RUNAWAY DIESEL!

[belchfire]

I finally got the diagnosis on mine with a parallel problem. Diesel fuel injection service (Portland, Or.) said that my pump was lunched. The drive shaft was worn and the bushings were toast. I now know that I had the timing belt way too tight not accounting for thermal expansion and wiped out the intermediate shaft as well. The fly weights were jammed and the charge relief valve was stuck. The head and the charge pump are gone also. Two main causes are grit & contaminants and low Ph. The grit & crud I attribute to the cheap-ass filters I got from Prothe. I got tired of changing the NAPA filters every other week at $16.00 a pop so bought 10 @$7.00 /ea.  I didn't have to change them as often and now I know why. The Ph is another matter. Apparently, my SVO is on the acidic side and has eaten up my pump. I'll need to do some research to see how to buffer it before I run it again. Just my $1000.00 experience.

[CRSMP5]

why IMO making bio costs less... for all your doing on filter time/seperation and such... to add in a stir it with some meth/lie... your done... but thats just me..

[ORCoaster]

It isn't so much adding the lye and stirring that makes WVO a better solution for us it is the removal of the glycerin waste product.  Sounds like he could use some pH testing on his system.  Maybe have to add some base to his product some how.  That is what the lye in your process does and you have to kind of figure that out with titration or at least multiple gradations of lye to get it to neutral.  I wonder if simple baking power would go into his oil without a fuss. 

Oh and the methanol is a kicker too.  Sometimes a little setup is more than space allows and going you method is just over the doable hump for some of us.  I would like to drive on fuel I don't really need to worry about the temperature, the parts that can plug filters and such but just can't work a full blown filter/cooking situation into the space in the apartment complex.  Sure as heck the neighbors would be calling the cops thinking I am making meth.  Yeah they'd read the label on the Methanol and come to that conclusion for sure.

[maxfax]

Veering a bit off topic, but foord for thought non the less..   I wonder if there is something about ULSD that causes issue with WVO..  When I burned WVO back in the early 00's I never saw the brown "schmutz" inside the pump, filters, or anywhere for that matter..  Nothing more than a slimy yellowish tinted film.. And I burned some pretty nasty looking oil through that thing for well over 100K..  My filtration and water separation was poor at best (sometimes none at all!)..  Pumps and injectors never failed, just the 11mm blocks and the bodies.. The last car I had I never noticed anything till the past few years..  Which so happens to be when the last station in the area started carrying ULSD.. Maybe veggie oil has changed too.. Dunno, to quote Peter Griffen "We're a gas family now"..

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

What happened to the op? He hasn't had much luck with that engine.

[belchfire]

I asked the diesel guy about going with Bio and he said that there can be Ph problems with that too. It all has to do with the way it's made. Supposedly there is a process that uses sulfuric acid that works with particular nasty oil and I'm sure that screws up the Ph too. The oil itself seems to be burning fairly cleanly and I haven't noticed any gummy residues in the combustion chamber. My guess is that the glycerine component just burns up with the rest of the fuel. From the beginning BIO just seemed to be more of a hassle than it was worth. With methanol costing around $7.00/gal Lye is hard to get now because the tweakers have ruined that too. I've read a lot of biodiesel posts about cloudy fuel and titration and washing and it seems that it's more of a miracle that something useful is made than a 1,2,3 process. Firing up on diesel and switching over when things get heated up is a lot more convenient and safer. Name brand filters will be used from now on. I'm going to ask my chemist daughter about buffering the Ph without making some weird salts or other nastys. This rebuild will be $900 if we can find used parts. A gas engine might be cheaper.

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

why IMO making bio costs less... for all your doing on filter time/seperation and such... to add in a stir it with some meth/lie... your done... but thats just me..

Wow you really make it sound so simple it sounds like a lie lol. I don't suppose you have ever actually made any? Just wondering. No insults intended.

