Txwelder

I got my first tank of biodiesel today at $2.60/gal in Atlanta. Good price since up the street #2 was $3.19/gal. So I only mixed 50/50 since I had a half full tank. This lady in her TDI tells me to make sure I change all my rubber components to teflon and change my fuel filter after my first two tanks of biodiesel.

1.Does anyone have any experience with biodiesel in a truck around the same year as mine?
2.What has to be replaced to run this fuel?(i.e. filters, hoses, components)
3.Will it hurt anything internal?
4.Is it even worth it to run this fuel if there is even a slight risk of damage to my truck?
5.Noticed an injector leak after filling up with bio!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any info would be greatly appreciated. I did do some reading before buying the fuel and felt confident until she started talking about having to change fuel filters after the first two tanks and fuel lines being eaten and so on. Sorry so long.

Kevin

infidel

Rubber on trucks built after '93 are compatible with BD but the filter is something to watch as BD will loosen up any crud in the fuel system.
I usually run B20 (four years) but have run 50 and 100 without a problem in my '95s.

If you have developed a leak it most likely was from the BD loosening up crud that was blocking a leak rather than incompatible rubber.

msilbernagel

The folks at Yellowstone Nat'nl Park seem to have done well with BD in their Dodge... 185,000 miles and counting!

Yellowstone National Park's Bio-diesel Truck

I think the only trouble they found, using 100% BD, was the rubber elblow at the fuel pump would slowly dissolve!! (They carried spares!).

Good reading - should be reassuring too!

FYI - Mark
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Txwelder

Well first off thanks for chiming in. The injectors were installed a month ago this Saturday so I dont know how much crud could have accumulated since then. As far as the fuel goes, I bought B100 instead of the 20 because it was $.70/gal cheaper. I will read the link to the Yellowstone truck. I was just wondering if anyone had any bad luck with bio and could give some advice. I appreciate it. The guy at the pump says the B100 stays at a level price as compared to the 20 which fluctuates due to being mostly #2. I would think more people would be using B100 now due to prices. If you fill your own tank with say 5-10 gallons of #2 and then top off with B100 you mix your own and save a little cash. The lady in her TDI said she runs B100 pure with no mix, dont know how that would effect our trucks over time.

arroyojim

hi,
i ran an 81 p'up on b100 for three years b4 upgrading to a ctd. only problem i ever had was waxed up fuel plugging the fuel filter in really cold weather. guess i got lucky with the rubber, or maybe the b100 i buy just doesn't have much alcohol in it.

only problem i've had with the ctd so far is that my lift pump went out, but i don't know yet if that was related to bd or not. i'm also now experiencing excess smoke after putting the new lift pump on, but haven't figured that one out yet (see my post on bad emissions problems). btw, when i took it to get tested, i probably had about a 50/50 mix, as i had to fill up out of town and couldn't get bio-d.

only other thing i noticed was that the steel insides of the pre-filter/heater had a thin bit of rust over the surface. again, don't know if that's bd related or not.

anyway, i highly recommend bio-d. i'd rather see American farmers profiting than desert princes and big multi-nationals. they have enough money. whatever problems may arise from using bio-d aren't that bad and can be remedied. (hope that's not too political)

VADSLRAM

I was watching Food Network the other night. This place that makes Onion rings in Idaho uses all their old fry oil to run their fleet of diesel VW Bugs. They didn't say how much precessing they did before tanking up but I'm trying to find out.
edit
It wasn't onion rings, it was Kettle brand chips.http://www.kettlefoods.com/index.php?cID=19

Eskimo

Infidel (as usual) nailed it.. I changed my fuel filter after the first 3 tanks, and then again at 8k miles..

Hoses are fine...

Txwelder

So what is the general concesus? Run it like I have it with a 50/50 mix, find B20 and pay $3.50/gal, or change my filters every tank and run B100?

infidel

You will only have to change your filter ahead of schedule once.
Run what ever you like, I personally don't like going over B20 because my performance and mpgs start dropping. Figure out how much you are paying per mile, not per gallon, when you decide what you want to use.

Txwelder

I like the idea of supporting American farmers more than OPEC but B20 is more than #2 right now and I am completely price driven. I do notice that I am not getting the mileage out of the 50/50 mix that I do with #2. Can I switch back to #2 without changing the fuel filter after only having driven one tank?

crunchybuttr

Yes, b100 is totally compatible with #2. The only issues with it and the engines are the rubber thing and gelling in cold weather. otherwise, mix and match run any mixture and the engine will be fine. Check your filter to make sure that its not clogged, and maybe carry one with you if your gonna use b100 more often (though you won't need to worry after a couple weeks of running it).
Mike