Grease Car Log
Friday, April 04, 2008 (12:34:37) I just started getting in all the equipment to setup my VW & Chevy to run on WVO. This is not something I just woke up this morning and decided to do; I have been researching this for the past year. I was really scared of do any kind of damage to my vehicles. Now with all the research under my belt I think I am ready to take the leap. By no means do I think I am an expert, I know enough now to be dangerous.
I purchased a complete filtering system. So they tell me. I got this system at:
http://fryertofuel.hypermart.net/ These people made the purchase easy, just pick the system you need. Pay for it, and in 5 days it shows up at your house. So far so good, it’s nice. I will not be able to really know if works until I collect enough WVO to get it half full. If you don’t want to mess around with building your own this is the way to go. Just have your $900.00 bill ready.
I have started collecting the WVO from a small restaurant in town, they are very nice and on my way home. I get about 4 to 4 ½ gallons a week. This is just enough for me to start with, you don’t want to be getting so much you can’t store it all. You want to make sure that you are picking up the WVO in a timely manner. It is important to have a good relationship the restaurant(s) you are picking up from.
Now as for the Fuel System, I really thought that I would just build my own. There are a lot of people out there doing just that, and they are successful. After doing the research I made the decisions I did not want to start another hobby. I want this to just work. So I started looking for people that are selling the complete system. I found maybe 5 that looked good, but only 2 that really gave the information I needed to make a decision. The first one I found was
www.greasecar.com they have a good system in my opinion, but the second is the one I choose
www.frybrid.com. They have a higher quality system and their delivery time is only 4 weeks. That is mostly what I have read on their web page. At any rate I have order one for the VW. Now the one for the Chevy has been a real pain in the a**. After talking to Chris at Frybrid on the phone I found without a doubt that they do not make a under the bed fuel tank for my truck, I am going to have to get under it and figure it out from myself. Then with the drawings I give them they will custom make it. I am thinking NICE. After two of measuring, get the exhaust moved out of the way, measuring some more, and making a cardboard box model. I said forget it! After all that the tank I could fit under there would only hold about 15 gallons. For a truck that might get 13 MPG 15 gallons is just enough to bread and milk. So now I am putting two 17-gallon saddle tanks in the bed, I am trying to keep them out of the way center. They are just as wide as the finder wells in the bed. It will cost me more but, they will not eat up my bed and I can still get some decent range out of them.
So far the only issue I have had with frybrid is communication. They are hard to get a hold of, could be because they are very busy right now. If you want to call them, they only pick up the phone from 11 am to 2 pm Pacific Time. Something like that anyway.
Please, if you a question or input (good or bad). Ask me.
4/9/2009
Well today I had to cancelled my order to Frybrid for my VW kit. I hate it. Over all I think the kit is top of the line.
BUT, Customer Service is the worst! I have been trying to get a quote on my tanks for the K3500 and I have sent e-mail and left phone message for Chris to call me back. No joy! This has been going for about 3 weeks. If I had bought the system and had a problem. How long would it take to get my question answered. Maybe Never? Before I cancelled my order I sent an e-mail to Greasecar.com this morning. It's been 6 or 7 hours and I got a reply saying, "If you order that kit today, it will be in the mail in 4 or 5 DAYS. Fryboy's web page says you will not see your kit for 4 WEEKS.
So I will be ordering my K3500 & VW Kits from Greasecar.com today.
5/6/2008
I got my Kit for the VW today. It really looks good, I am still looking over everything and reading the installation instructions which look very complete.
I just finished watching the "Installation DVD" that comes with the kit. The video is great!
This make is very easy to understand what you need and how to install it. It really put my mind at ease.
5/9/2008
Last night I was filling my Fryer-to-fuel filtering system with oil. The 55 gal drum has a very nice 200 micron screen that snaps on the top of the barrel, you pour the oil thru it. I really like this system. So I start working on other things in the garage when I notice my Jack Russell licking the concrete under the valves on the drum. I know right then, I have a leak. Thinking its a fitting I start looking with a flashlight in one hand holding the dog by the tail with other, finely I realize that its not fittings its coming out of the top of a weld.
