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| Eagle_97 Date registered: Dec 1899 Location: Vehicle(s): | Question of fuel options Hi, folks. Signed up today and already have learned a lot here before doing so. Forgive me if I should be at a different forum with this question, just redirect me. Our family vehicle is an '89 250GD, no turbo. First MB I've ever owned but we have loved it for the past 7yrs. (My 16yr old is asking me to never part with it except to him!) I'm interested in the bio fuel options but don't have access to good info here and not a lot of time for surfing the web. Here's your chance to bombard me for a few days with your thoughts & referrals. Please consider the following: 1) At current exchange rates diesel equates to $1.31/liter, or about 4.90/gal. I can buy stuff that is 10% cheaper but economy & power drop by at least as much, so I prefer the imported fuel. 2) No bio producers here, per se, but I can purchase commercial corn or sunflower oil for a little less than diesel. Used frying oils would be plentiful and almost certainly free, but also very possibly mixed. (Soy, canola, and rape are not available. Olive oil costs too much to be an option.) 3) Current temps 65/45F, though we may get as low as 15F for a few days in winter. Summer temps reach 105/80. Humidity 45-80% year round. 4) My driving is typically in short runs, 12km or less, totalling roughly 100-150/avg week. I'll be most appreciative of all thoughts on this in the next few days, then might try a mix on a 350km (220mi) road trip coming up. I have trips like this from 1-3 times/month. Thanks in advance. Stan | ||
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| dai Expert Date registered: Apr 2006 Location: Oregon USA Vehicle(s): 300GD 300TD BMW R100RS Landini 80F Posts: 2110  | Re: Question of fuel options I'll take a shot at it. I am new to alternative fuels. I bought SteveSmiths '83 300 TD Turbo set up with heaters for the filters as well as an inline final fuel heater. This is the same setup as he has in his 617A powered 300GD. With the heaters it is possible to run straight pure vegetable oils in our climate. At a 50% blend with diesel I was able to run without the final inline heater on in warm weather without any problems. These are oils sourced from cafe's that use pure oil not partially hydrogenated oils. Pure oil will not form a solid white layer on top when the temps drop. So as Craig from Plantdrive.com says, "What's good for your bod is good for your motor". (A loose paraphrase but close) So find oil that is pure frying oil-not hydrogenated and filter it down through 10 microns. I think you could run something like 15 to 20% blend and get away with no heat but you might want to use a vegtherm inline heater to make sure things are thin enough. That final inline heater is around $150 with the relay etc. to make it go. Corn or sunflower oils will work great. I have purchased Canola (rapeseed) oil and poured it directly in the tank, no need to filter the new oil. I hope that Steve will respond to your questions. It is getting very cold here (0 c) and I am running straight diesel until it warms up some. I want the motors to start! Best of luck, -Dai | ||
| #54309 - in reply to #54299 |
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hipine Date registered: Jul 2006 Location: US, CO, Bailey Vehicle(s): 460 1980 280GE w. 617A  | RE: Question of fuel options Hi Stan, Great to see you here. This is a good topic. But I'm not quite sure what your question might be exactly. I just re-read your post and I don't see a question mark at all. :) I think you might be trying to answer questions like, "Can I run straight sunflower or corn oil without any vehicle modifications, or what modifications would be required to do so in my climate?" Or maybe, "How much sunflower or corn oil can I mix with my diesel without vehicle modifications in my climate?" You'll find some pretty knowledgable people here, and their input is certainly worth having. But it also sounds like, with your "not much time to surf" comment that you'd like to be fairly efficient about gathering input. If so, I might turn you to another track by telling you first of all that there's nothing special about the 250GD motor as far as running vegetable oil. It's a normally aspirated MB diesel and as such, as close as they come to being DESIGNED to run on vegetable oils. So maybe you'd get better answers more quickly by going directly to the websites of companies that specialize in helping people run vegetable oils in diesel engines. http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/forum/index.php http://www.plantdrive.com/html/learn_more.html http://www.goldenfuelsystems.com/ http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_svo.html Good luck in your quest. I look forward to seeing more posts in this thread since I too am interested in running SVO in a cold climate. I think the PlantDrive folks are particularly good because their founder was originally doing these conversions on vehicles in central Canada where temperatures are even colder than mine (0F common enough). All the best, -Dave G. | ||
| #54349 - in reply to #54299 |
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| CEOG Veteran Date registered: Apr 2006 Location: Seattle Vehicle(s): 80 230G Posts: 110  | Re: Question of fuel options Go to http://www.frybrid.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5336 This site is very informative. I have a two tank system for my 85 300gd. We start up on bio or dino then when the second tank has warmed to 160 deg the second tank kicks in and we run on svo or wvo. The Waste Vegatable Oil is picked up for freem from several restaurants around town. I think Steve Smith is a great source for the single tank approach. I use the car to go skiing in the winter so for me the two tank system is ideal. For those that have a warmer climate I can see the benefits of a single tank system. The great thing is you have alot of options and way more advise than you need. I had to replace my lines and filters after my first tank of bio as it cleaned 20 years of dino reisue from the first tank. Other than that it has worked great. Good luck and I thank you for questions and I welcome you to a great forum. I for one have benefited greatly from others experience in the real world. Terrance Edited by CEOG 11/26/2006 1:03 PM | ||
| #54361 - in reply to #54299 |
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| Maxwell Smart Date registered: Dec 1899 Location: Vehicle(s): | Re: Question of fuel options Also check out the UK forums: http://gwoa.co.uk/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=37 | ||
| #54382 - in reply to #54299 |
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| Jonathan Joseph Expert Date registered: Oct 2006 Location: Charleston, South Carolina Vehicle(s): 2004 G55 Posts: 1538  | RE: Question of fuel options Can you guys post some pictures of your two tank installs? Also post specs as to tank volume and origin of system if any....I've looked at alot of bio and WVO websites but it would be nice to see how it's being done in a G. Thanks | ||
| #54535 - in reply to #54299 |
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| CEOG Veteran Date registered: Apr 2006 Location: Seattle Vehicle(s): 80 230G Posts: 110 | Re: Question of fuel options Look up, http://www.frybrid.com/forum/showthread.php?t=602&highlight=300gd | ||
| #54536 - in reply to #54299 |
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| Eagle_97 Date registered: Dec 1899 Location: Vehicle(s): | Re: Question of fuel options I'm NOT a hit and run driver.... Thanks for the ideas, tips, etc so far. I've been a bit overwhelmed here with some family issues back in the States and trying to get a rear spring for the G-wagen. Will replace the pair with new when I've got the time and money to arrange the import but at least this will have me on the road. The links given in reply to my initial post lead also to many other great ones. I see the wisdom of devoting some time to gaining a more thorough understanding of the whole thing. Meanwhile, I'll take it a bit slow and easy, lest I become stranded on the road somwhere between butchers, as we often call the majority of mechanics here-- How would you feel walking into a shop and seeing your front wheel bearings being INSTALLED, not removed, with hammer and chisel?! Needless to say, I bought another new bearing and stayed to watch the installation! Thanks again, and I'll look forward to coming back as I can. Stan PS to Dai and Terrance: I'll be visiting family in your areas sometime after April, so maybe will send a pm to see if there's a chance we might meet up.... | ||
| #54620 - in reply to #54299 |
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