Hi Guys,

Have just seen a sign advertising Bio-diesel@ 89p per litre, as usual it would appear a bargain but:-

a) Will it work?

b)what will it knacker?

c) would you use it in your car?

Answers on a postcard to the usual address, :confused:

I think it's fine to use, ask bryan he uses it in his vRS all the time says it runs smoother and smokes less.... If I found any near me, I'd try it for sure....

I've not had any experience of this Bio Diesel yet. Is it something that is sold at ordinary petrol stations?

some petrol stations (though I haven't seen any near me in Sheffield..) ... I believe the approved stuff is a 5% mix of bio diesel and 95% mineral diesel.....

5% mix is fine (standard) but not sure about any more than that.

Near me, greengoldbiodiesel.co.uk is selling up to 100% mix. my superb's handbook says so long as it's up to the european standard, you can use 100% but skoda uk didn't agree - so not sure what the real story is...

I ran my Golf PD100 on Veg oil for two weeks when the fuel blockade was on (I put 25 ltr drums in with 5 ltrs of Diesel)

Ran like a dream. I belive that as long at it conforms to the spec then thats fine. I have considered buying the kit for making it, it's about

I ran my Golf PD100 on Veg oil for two weeks when the fuel blockade was on (I put 25 ltr drums in with 5 ltrs of Diesel)

Ran like a dream. I belive that as long at it conforms to the spec then thats fine. I have considered buying the kit for making it, it's about

*legally* you've got to keep a record of how much you use, and pay duty per liter on it, no matter where you got it from. whether anyone'd notice is another thing!

Yeah, it's 27.1p per litre.

It's probably better to say I run my car with biodiesel rather than on it. I buy 100% biodiesel and then blend it with my preferred pump diesel (Shell Diesel Extra). I add about 2.5 litres of bio to a tankful i.e. a ratio of about 1:20, which is what you can buy pre-mixed from a few pumps in the UK, or throughout France.

VW had some problems running Euro 4 engines on strong concentrations of biodiesel, but they have to be capable of using 5% bio because that is what comes out of French pumps. The biodiesel has to conform to the EN 14214 standard, whatever it is made from.

With the bio the engine is smoother, quieter and produces noticeably less smoke. I dyno tested the car before and after using biodiesel. Torque was up 2% with bio; BHP was down 2% - no practical difference in other words.

I'll bring some samples to the C&F3 meet for anyone that wants to try it.

Lots of web info on biodiesel. Here is a good start.

This is what Skoda told me about using biodiesel in the VRs-

I asked

Would I invalidate my warranty if I ran a fabia VS on 100% biodiesel. If not, could you let me know what grades / standards are compatible with the PD130 engine?

They replied

Dear Mr ***************

It's probably better to say I run my car with biodiesel rather than on it. I buy 100% biodiesel and then blend it with my preferred pump diesel (Shell Diesel Extra). I add about 2.5 litres of bio to a tankful i.e. a ratio of about 1:20' date=' which is what you can buy pre-mixed from a few pumps in the UK, or throughout France.

VW had some problems running Euro 4 engines on strong concentrations of biodiesel, but they have to be capable of using 5% bio because that is what comes out of French pumps. The biodiesel has to conform to the EN 14214 standard, whatever it is made from.

With the bio the engine is smoother, quieter and produces noticeably less smoke. I dyno tested the car before and after using biodiesel. Torque was up 2% with bio; BHP was down 2% - no practical difference in other words.

I'll bring some samples to the C&F3 meet for anyone that wants to try it.

Lots of web info on biodiesel. Here is a good start.

I'll be in the que at the cat'n'fiddle meet bryan to test some of your biodeisel! I can hope it reduces my smoke a bit

FWIW I have just finished my first tankful of 50/50 mineral/biodiesel in my Fabia 1.9SD and the only subjective difference I've noticed is the thirty bob less that it cost me. Clearly this is no indicator of longer term issues but it looks like a good start. Sadly the filling station is several miles from where I live so making a special trip to fill up uses the aforementioned financial advantage.

I am half way through the 200 litre drum I purchased and my car is running like a dream on it. I am running it 50:50.

I am no expert and dont own a diesel but check out this web site

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make.html

Don't even think about 100% ester in a PD car

Don't you all know how much the injecots cost to replace?

The wonderful performance from PDs is enables by the individual injector pumps on each cylinder. Get to the point of replacing those and it will cost you £2K.

The manufacturers warrant their vehicles will run on standard specification fuels Nickliv refers to EN14214. I dont recognise that I thought ULSD was EN590 but basically the blended fuel needs to be from the oil majors who guaarantee that the fuel meets all the specifications for standard ULSD. As the manufacturer warrants that the car will run on ULSD to the defined specification there is then no problem.

Old diesels could run on all sorts of stuff, thats the kind of car you need to but if you want to drive it around on paraffin. A PD might cost you dearly.