[CRSMP5]

if you can make it in a dr pepper bottle it cannot be that hard...

he is filtering it in a way all he needs to do is add lie/meth in his last stage... stir it up.. let it sit... then the bottom turns to fatty acid.. orange in color.. vs the milky/yellow rest is.. on hottest months of year run the orange.. yes its acidic... so there is "no waste" mixed in with diesel..

the idea is using a pool acid tester to do the ph of the bio btw..

washing the bio is also a option and not required...

so yes for his 3 stage filtering tecnique.. adding one more step to me is not difficult.. find a place that makes windshield washer fluid (contains meth) and buy 5 gal at time.. last time i priced it it was about 1.50/gal.. but ill admit.. that was a few years ago.. and since ive collected 120 gal or wvo to convert.. done enough reserch on this.. just not built my temp outhouse to make it in.. do not wanna fumigate myself with meth fumes.. my garage is part of my central heat/air...

i tend to collect bio made up in the spring each year... so have not fallen back onto my stock pile.. save for rainy day.. this springs project involves 150 gal of bio, the materials to convert my 120 gal of wvo into bio, and cash for a 2 day car project.. in the end ill have ~300 gal of bio.. at worse 35mpg ive got 10,000 miles of bio to burn.. thats 2 seasons of car shows in the toaster.. normal around town for me is less then 30 gal a mo.. winter is 5 gal a mo.. LOL.. hate cold.. and lucky that work is 5 min walk

[sdwarf36]

Sorry for the lack of reply-last I checked the forum was down.
 The culprit was a bad barrel of oil. There WAS rust + crud in the pump. (My old pump looked good inside-so its a batch problem -not an VO in general problem.)
 What made the pump to zoom was the fuel pin? ( The small pin that rides on the ramp of the LDA pin.) It was stiff + not sliding freely.
I installed my old Atl. compensated pump-moved the vent fitting to below the the diaphram + a fitting giving boost above it. Works good-I actaully prefer its manners at around town traffic speeds. It will only make 8-10 psi boost with my foot down though.
 One thing I noticed-my gas pedal doesnt travel as far as with the Giles pump-I wonder if thats an adjustment thats was made to it-it seems the WOT stop screw IS backed out more on the Giles pump.
 Oh well-gives me an excuse to buy a ultrasonic cleaner now. 

"Let me know if your intent is the latter, I do not wanna waste my time posting a cleaning procedure if you're not going to do  it." --You mean like the waste of time when you call me at work at the machine shop to get info to give to another shop to do your cylinder head?? 

[theman53]

On the giles pump was the accel cable adjusted for it? I had to take about an inch so I could even get it to full over my other pump. I think it was just the brackets being different.

[745 turbogreasel]

Did the fuel filter fail?

I hope you cleaned your tank well

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

QUOTE:  "Sorry for the lack of reply-last I checked the forum was down.
 The culprit was a bad barrel of oil. There WAS rust + crud in the pump.  (My old pump looked good inside-so its a batch problem -not an VO in general problem.)
 What made the pump to zoom was the fuel pin? ( The small pin that rides on the ramp of the LDA pin.) It was stiff + not sliding freely.
I installed my old Atl. compensated pump-moved the vent fitting to below the the diaphram + a fitting giving boost above it. Works good-I actaully prefer its manners at around town traffic speeds. It will only make 8-10 psi boost with my foot down though.
 One thing I noticed-my gas pedal doesnt travel as far as with the Giles pump-I wonder if thats an adjustment thats was made to it-it seems the WOT stop screw IS backed out more on the Giles pump.
 Oh well-gives me an excuse to buy a ultrasonic cleaner now. 

"Let me know if your intent is the latter, I do not wanna waste my time posting a cleaning procedure if you're not going to do  it." --You mean like the waste of time when you call me at work at the machine shop to get info to give to another shop to do your cylinder head?? "




Since you pulled the pump, my cleaning procedure with the pump in the engine is not needed. You can do a much better job with an ultrasonic cleaner with a disassembled pump.

As for wasting your time I thought we discussed it and it was ok with you that I bring the head to a shop that also had the proper pressure testing equipment but was 25 miles away instead of the 100 miles and a $6 toll to your shop? Didn't know you were sore about that. That explains why you didn't return my pm.

Getting back on topic. Do you have any pics of the rust and schmutz? What went wrong with the batch? I think it is important for you and everyone who runs on wvo to understand what happened and hopefully prevent it from happening again. Schmutz is easily cleaned with solvent but rust is a much more serious issue and I am sure you know this.

You said you had your LDA screw backed all the way out, I believe that is maximum boost. Could backing that screw all the way out partially contribute to the run away by casuing that pin to stick? I have a turbo pump apart (that I am studying) and I see that pin you are talking about. It acts on the governor through a lever.