WVO in extreme cold

Anyone out there use a 2 tank WVO system in very cold winters? Like MN, Dakotas, Canadian Prairies? I'm talking lows down to -40 C a few times a year.



I'm assuming the WVO lines will usually gel overnight... does the coolant circulation system ungel it enough to run WVO without clogging the filter? Would you have to strap the coolant and WVO lines together and maybe wrap them together with pipe insulation so that the heat from coolant will ungel the lines between the tank and engine? Would that even be enough? I'm new to this kind of winter so I don't have much intuition about how things behave when it gets that cold!



If anyone out there has practical experience with this climate and setup, I'd love to hear it. I've got a couple of salvaged Plantdrive kits I'd like to put to use.

Yes, you need the coolant lines to be wrapped with the WVO lines, unless you use electric heating elements to warm the WVO lines. Might even take a combination of both at those low of temps. Also, since a diesel engine takes much longer to warm up in cold weather, it's possible that the WVO lines never liquefy enough to be used for shorter trips around town.

No personal experience with WVO, but I've read this forum for a very long time.

Oh yeah, heat elements or heat tape might be a good idea too.


I installed a Frostheater a few weeks ago, pleasantly surprised by how quickly it heats up the coolant, so that would give a good head start.

I’m not sure how the Plantdrive kit is set up. I had Greasecar kits, which have the fuel line inside the coolant line. It’s a clever idea, and works very well. I live in CT (lowest temps 0 F) but frequently travelled to Vermont and New Hampshire, where I’d see temps as low as 30 below F). The system worked just fine no matter how cold. As soon as the engine was up to normal temperature, the oil was warm enough to flow and I could switch.

In the Greasecar kit, the fuel filter is wrapped in copper coolant line. I added insulation over the filter, and also had a Vegtherm, an electric in line fuel heater. I never had any temperature related WVO problems. In fact, I had more trouble with diesel in the cold.

You do want to purge the lines really, really well when it is very cold.

Thanks! Plantdrive kits (or at least the installations that I salvaged my parts out of, one out of a 91 Jetta, another an 89 Delica) just use regular hose. Checked out the Greasecar website but they don't seem to have the fuel-line-inside-coolant-line in their product listing. Is there a product out there ready made or do you have to DIY?

The sets I've got each have an in-tank heat exchanger, a heated filter mount (w/ a cozy for the filter), and finally an in-line heater just before the IP. So I'm mostly just worried about the long run under the car, and getting that flowing.

Greasecar was the only ready made product I’m aware of. I’m not even sure how much they are in business anymore.

I found this, which gives a pretty good description of what it is and how to make it:

https://www.instructables.com/id/heated-hose-in-hose-for-veggie-oil-conversions/


Greasecar used pex, and it worked fine, but I suppose the aluminum in the link is even better. But pex is really inexpensive, and easy to work with.

I would put a full winter front on the car and block the intercooler as well for notably faster warm up time and higher coolant temps.

fizrat scampy said:

Thanks! Plantdrive kits (or at least the installations that I salvaged my parts out of, one out of a 91 Jetta, another an 89 Delica) just use regular hose. Checked out the Greasecar website but they don't seem to have the fuel-line-inside-coolant-line in their product listing. Is there a product out there ready made or do you have to DIY?
The sets I've got each have an in-tank heat exchanger, a heated filter mount (w/ a cozy for the filter), and finally an in-line heater just before the IP. So I'm mostly just worried about the long run under the car, and getting that flowing.

Click to expand...

I have a Greasecar kit in my 06 Jetta TDI. Greasecar doesnt sell the fuel-line inside the coolant hoses. They are sold separately in the kit. When you begin the install, you'll have to insert the fuel-line into the coolant lines yourself. It's basically plex tubing that gets inserted into the coolant lines.

on the other side of things, motor/hydraulic oil works beautifully in the extreme cold
just use closer to 40% gasoline to thin it rather than the usual 25%

No wax in lube oil, so it doesn't gel or cloud.

I ran this rig on 100% filtered veggie oil in -20F temps no problem. The only issue was an extra long warm up time.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=361123