Hi all,
Whilst driving back from Cornwall yesterday I experienced a total loss of power. Quite scary when you're doing 75mph !! Got the car over to the hard shoulder and tried to get the card restarted whilch it wouldn't...looked under the bonnet nothing going wrong there.
Went back into the car, and turned the engine over...after about 10-15 seconds as well as applying the accelerator the car came back to life, and i finshed the remaining 90 miles back to Stoke. This morning the car was just as hard to start as it had been on the hard shoulder
Ive been running on B100 since May in my Mk3 Golf. The fuel filer was replaced after 500 miles of B100 and I've done another 2,200 miles since. Could it be that the new filter is clogged up with more gump and needs replacing ? The cars now on 120,000 miles. I can't think of anything else it could be and I thought i'd check if anyone has any ideas before i order a fuel filter from GSF.
Thanks in advance,
Richard
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I would certainly try a new filter first...got to be one of the cheaper possible fixes so may as well start with that.
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You're not really supposed to use biodiesel neat, but rather in a mix with conventional diesel fuel. You may find that the biodiesel will be like vegetable soup if you take a sample from the tank, and if that's the case you may well be treating yourself to a pump and set of injectors too.....
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My VW Owners manual says not only can you use B100 RME, but they recommend you do if you can. Is your B100 to EN 14214 or is it something coocked up by local krusties to raise money for their squat? If it's decent stuff, you shouldn't have a proble, so probably a coincidence. plenty of them go wrong without seeing a drop of biodiesel.
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I agree...my manual says i can and its been fine so far My suppllier are all top quality (you can spot the crap stuff a mile off)....i think as the car has so much milage there was still some gunk in the fuel lines...has ordered a new filter (easy to install) so we'll see what happens
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Where do you buy your B100?
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As i live in Stoke-on-trent there is someone in Newcastle under lyme (87p per litre), and ive got some from a supplier in gloucestershire (90p per litre) on the may down to Cornwall...there are others as well...
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What's the details for the one in Cornwall? Off down there in a few weeks...
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I haven't been to any in cornwall, but there are some around as well as some in plymouth
www.biodieselfillingstations.co.uk/region01.htm
and one in plymouth
www.implosionresearch.com/cir2/ (phone ahead for this one)
cheers
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where do you get urs mss1tq ?
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where do you get urs mss1tw ?
I don't :o(
No where round here...
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You're not really supposed to use biodiesel neat, but rather in a mix with conventional diesel fuel. You may find that the biodiesel will be like vegetable soup if you take a sample from the tank,
Depends what car/ engine it is. Some cars are perfectly happy on 100% biodiesel, but at the moment though for some cars its up to the user to investigate what percentage biodiesel is suitable.
Why could the biodiesel be like vegetable soup? Sounds to me like you are confusing biodiesel with vegetable oil, or have you experienced this yourself?
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ok 1st check and most inportant is that your diesel fuel pump is bosch and not rota diesel[lucas]if it is lucas then stop biofuel immidiatly as they are not compatable for biofuel and damage internal metering valve[as i found out]2ndley fuel filter is suspect as you need a filter only to so many microns [do surch on internet] 3rdley do not run on pure oil[sunflower oil is recommended by bosch] but mix 50/50 hope this helps [Grandad]
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Thanks for the info but already covered;
1st - VW state in handbook i can use bio and its been working fine for 2500 miles ish
2nd - fuel is already filtered to about 1-2 microns already
3rd - wouldn't dream on running even 50-50 sunflower oil...its either bio or nothing !!!
the car has been working fine since...have a spare filer incase something similar happens again :)
cheers
Richard
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1st - VW state in handbook i can use bio and its been working fine for 2500 miles ish
Might want to double check how it's made - out of curiosity I looked in my SEAT manual and they state that RME (Rapeseed methyl ester) is OK, but don't mention anything else.
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RME is a type of Bio made from Rapeseed oil. All VAG cars mention RME and also mention the German standard for producing the stuff. Personally I'm confiden tthat the car s just as fine running on normal biodiesel (made from veg oil) rather than the RME (biodiesel made from Rapeseed oil). My supplier however is now making bio from virgin rapeseed oil pretty soon.
Since the incident the car's been running and starting fine.
Cheers
Richard
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'All VAG cars mention RME'. Not sure. Had an 06 plate Skoda Octavia diesel on rent last week. On the label inside the filler cap flap were the words 'NOT FOR BIODIESEL', in capitals.
JS
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When I said all VAG cars i missed the caveat that if the car was made after 2004 (I think) then they don't recommend anything other than diesel. If its VAG and between 1994 ish and 2004 then it will mention RME but not biodiesel.
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At between 87 and 90p a litre and with the considerable risk of injection system component damage, what are the benefits of biodiesel? The cost saving isn't great, compared to 'normal' diesel.
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groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words.....
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You can get it for less than half that price, 27p duty and whatever the oil and processing of it cost, which can be as little as 20p. As long is biodiesel is correctly made and the engine and fuel system is designed for it, it is better than diesel in terms of IP lubricity and less soot. Of course, with biodiesel being easy to make, every city has some treehugger cooperative making it in their squat and selling it.
www.veggies.org.uk/biodies.htm
I have also seen lots of websites selling biofuels with names like "Biopower 2000", these look just like old cooking oil mixed with paraffin and such-like.
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Without breaching the name and shame rules, having read the above I would *very* strongly recommend that the OP, or anyone else wishing to use biodiesel, ensures that they know the difference between biodiesel and "biofuels", and that any biodiesel blend they buy complies with the EN590 standard, and that any pure biodiesel they buy meets the EN14214 standard.
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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