Diesel 4.49 per gallon here in Northern California. When my car is put back together I will be installing an SVO. Now is it better to buy a kit or do it yourself?
I plan on buying a kit just because it is already fabricated for my model and engine. You can build your own set up but it might take longer as you have to find a way to keep the oil hot. Old propane tanks work well for the secondary tank.
Here's another of my concerns: I plan on buying a Greasecar setup but it uses the engine coolant ot heat the WVO. Is this okay for the engine? Since your are tapping into the coolant wouldn't this disrupt the cooling cycle of the engine?
from what i've read there is no problem with the system being plugged in to the cooling system as long as the thermostat is good :wink:
Here's another of my concerns: I plan on buying a Greasecar setup but it uses the engine coolant ot heat the WVO. Is this okay for the engine? Since your are tapping into the coolant wouldn't this disrupt the cooling cycle of the engine?
the only draw back is it will take longer for your car to get wamer and defrost the winshield in the winter , due to the larger amount of liquid being heated , both coolant and veg oil ( which will continue to pull heat out of the cooling system till it reaches engine temp ) .
you may want to run a wamer thermostat , like going from a 180 to a 190 .
Say I just wanted to run diesel in the winter. I'm wondering if the coolant still makes its cycle to the veg oil tank whether using it or not. If not using veg oil it should shut off that artery and just use the regular system in my logic.
actually i'd leave the coolant running through it , it will keep corosion to a minimum .
the mid 70's dodge trucks used a system of being able to turn off the heater cores in the winter , so no coolant was circulated through them when the heater was turned off , the result is roting out the heater core much sooner than a system that let coolant pass through it all the time .
I plan on buying a kit just because it is already fabricated for my model and engine. You can build your own set up but it might take longer as you have to find a way to keep the oil hot. Old propane tanks work well for the secondary tank.
Here's another of my concerns: I plan on buying a Greasecar setup but it uses the engine coolant ot heat the WVO. Is this okay for the engine? Since your are tapping into the coolant wouldn't this disrupt the cooling cycle of the engine?
I too have been sitting on the fence on a WVO conversion (86 Jetta TD); but stumbled on special pricing that Elsbett is offering on their single tank VW MKII kits for $640 (+ $100 shipping) through July 15th (Mercedes are $100 more). This represents about a $500 discount, and I am thinking that now is the time to go ahead with this. Diesel is currently ranging from $4.89 to 5.15 per gallon and up in the SF Bay Area, Biodiesel is running around 5.25. The climate here is temperate, so I should be able to run a blend even during the winter.
Anyone here have experience with the Elsbett single tank conversion on a MKII TD engine? Please forgive me if this reads like an advertisement. I posted this temporary price because I think this is the least cost WVO conversion available at this time, and am looking for anecdotal input before I spend the money. I think this is cheaper than rolling my own, and Elsbett certainly has more expertise in this field than I am going to acquire myself.
In the long run I am considering a parking heater such as that made by Webasto to pre-heat the cooling system as I understand that a minimum engine temperature should be 70 degrees (for maximum engine life). These parking heaters are petro diesel powered remote controlled devices. I think that one of these will cost me a cool $1,000. But, it would be the ideal combination with a single tank WVO system. Total cost with an auxiliary petro diesel tank, Elsbett conversion, and Webasto parking heater, tank heater, line heater, should be under $2,000 if I do most of the work myself. When done, I should be able to run pure WVO all year round without having to think about it. I would also avoid having to install a large secondary tank in the trunk (the trunk is the reason I got the Jetta instead of a Golf)
Anybody out there have experience with the Webasto parking heater? Know of a wizard mechanic who can install one?
ARRRGGGHHH!
One day I will suss out the right way to use the quote thingy. :oops:
