Has anyone used it? Is it expensive? Does it smell like french fries cooking ???

 

Never tried it. What does it consist of? Can these trucks operate with it safely?

 

Jack,<br><br>The link below gives more info than I can. I did a forum search here and found no references to it so I just wondered if anyone had any experience with it.<br><br>Biodiesel Information<br><br>Regards,<br>Gary<br>

 

Thanks for the website Rattlin Ram.. very interesting, very interesting...<br><br>the site mentioned that the biodiesel met some ATSM specification (or some other initials).. does that spec meet D/C specificiations as well?? <br><br>I know the 12V could/would run on just about any distillate.. the 24V had a much smaller list of 'alternative' (as in the aviation/jet/kero) fuels due to the fuel pump needing to be lubed..<br><br>just wondering..

 

<br><br>Hides those quart jars of...errrr.... furniture polish I had stuck back in the cabinet ;D

 

If it's just the fact that the VP44 needs lubrication.<br>You should be able to run a 24V on anything the 12V could, just add a quart of engine oil with every fill up.<br><br>Or some of the snake oil fuel additives that lubricate. :-X<br><br><br>phox

 

After posting the topic, I went on a little biodiesel search. I found this site. I found it very interesting. It may not be very practical yet but it makes for some interesting reading.

 

Lots of info. Looks pretty scary though. I wonder how long an engine would last with that. Has anyone tried it?

 

I did some research on this last year and found that the typical biodiesel fuel was a 80%dino/20% biodiesel mix. The biodiesel has a little less btu content, so I couldn't get the company to switch over (6 4300hp Alcos emergency generators with tankage barely adaquate), and lost interest. Still a little more expensive than dino diesel, but is starting to become available in S.F. and L.A.<br>It's possible to make your own but I'm not up to it. Would look pretty hard at the VP44 specs. Greg

 

I saw a Shell station in Portland OR advertising Bio-diesel for $1.759 per gallon. Regular diesel is running about 35 to 40 cents cheaper depending on where you go. <br>Bob

 

Farmers are using it around here...... Eastern Va.

 

[quote author=phox_mulder link=board=8;threadid=5566;start=0#49623 date=1034041743]<br>If it's just the fact that the VP44 needs lubrication.<br>You should be able to run a 24V on anything the 12V could, just add a quart of engine oil with every fill up.<br><br>Or some of the snake oil fuel additives that lubricate. :-X<br><br><br>phox<br>[/quote]<br>As a matter of fact, I've read that some guys are doing just that, adding a quart of synthetic, low ash, 2 cycle motor oil at each fill-up.<br><br>-Tom-

 

Over here biodiesel is a tad cheaper than regular. I use up to 80% bio in summer, up to 60% in winter. Due to higher cetane numbers you have to retard timing a bit. Due to the higher lubricity and the higher viscosity of bio the VP44 runs almost silent. You have to up fuel pressure to achieve a good filling of the pump element at WOT at high RPM.
I've been driving the RAM for about 50k miles on these mixtures.

Warning- there is almost no possibility to produuce black smoke if you have a high % of bio. EGTs are actually lower if you have the timing set right. Fuel consumption is a tad higher ( lower energy content)

Edit- the smell depends on what is used to produce the biodiesel- If its used cooking oil you smell the steaks, fries or whatever. If new plant oils are used the smell is less than on regular diesel.


HTH
AlpineRAM

 

used cooking oil. dam, i wouldn't mind it smelling like steak and lobster . only problem here in the granola state is some freak in san francisco would be trying to drink it .