i was wondering about biodiesel i never used it or knew anyone that has but have often thought about using it. Was just wondering is it safe for an 04 and does any one make it themselves and have any luck with it thanks. I think this is the right spot for this thread if not let me know ill move it

 

biodiesel: yes I have made it. kind of easy to do if you can make a cake, you can make biodiesel. must be rural area, don't play with the ingredients in a suburban setting. red devil lye by the case is not looked on favorably, no matter what the reason for use. avoid any hassle and get together with website people for biodiesel. need 10 micron or goldenrod color filters, lots.
about six spare fuel filters to carry with you and what kind of weather where you live should be above 50 degrees with a minimum 12 volt line heater as a basic switchover, along with steel lines. rubber and biodeisel do not play well together.

i used a steam kettle off a navy ship that has a lid. a steam hole from the lid to a collection spiral copper tubing (think moonshine still) to re-coup the methane created back into a soda pressure dispenser three gallon, like in bars. (expensive; so re use it) a settling tank that was a hot water tank (electric ones are free, check with your HVAC company for ones they remove from a new installation) electric ones also help with the purification as you can control the heat. a #1 tank for crude product, and smaller #2 tank for final filtering and a dispensing tank/pump set up. figure on a fifty gallon batch as local laws or state Environmental limits the stored amount. usually about 200 gallons for private use. yes, the tax man will want his share if you A; sell it to friends or neighbors B. use or allow it to be used in a commercial enterprise that you are not a part of.
biodiesel has a time limit for usage, it does not keep longer than a month and a half. dogs WILL follow your truck. I used it in a go kart, lawn mower (not smart) my beloved 1984 mercedes 300TD (ran excellent, hated to see that car go) and twice in the big 04 one ton small cummins. cost about 87 bucks to change out lines and about 200 bucks to have the fueling spray metering limit re set on the injector pump and wider nozzles. a temporary heater was used in the tank, and the line pod prior to injection. yes, you will go through about four filters at first. biodeisel is the world's greatest engine cleaner. you make soap out of your waste product (which is five gallons of waste from 50 crude fuel) that is a lot of soap.

if you have ever done farm work, that is what is was like to operate off of biodiesel and I made only 200 gallons and did not think it was worth it. If i still farmed, yes defintely! but for just the cost savings it was 75 cents a gallon of fuel plus initial material cost, maintenance cost and my free labor made it a total of 1.30 +/- in a zone 4 high moisture climate (western New York state). I needed to drive more, use a tractor, supply a farm (inviting tax problems) to make it cost effective within the product time limit.

besides a good night's reading material zzzzz, I hope that helped you figure out how it would help or bother you...

 

It's easy to make. It's a bunch of work no matter what anyone says. I took the class that was given by the fuelmiester??? dealer. It's not an "hour a day to make a 40 gallon batch" process. But done carefully and SAFELY you will make a bunch in no time. I can send you pics from my shop and you can see my setup. The cost to make a processor is a few hundred bucks. But worth it. Getting rid of the byproduct (glycerin) is my only issue. I'm experimenting with putting it into a heated container to run the oil furnace on. IIt might take a month or two to get going. As far as buying the lye in bulk, Don't worry about it. Nobody will bother you. I buy mine in the city and they just ask to smell the truck out of curiosity. Other than that I've never been harassed. I'm lazy and don't recover my methanol yet. But I do have a duct over my processors and the fumes get pumped outside. I power my 95 with it and also run a few diesel machines on it. No problems at all. I have no in tank heaters no insulated lines and don't change my fuel filter every 3k. I do filter down to 5 microns before pumping to the holding tank and also once more before going into the truck. The site that helped me a lot was http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel.html It's got some good information.

 

Journey to Forever has a lot of mis-information imo. There's also used to be snake oil stuff out there called Diesel Secret. Not sure if it's around anymore or not.

I would not run straight bio in a common rail. It polymerizes at those pressures, and bio likes water. I do run B5-B10 in the summer with no problems so far.

Everyone should try making bio with the Coke bottle method. It's a fun science experiment and not at all hard to do. I make up batches to use in my Kubota mower and to light bonfires easily.

 

I run straight WVO with appx 25,000 miles on my 05 so far. Much easier to work with as all you have to do is filter it. You can get a good quality kit for under $3000. Last truck was a 2000 24v and it had over 200K on WVO. This one has a lot of catching up to do.
Q

 

I wonder if WVO is more stable than bio...Hmmmmm.

 

I have been running B20 in my 05 and have not had an issue yet. It seems to run a smoother to me. I have all the plans to make an "appleseed kit" and I plan on bumping up to B50 and B75. A Navy chief I work with makes all his own bio and runs his 04 on home brewed B100 and has not had to change a thing and he loves the fuel cost savings.

 

we have a local station that sells biodiesel. I think it is a Marathon. Has anybody run it?

 

I haven't ran there Bio yet but the station on NAS Pensacola. There Bio runs good...... better than dino in my opinion.

 

My friend makes and gives me BIO (from Fuelmeister processor)
he filters his to 1 micron!!

My truck smells better and runs great!

Because of the winter temps here I run max of 50% during the warmer months I go to 100% and variable.

i have only went through 1 yes ONE fuel filter!! in 2 years
the truck does seem to run a little smoother, but get slightly less MPG. but at free to $1 per gal i keep BOTH my tanks full!!!

HOWEVER!! *disclaimer* a recent student diesel mechanic friend stated that %5 is the max for our engines, and that if exceeded, will bypass the fuel filter if too thick due to temp/ bio concentration???

either way I have had NO problems

 

Just don't buy the hype that you get better mpgs. Bio has a lower btu rating so it not going to be as productive as strait Diesel. I run B50 or less at various times and truck is smoother and quieter. But mpgs do drop a little bit. But with price wars on reg fuels it starting to transfer to bio fuels as well.

 

I have an '02 24 valve, but I run 10 to 20 % bio almost all the time. If I run higher concentration than that, I do lose mpg. I get my bio from Western States Petroleum and the price is lower than pump #2 right now but that will probably change with thier next shipment. No problems and I don't need any fuel additives ( lubricity worries ).

 

Ok so, I have to adjust my previous reply:::> I agree that journey to forever is a bit skewed, now that I was on there and it's changed since I started making fuel. They might be smoking lots more pot with the money they're saving. But anyway, I believe that if you process it well and make sure that you dry the heck out of it there won't be any issues. Filtering is very important. I run 100% in my 95 during the summer. I've never had any problems that I could attribute to the bio. I faithfully add fuel conditioner in various amounts. I don't measure because there's always extra in there. But as far as it being quieter, I haven't really noticed any change. Power is about the same. The smoke is gray and not jet black. I'm not very fond of the smell anymore but the savings is great. Right now I'm still apprehensive about using it in the 06 I just got. But, if you guys are using 100% in the 24v's already, then I feel a little better.

 

I have never had to change a fuel filter anymore than normal running biodiesel. I have only used retail bio and have easily burned 1000+ gallons in my 04.

There is no built in bypass in the OEM filter canister.

 

thanks for all the info so if i was going to run it i need to change my fuel lines and what do you guys mean by b50 and stuff like that