My local independent VAG specialist has only had two PDs have their injectors fail so far. One had done 285,000 miles and they were just worn out basicaly. The second, the owner had apparently allowed the car to run out of fuel and this caused injector damage - so don't let your cars run out of fuel!

The 2004 price for a unit injector for a PD130 engine was £613 each!

...

The manufacturers warrant their vehicles will run on standard specification fuels Nickliv refers to EN14214. I dont recognise that I thought ULSD was EN590 ...

EN590 is the standard for mineral diesel. EN 14214 is the European standard for biodiesel. It replaces and is essentially the same as the German standard E 51606, which is referred to on page 168 of my Fabia owner's manual, where it says "Biodiesel conforming to the standard E 51 606 can be mixed in any desired ratio with diesel fuel conforming to the standard EN 590."

(Manual part number 6Y0 012 003 ET dated 08.03 and supplied with my car in 07.04)

The Biodiesel I buy conforms to all the relvent standards.

*legally* you've got to keep a record of how much you use, and pay duty per liter on it, no matter where you got it from. whether anyone'd notice is another thing!

No. Legally, the duty must be paid.

Whether your supplier pays it, or you keep a record and pay it yourself doesn't matter to the Revenue Men, just so long as they get their money.

It is unlikely that you will be able to buy duty-free biodiesel, so unless you make it yourself, you won't need to log how much you use so you can tell Customs. There is no tracer dye in biodiesel.

The Biodiesel I buy conforms to all the relvent standards.

And the Duty has been paid on it

I have a couple questions if any one more knowledgeable on the subject wouldn't mind answering.

1) Does anyone have a link to a map of bio diesel pumps in the uk. (I believe my local morrisons has one but I am not 100% - the pump handle is blue but I couldn't make out what it read)

2) I never let my car run out of diesel (normally has 1/4 - 1/8 tank when I fill up), can I use bio diesel in the car even though there is still diesel in it? I am assuming I can but don't want to mess anything up as the car is required for commuting to work.

Cheers all

I have a couple questions if any one more knowledgeable on the subject wouldn't mind answering.

1) Does anyone have a link to a map of bio diesel pumps in the uk. (I believe my local morrisons has one but I am not 100% - the pump handle is blue but I couldn't make out what it read)

Try this - http://www.bio-power.co.uk

And this - http://www.biodieselfillingstations.co.uk/

Doubt Morrisons would sell Bio Diesel' date=' but if they do, let us all know as that is a major step forward.

2) I never let my car run out of diesel (normally has 1/4 - 1/8 tank when I fill up), can I use bio diesel in the car even though there is still diesel in it? I am assuming I can but don't want to mess anything up as the car is required for commuting to work.

Your car should work fine on anything up to 50:50 (BTW, I would go to 20% in the winter), Bio will mix fine with mineral. You may initiall get a los of power and a bit of stuttering (Nothing an 06 owner hasn't had) but this will pass in a minute or two of driving as the car gets used to the fuel.

Disclaimer/Common sense check; Email Skoda CS and ask them about WVO, Biodiesel and RME compatability. On this forum we will give advice etc based on our own experiances and knowledge and although it will be pretty much spot on, we largely don't have the backing of the manufacturer, so you do this at your own risk.

I notice from your sig you have a VRS? I have done 4000 miles on Biodiesel now and Bryand probably a lot more. I can't recommend it enough to be honest.

Cheers all

Not a problem, I hope we have a positive effect on making your decision. Let us know how you get on

Try this - http://www.bio-power.co.uk

And this - http://www.biodieselfillingstations.co.uk/

Doubt Morrisons would sell Bio Diesel' date=' but if they do, let us all know as that is a major step forward.

Your car should work fine on anything up to 50:50 (BTW, I would go to 20% in the winter), Bio will mix fine with mineral. You may initiall get a los of power and a bit of stuttering (Nothing an 06 owner hasn't had) but this will pass in a minute or two of driving as the car gets used to the fuel.

Disclaimer/Common sense check; Email Skoda CS and ask them about WVO, Biodiesel and RME compatability. On this forum we will give advice etc based on our own experiances and knowledge and although it will be pretty much spot on, we largely don't have the backing of the manufacturer, so you do this at your own risk.

I notice from your sig you have a VRS? I have done 4000 miles on Biodiesel now and Bryand probably a lot more. I can't recommend it enough to be honest.

Not a problem, I hope we have a positive effect on making your decision. Let us know how you get on [/quote']

Thankyou Decron.

I am unsure on whether the blue pump I saw was bio diesel but I will look the next time and report back.

If it is I think I will try it an see.

What do you reckon on the Elsbett stuff - i.e. heating the fuel, injector changes etc?

Is all bio-diesel sold at the pumps up to the quality of that skoda stipulate and if so I cant seem to find the approximate cost from the garages?

Also, it states on various web sites that the mix is 5% which I know is ok as per previous posts on this thread. Will filling stations automatically switch to 20% mix in winter or do they keep it at 5% and are there any issues in winter running it with just a 5% mix.