With gas prices the way they are I'm really thinking seriously about picking up a Volvo or other small diesel car and installing a greasel system. The way I see it, a small reliable diesel would be fairly easy/cheap to purchase, and the kit isn't all that expensive. Also, I work at an ice rink with a busy snack bar-they don't even recycle the oil, they throw it in the garbage dumpster! I've inspected it and it looks to be pretty good quality so I'm sure it would make good fuel. I would estimate they throw out at least 5 gallons a week, and I'm thinking of engineering my own little collection barrel with built in strainer that I could keep out back. My biggest question is will it be reliable in the winter. I live in northern NJ so it does get pretty cold here, of course I guess I could always just forget about SVO once the temperature dips below a certain point. Is anyone here running a system in a cold climate? Care to comment?

Thanks,

Matthew

 

What type of engine are you plannin on runnin? Thats going to make a lot of diffrence on if the system will be sucessfull or not. Im sure your doing research so you know of all the preheating that needs to be done before you run grease, If you only grab up 10 or so gallons a week though it wont be bennificial to purchance an engine then get the kit and have it set up and run it. One option would be to premix the regular diesel with the 100 clean oil. LIke filtered atleast 4 times through true fuel filters, I just preach clean clean clean weather you use bio or wvo. Premix would be the best bet though, and then you may not need worry about winters,

 

I'm kinda confused-I'm not talking about making actual biodiesel (by using sodium methoxide), but rather just using straight untreated veggie oil. The greasel system works by starting the engine on regular diesel from the tank, and then switching once the veggie oil is warm enough. The veggie oil is contained in a fuel cell which would be mounted in the trunk with a 12 volt "heating wrap" around it. Basically the greasel site said that the system works well with just about any engine, but the older and simpler the better. I'm thinking an older (mid 80s) Volvo turbo diesel which is actually a Volkswagen engine which is supposed to be relatively reliable as long as the oil changes are stuck to religiously.

 

Greasel systems have been known to work well in 80's mb diesels as well as 03 and earlier vw tdi's.

 

Ran into a guy at the fuel stop here on Camp Pendleton last year runnin' the greasel system on his 1st Gen. Asking him about his transfer tank in the bed is how the conversation got started. Did notice that when he started the truck I had a hankering for McDonalds french fries. He was camping at Pendleton and said that the last time he had gotten diesel had been two weeks prior on the north side of the grapevine. Had agreements with several restaurants in the area to get the old grease. Took it home, filtered it, and poured it in. Great way to get free fuel and save on diesel. Love my 04.5 but wish that I had that option. And said he had no problems runnin it. No noticable loss of power. Just start on diesel until the grease got warmed up, then flip to the grease. Change back to diesel prior to shut down to flush the grease out of the system and shut 'er down.

 

Im research about this two since my truck big and difficul to parked in busy school campus compact parking. some said conversion system from ttp://www.greasecar.com is better than greasal. I personally like to get vw golf or passat to do the convertion. as for as the year it doesn't really matter, check out ttp://www.eilishoils.com/pages/photos.htm. Most of the new european vw use the same engine as the one is U.S. so it no problem

 

Since the WVO has to be heated , my concern would be WVO in the oil pan due to a bad injector . What happens when the engine is cold and shut down ?

 

I was thinking the same thing, he was saying you just flip back over to Diesel to be sure you flush the injectors out good before shut down?
Sounds interesting, but only for a project. As for my truck, I'll stick to #2 and hopefully Bio as soon as they get around to selling it near me.
In N.J is a 12 volt electric blanket going to be enough? I would think running a set of heater hoses with a core and blower back there would be sweet.

 

Need to be careful. Some sources of WVO can be very high in salt or sugar depending on what it fried. These are almost impossible to just filter out and can cause damage with long term use.
In the long run it would probably be cheaper and safer just to build your own BD device to convert the WVO to BD.