but its not ideal, however the bosch pug/citroen will thank you for it instead of just cope with it

A Mercedes 190 is another good choice, 2l diesel I had a petrol one for years, they don't go wrong very often best made cars ever.

A Mercedes 190 is another good choice, 2l diesel I had a petrol one for years, they don't go wrong very often best made cars ever.

very true, but harder to find, if you can brilliant, slam it and tint = cool

Like "capriman" I personally just up the petrol to a 20% blend with SVO in the winter (colder) months. But as "Lofty79" points out you should do your mixing prior to putting it in the tank.

My 100% veg car has to be a Peugeot 106 XD (1.5l) as it's small, cheap and reasonably light (at under a tonne...probably of rust ).

Recently I've even been seeing diesel waxing from my local supermarket fuel in the cold weather. My money is on the supermarkets not switching to a winter mix, as the cheapest fuel wins in their eyes.