vegetable oil mixed with diesel?

[jimcroce]

I've been driving my 92 Jetta Ecodiesel for near 25 year now since it was new. I've never run veggie oil in it but I have a 5 gallon jug of new canola oil and was wondering what would happen if I mixed it with the diesel and ran just in the hot months, as an experiment. I don't want to damage the injector or lines just to satisfy my curiosity. But I thought if it works maybe i could look for a source of used veggie oil to filter and burn. Is it worth the effort to find the dirty oil and then clean it? Will running w/o a conversion damage something and make this not worth the effort?

Anyone's experiences on this matter would be appreciated

Jim Croce

[ORCoaster]

Jim, 
You can pull the mask off the Lone Ranger but you don't mess around with veg oil!!  You gotta know some stuff.

First I really have to know, Why do this?  If it is new oil then there are better things to do with it, and it is a bit spendy.

But If you want you can throw about a gallon in with every 9 gallons of Diesel if you want to make it go away.

I have been doing that for all the old waste veg oil I had around the place since I no longer run long distances to and from Portland.

Sourcing out good waste oil is a hard thing to do.  Some folks just filter it to 10 microns.  Some filter to 2 microns.  Others spin out the water where others will try to boil it off in a waterheater or something like it.  I found a guy in the Portland area that made a business out of that collecting and filtering and he was real particular about his final product.  Even then he was only charging 2 bucks a gallon when diesel was up around 4 to 4.50.

Unless you have lots of time and space to dedicate to an area that will always smell like hot rotting oil in your backyard I wouldn't get into that business.  And running without a conversion as long it is warm now should not hurt your engine.  Be aware that it might make it run a little different as it will thicken up the  diesel and somewhat change the timing and injector noise. 

I ran veg oil for years, in a proper conversion system and have lately gone to getting rid of the last 9 gallons I had a little at a time. 

Good luck.

[thomas m]

I've had my 1991 NA Jetta Diesel for 25 years too. I wouldn't mess around too much and do damage to my "baby". Unless an emergency, I see no reason to run veggie in a non-modified engine......maybe a little to just try it out. But long term, not worth it in my opinion.

Keep that '92 running....the new ones are just too complicated. You've got an "oldie AND goodie" !!!!

STILL LOOKING FOR A RECOMMENDATION FOR A GOOD VW DIESEL BUILDER IN THE PORTLAND, OR AREA.

[libbydiesel]

Keep that '92 running....the new ones are just too complicated. You've got an "oldie AND goodie" !!!!

Bah.  An mTDI ALH is the pinnacle.  It's every bit as simple, new long blocks are still available, block is stronger, engine is a lot more efficient, more powerfuel, etc.... 

[vanbcguy]

Though if one were to be running veggie the IDI is a better choice...

Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk

[ORCoaster]

I love all the ads I see for Bio Diesel Ready or Veggie Oil compatible.  And all they are is a simple IDI engine in an old busted down Rabbit.  It still takes a second tank, heaters, hoses, filters and solenoids with proper switches, wires and fuses.  Not all that hard to do but I spent about a grand putting my system together and never did get the full payback out of it. 

Not because the price of fuel went down either.  I just got relocated and didn't have to drive the 450 miles a weekend any more.

Still have the second tank and was thinking just run regular diesel in it instead.  Now that it is only 40 cents over the 2 bucks I was spending for processed waste veg oil.

[jimcroce]

Thank You all for the input...my decision is that there is not enough benefits for me ,currently, to running veggie oil.  I like the idea of recycling used veggie oil (or anything) for cost savings or to simply be less reliant on the petroleum and/or other industry, however, diesel is not very expensive just now, and I don't commute long distances, so there is a bit too much effort and/or expensive involved to do this on just principle. I think I will keep my 92 eco running on just diesel (for now) and use my canola oil in recipes for homemade soap.

PS. Jim Croce is my real name, but I'm not related to the folk singer on the early 70s.
;-)