"I have yet to find anyone on this forum running WVO in a tdi for more than 50,000 miles successfully. If anyone is here, please report back and let us know."
Ok, now, seriously, have you looked?
Cause if I haven't personally bragged here about being at 76,000 WVO miles
on a bi-weekly basis, I'd be amazed. You're not looking.
Tell me you never saw this link before:
http://ctbiodzl.freeshell.org/votdi.html
I just did a search on it and came up with 2211 hits here alone.
If you Google "WVO TDI" guess which link comes up first?
[and no, I haven't paid Google.]
I've provide links to half-a-dozen SVO or trucks cars with 200,000 + miles,
and an equal number of TDI's with 100,000+ miles.
I know of several who post here regularly, Chasee for one who has more miles that I do. Or memphis_tdi who has 50,000 ON BLEND.
Well, I did your work for you, maybe that was your intent.
"I was reading how elsbett recommends two tanks for wvo since it is more viscous"
I'm an Elsbett Servicepartner. Els. does not rec. two tanks for any reason, except where a single tank conversion
cannot be done. It does not even
sell d-t kits for older M-B's or TDI's older than 2004.
2212:
Drivers Log
First 1K miles. No driveability problems. It began to take 1 - 2 seconds of cranking to start, and there was a cloud of smoke at startup too. I now do 2 glow plug cycles and it starts quick w/o smoke. [Update: One g.p. cycle is enough. I was used to the 2-3 second instant on cycle time of stock TDI's. I now wait 10-15 seconds and it starts w/o smoke the first time.]
July 1st. LEAK! Just discovered my fuel pump is leaking wvo at the top cover. Damn. I'll attempt to seal it with a new seal made of Viton. Update. Security bolt socket on order from
www.metalnerd.com., as is a new top cover gasket from Bosch. Since many other BOSCH FIP's have failed the same way running on petro diesel, this may not be bd or wvo related. Once I see the gasket, I'll know more.
July 28th: Replaced another gasket in the fip. This one is where the main body joins the housing that contains the fuel shutoff solenoid and the 4 injector ports. It's a std O-ring, but was now a "D"-ring. It was flattened where it contacted the cylinder pump wall. I just removed the connector bracket and the bracket at he bottom that holds the timing adjustment screw on the right side of the fip ( as you face it from the front of the car). IWhile the pump is not leaking there are 6 other O-rings in the gasket kit, so they are probably shrunk too. You'll need a #25 or #27 Torx bit. Preferably mounted in a socket. And a 5 or 6mm hex bit, also mounted in a socket. Mark all positions of the bolts as you remove them as they are different lengths. Pull the housing out and it will slide off a shaft inside the fip. This shaft has a collar on it. The collar has a detent that holds a thin rod that descends from the top of the pump. Make sure that the rod is in the detent when re-assembling.
[Update: 11/05 A friend was not so lucky when removing his dist. head to replace this seal. Several small pieces fell out internally. The whole pump then had to be removed and the gasket replaced and re-assembled.
[Update: 5/06 - I just read online of another TDI owner with a f.i.p. leak that temporarily sealed it by adding in a bottle of "Transmission Stop-Leak". This transmission treatment swells seals, and apparantly can do the same to fuel system seals. IMO, faster reslults might be had by adding 1/2 a bottle directly to the fuel filter, and letting it idle for 5 minutes, then sit overnight.
I'll post pictures too. The top cover area has a gummy film that wouldn't come off easy with carburator cleaner. The cyclinder was clean w/o any corrosion or deposits. Cleanliness is important. I sprayed all parts off with carburator cleaner before re-assembly. The BOSCH gasket kit is p/n 2467-010-003. Try your local BOSCH service center. I ordered mine from H.G. Makelim Co. in San Francisco CA. 650-873-4757. They're very helpfull and know what they're doing. I'm running it on bd for the next 2 months. I have a new gasket soaking in a jar of wvo, to see if it shrinks. [Update: 11/05. Gasket ok after 2 1/2 years in wvo.] The car is running fine. Because I didn't move the main body, it doesn't need to be retimed.
Sept. 2 2004 - Experiencing occaisional power dips above 3,000 rpm. Replaced fuel filter, air filter and cleaned snow screen and MAF. The fuel filter had a little sediment and white flakes in the water trap, but NO water.
