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I know several people who do it. They have accounts at cash and carrys and buy in 25 litre drums. The stores must realise why their sales have gone up, but no-one seems to mind. Otherwise quite normal law-abiding people don't see anything wrong in defrauding Customs & Excise. They don't seem unduely fussed anyway - the chip shop smell is an easy giveaway.
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i know many people who do it as well but i wouldnt let any of them water my indoor plants while i was away ;)
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The Peugeot/Citroen XUD engine is a popular choice for this - but only if it is fitted with a Bosch mechanical injection pump - the veg oil dissolves the rubber seals of a Lucas pump.
I knew someone who did this successfully with an old BX - the engine actually ran quieter than it did with ordinary derv! Shame about the chip-shop smell from the exhaust though - not good if you happen to be in stationary traffic as plod walks past.
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BTW if I remember correctly the BX ran happily on up to 80% veg oil, but was a pain to start in very cold conditions.
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My reason for asking the original question had nothing whatsoever to do with avoiding fuel duty but to enquire about a possible solution to a problem with my car.
I've got a 1994 Vauxhall Astra 1.7DTL with a Bosch VE rotary pump, and for want of a better term it kangaroos. It does it as you accelerate, or as the engine becomes under load. This is not an uncommon problem on these models, but to try to cure it I've changed the injectors twice, fuel injector pipes, engine mountings, cleaned the EGR valve many times and blocked it off, cleaned the inlet manifold thoroughly, adjusted the fuel screw on the pump (½ turn max, and every subsequent adjustment has been within that ½ turn), used Millers fuel additive, checked and double checked pump timing with a dial gauge (0.8mm ± 0.1mm BTDC), and I still can't cure it. Some days it isn't too bad, others it's terrible, but it's always worse when the engine is under heavy load, and especially when it's cold. I always worry when it comes to MOT smoke test time too.
The compressions with checked about four years ago, and they were about 300psi on 1, 2 & 3, with No.4 slightly lower on about 280psi. I can't see this being enough to make a significant difference, and it always starts well from cold anyway.
I'm convinced it's to do with transfer pressure in the pump, but at 202,000 miles it's not really worth spending £400 to get the pump overhauled, especially if there's no guarantee it'll cure it. And in any case I'd de-coke the head at the same time if I did decide to have the pump done.
I wonder if I used cooking oil in say anything up to a 50/50 mix if it would increase transfer pressure and reduce this problem. The annoying thing is that if it would I'd be quite prepared to pay fuel duty on it.
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long post for a simple answer................pumps worn out ..........end of
and yes they all did this(every one ive had anyway) and it was dammed annoying
cant imagine a different fuel would cure a mechanical wear problem though
but stand to be put right by a diesel doctor?
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If it is a worn pump then I'd accept it, but it would be nice to know if it's curable by having it overhauled as it may be worth doing since there's the car's still in very good condition otherwise.
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Well, sounds like you have nothing to loose, give it a whirl, make sure you use the yellow rapeseed oil, not sunflower (that's one of the worst - very gummy)
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well i ruled out recon pumps on price and to be honest i,m going back a long time,ideally you want a pump off a low mileage scrapper or off a van that had the pump reconned but the driver walled it.
i always found them worst at 30mph in 4th..... once on the open road it was passable
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I actually know where there is one. It's a 1995 Astra van that's been rear ended. It's done 133,000 miles whereas mine's done 202,000. The bloke wants £50 for it, so I may take him up on it.
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Also there's a very good diesel fuel injection specialist not far from me who I used to take stuff to when I worked in a garage. He quoted me between £300 & £400 to overhaul and set it up depending on what it needs. My local Vauxhall dealer said he could do me a re-conditioned pump for £575.
It's a lot of money for a 12 year old car whatever way you look at it, and the cheapest way is to just live with it......
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Surely this is verboten in a land where everything is????
I dont think us British are ones to talk, at least the Germans dont constantly hound motorway drivers with speed cameras like we do in the UK...
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In Germany they have fixed cameras on motorways, and they are set up to catch tailgaters as well. We don't have any fixed cameras on our motorways SFAIK. Snoopy little vans on bridges - yes. Lots of things are verboten In germany, or very difficult. No lawnmowing on Sunday, unless you have a specially silenced mower, no hanging out washing, even out of sight in your own back garden. When I lived there I had 9 different recycling bins/boxes!
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Back to the original question, I used to add it to the diesel in my 405. I found that the engine seemed smoother and slightly more powerful. Generally I used to add between 3 and 6 litres to £30 worth of diesel. The more I added the more it smelled - just like burgers frying or chipshopish, naturally. Funnily enough I know someone that's adding it to his motor and it smells entirely different - his is more like doughnuts, same oil too. Shame you can't buy it with the duty already added, I'd do it for the enviromental benefits.
Steve.
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Xantia HDi.
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The smell from the exhaust is just as likely to be caused by duty-paid biodiesel - and I always find it infinitely more tolerable than the fumes from either of the main fossil fuels. Always found petrol exhausts particularly unpleasant.
--
andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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The smell from the exhaust is just as likely to be caused by duty-paid biodiesel - and I always find it infinitely more tolerable than the fumes from either of the main fossil fuels. Always found petrol exhausts particularly unpleasant.
I tried using Sunflower oil from Tesco, with a mix and neat.
It stinks like a burnt chip pan. I done it twice and no more.
Believe me it really smells.
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Sunflower oil is the worst you can use apart from dripping and lard :)
If you use it in a fryer, it would be full of varnish and gum and feel sticky if it drips down the bottle during storage - these are symptoms of an oil unsuitable for fuel .
Try rapeseed or soyabean.
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Would a '97 Passat Tdi be a suitable candidate for veg oil or would it wreck the injectors and cat?
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\"Nothing less than 8 cylinders will do\"
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I've said this before in a different thread, but I wouldn't ever put cooking oil into a car that's worth much. My choice would be a Pug106 with the 1.5D engine, or an old 205 with the 1.8D engine. Also, as mentioned, make sure it's got a Bosch injector system before buying it. I'd be dubious about using non-standard diesel in a turbo-charged engine, especially one with common-rail injection. I know that a Pug205 1.8D will run fine on a mix of diesel and rapeseed oil. Also, don't use sunflower oil, would be almost as useless as olive oil.
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>>We don't have any fixed cameras on our motorways SFAIK
On the M9 at junction 1 :(
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