The air filter was dirty. Both filters had 20k miles. Cleaned the MAF with aerosol electonics cleaner from Radio-Shack. Flushed out some soot. Result: Hooray! Power is restored! Top speed of 95 m.p.h. That's better.
Oct. 2004 - No more problems with the fuel pump. The gasket half submerged in wvo has also not shrunk, so I believe the original gasket shrinking was not due to wvo use.
November 2004- Cold weather brought a new problem while running 100% wvo. When temps dropped into the upper 30*F's, the car could not go faster than 65 mph. The engine power would fade. Added 10% gasoline and 10% kerosene. Still had the problem on cold days. Added 10% biodiesel and no more problems running on the highway. However on mornings, the car won't go faster than 40 mph before it's fully warm for several minutes. It's time for the long delayed block heater. After installing a 1500 watt Zerostart 'tank heater' from J.C. Whitney, cold startups are no longer a problem. It's capable of warming the engine from 50*F to 180*F in 20 minutes.
November filtering - Cold temps's made the wvo too viscous to flow using my hand rotary pump and cartridge filter. Now filtering using filter bags into buckets. I use a 100 micron bag in side 1 micron 4" and 7" filter bags from mcmaster.com. WVO is siphoned from my 30 gallon wvo barrels. Flow is very slow, about one drop / second, but I can collect a gallon / day in two buckets.
March 22 2004 - One year aniversary of the start of the conversion. 10k miles so far, no problems. Still running 80/20 wvo/kerosene, although I did use 60/40 in January and February.
May 2004 - 11k miles. Running pure wvo now that temps are above 50*F. No leaks. Changed oil and fuel filter. Chugging along.
Sept 1. - 15k miles. No problems so far. I got a lot of water in this summers wvo due to the placement of the barrel under the restaurant's eaves and no gutter. So I let the tank go to 1/8th full and put in 10 gallons of biodiesel in the hope it's hydroscopic properties will absorb any free water. Oil level ok, not going up. Long term gasket soak in wvo still good too, the gasket is unchanged from a year ago. I also was filtering several gallons/day this summer to support my F-250 which is on loan and running on a 50/50 wvo/diesel blend w/o switching tanks.
Oct. 2004 - 17k miles. No problems.
Jan. 2005 - 19k miles. No problems. Burning 75% soybean/p. hydrog. soybean/canola with up to 5% gasoline, 10% kerosene and 5% naptha ( Coleman fuel ) . Started the car cold once at 40*F with barely a ruff idle.
Mar. 2005 - 20k miles. No problems. Running 10-20% kerosene as temps vary from 30*F down to 10*F. A report warning of gasket shrinkage due to ULSD from New Zealand is online. I think that's what happened to me and others who have used biodiesel or ULSD fuel. The new gasket is still unchanged after 18 months of sitting in a jar of wvo. I just found a lot of single-tank system in N. Europe online too. I'm confident it will work w/o coking and fip damage if I get the wvo up to Weihenstephan standards. I'm going to order an acid kit from BioCar and start de-watering the wvo.
May 2005 - 20k miles, no problems. Inspected the intake at the EGR valve. As clean as on B100 biodiesel.
Aug 2005 - 25k miles, no problems. A shop tested the fip injection quantity and it was in spec. I ran 520 miles, mostly at 65-75 mph with 3 adults and the A/C was on. I estimated about 40 mpg.
Oct 2005 - 28k miles, no problems. Had to replace the sacraficial filter after only two months. Also replaced the main filter after about 15k miles. I had a glow plug error and pulled the g.p.'s to check them. They looked normal, just a little blackened and some flecks of brown powder. No erosion of the tips. Also bought an IR thermometer. When fully warmed up, the fip surface read 135-140*F. So the vo inside is probably at 150*F, the minimum safe temp. for vo.
Jan 2006 - 31k miles, no problems.
Jan 16 2006 - A new driving style. Up to now I had always driven from home and pre-warmed the TDI before I left for errands. Now I'm working and commuting to a place where I can't plug the AC heater in and pre-warm the engine before I return home. So the fuel must be thin enough to a) not freeze when temps are below 10*F, and also is not too thick so that the fuel pump isn't damaged by fuel that is as too viscous. I'm guessing that if a WVO and kerosene blend had the same viscosity of B100 biodiesel, it would no be a problem to start it cold at 10*F. So I diluted the WVO with 30-40% kerosene. For two weeks it has been fine. No smoke at cold start, and it fires up instantly just as when it's pre-warmed. No problems or side effects from running 40% kerosene. Lubricity will be more than adequate. Studies have shown only 2% VO is needed to provide proper lubrication in un-additized petro diesel. And I have 60%.
Mar 2006 - 34k miles, no problems. Adding cetane booster exhibits more power above 3,000 RPM.
Mar 2006 - 35k miles. Suddenly lost power in the morning commute through Hartford. I quickly got in the breakdown lane, popped the hood and opened the valve on the spare fuel filter. Finished commute. I replaced the sacraficial filter that night. Next day it happened again. Same routine. This time I replaced the main fuel filter. I drained the filters and found small dark flecks/ particles in the fuel. Probably an algea bloom. I remembered filling with wvo that was cloudy, and not the usual clear , translucent brown. I got a bottle of diesel fuel bio-cide and added an ounce or two to each tank at refills. The third day, I had a different problem. The engine would stumble when revved above 3,000 RPM, or accelerated. I came home on the back roads. The problem was that the engine was sucking in air and this caused the sudden stumbleing. Once I got home I replaced the sacraficial filter again. I had mistakenly replaced it with a larger sized one, and this cracked the fuel line, allowing in air ( VW TDI's suck the fuel into the engine ). I had used a 3/8" filter instead of the the correct 5/16" inlet f.f.
Apr 2006 - 37k miles. No problems.
May 2006 - 38k miles. No problems.
July 2006 - 42k miles. No problems.
Aug 2006 - 44k miles. Replaced both fuel filters due to loss of power.
Sep 2006 - 47k miles. Replaced both fuel filters again due to loss of power. I noted that I had switched sock filters and was using a cheaper non-absolute 1 micron filter. I rembered seeing visible sediment in the filtered wvo, something I never saw before. So I believe the non-absolute filter caused the rapid fuel filter plugging. I have switched to virgin soy oil for the time being. When I go back to wvo, I'll double up the the non-absolute filters or use them as a pre-filter inside the old absolute rated filters. I also cleaned the MAF and snow screne and replaced the air filter. I did a top speed test and hit 92 m.p.h. up a slight hill. Same top speed as at 60k. miles before biodiesel or conversion
Oct 2006 - 49k miles. No problems.
Nov 2006 - 50k miles. No problems. 40*F now, running 20% ULSD
Dec 2006 - 51k miles. No problems. 40*F now, running 20% ULSD and plugging in the coolant heater at home and at work ( with a long extension cord ) for 30 minutes before startup.
Jan 2007 - 53k miles. No problems. 30*F now, running 25% ULSD pre-heating at work.
Feb 2007 - 55k miles. No problems. 30*F now, running 20% ULSD pre-heating at work.
Mar 2007 - 56k miles. Fuel almost jelled when I was running 80/20 and left the car outside and temp.'s fell to 8*F / -20*C. The car was plugged in and started ok, ran about 2 miles then the engine sputtered and died. Luckily I wsa able to coast to within 100 meters of a gas station, and got a helpfull push to the pump. I added 3 gallons of diesel. While waiting for it to thin the svo canola/soy/diesel blend, I manually pumped very thick fuel to the filter using the Elsbett priming pump. After 5 minutes of that, I tried to start the car, and surprisingly it started and ran fine. I continued to pump fuel for another couple minutes. The VW TDI recirculates warm injector fuel to the fuel filter. That helps prevent jelling. I drove on main streets past several gast stations for the next couple miles in case the engine had problems again. After 10 minutes of running I was confident it was fine and hopped on the highway at went to work. That unexpected cold period was too cold for 80/20. A safer ratio for temperatures that low would be 60/40 SVO/diesel.
Ap 2007 - 59k miles. No problems. Temps, above 35*F, running 100% VO, plugging in first to pre-warm to 70*F.
May 2007 - 61k miles. No problems.
June 2007 - 63k miles. No problems.
July 2007 - 65k miles. Poorly filtered WVO caused an early fuel filter replacement. No more cheap non-absolute filter socks for me. I'll double or triple the remaining ones up.
Aug 2007 - 66k miles. No problems.
Sept 2007 - 68k miles. No problems.
Oct 2007 - 70k miles. No problems.
Nov 2007 - 72k miles. No problems.
Dec 2007 - 74k miles. No problems.Running a blend of 86% soybean oil, 10% kerosene, and 4% gasoline when temps go below 18*F. Running 96% SVO and 4% gasoline otherwise with temps as low as 25*F.