Just my luck! Does these happen to other people or is it just me? So I take a little video showing the leak. Knowing this is going to be huge problem getting it fixed. I mean this was the main reason I bought this one. I did not want to have to do any work and for sure no welding. My welds look like little macaroon's.
Well today at about 7:30 AM I send my video in an e-mail to Fryer-to-fuel telling about my problem. Not thinking to much about it, right at 11:20 a women (Sorry don't remember her name, I am not good with names) calls. She says, "We are sorry about your leak, this has never happened before. We are going to send you a new one free of charge and you can keep the one you have." You have no idea how happy that made me. So I should be making fuel next weekend.
Once again, customer service rules! I am telling you good customer will always make the difference in my book. I understand that things happen, but how you handle it will make all the difference.
5/20/2008 - 236,705 miles is the starting mileage for WVO.
Well, I drove to work 82 miles on WVO.
Everything worked like it was suppose to. I am very happy with my GreaseCar Kit, everything and more was in the kit to complete my installation. The Co-Pilot is an add on from GreaseCar, I like it. If you are thinking about getting one, I would suggest it. It's very handy if you like to know what is going on under the hood. Its nice to be able to have some control as well, by this I mean you can change some of the operation functions.
5/29/2008
So now I have been driving for a week on WVO. The change over from Diesel to WVO is seem less. I could not even tell that it had changed over and was running on WVO. I called GreaseCar to make sure I understood when the Co-Pilot was changing it over. The Co-Pilot makes it very simple, you just set the temp you want the system to change over to WVO and as soon as you reach that temperature it does it. The only thing you have to do is press a button and it start the purge and shows you a count down until its done purging. Then the screen says, "Diesel Safe". Then next time you start it up, you don't have to do anything. The process starts all over. It does have manual override functions too.
If you have not starting looking for WVO and you are sure that you are going to do this, you better start looking now. Most of the bigger restaurant have a service and will not be interested is helping you for free. The thing that has be working for me is finding people in the restaurant that are interested in what you are doing with your car. They can help you get in the door. Paying them what ever the service is paying them can go along way with the owner, and its still cheaper for you. I am not saying that you can't get it for free. I have one place that gives there WVO and I am grateful, but don't believe everything these people tell on the Internet on how easy it is to get FREE FUEL.
6/5/2008
I put about 800 miles on the car using WVO. Only had one problem that was my fault. I let the WVO get to low in the tank and sucked up some air in the line. Well the car did not like that at all, I thought I had a clogged filter but no. I put in a new filter and while I was looking that the oil that was in the old one I realized what had happened. The oil in the old one was very clean so I could not have been a clog. If this happens to you, it feels like you are tapping on the accelerator and makes the car jerky. Then the "Engine Light" will come on. Just switch over using the Purge Button and when you get home put more WVO in the tank and prime the filter. The Engine Light should go out about the 5th time you start the car.
6/25/2008 - 240,888 miles
All is well. I made an improvement in the temperature of my WVO by adding foam covers to the fuel lines in the engine compartment. Looks like I got about a 13 degree improvement. Not a big deal in the summer time but come this winter I am sure I will need it. Still working on getting my WVO filtering process down. Been through two filters in the car already. I would like to get at least 5,000 miles out of them. Speaking about filters I was able to cross reference that FF5166 Fleetguard with some others at AutoZone. Just ask them they will help you out.
When I get my filtration system worked out I will post what I found.
6/10/09 - 299,999 miles
Working great! Best filter I have found is the WIX. You can get them from Carquest for around $14. Its a CFI86472 for the VW and the Chevy is CFI86123. Been getting around 3,000 miles a filter in the VW.
2/5/10 - 315,543 miles
I have found a filter that last even longer then the WIX. You can get them from Advance Auto. Its a Purolator F50086, they cost about $9.50. I have been getting well over 5,000 miles per filter. Car has been running fine, cold weather has been cost a little more in Diesel. Takes longer for the car to warm up. This is normal.
3/31/2010 - 323,876 miles
Had to replace the Front Wheel Bearings. This is not hard, it just takes a lot of time. Got the bearings and rented the tools from
http://www.germanautoparts.com Very nice guys. You will have to call them to get on the list for the tool rental. Going to replace my MAF Sensor too, its going bad. Found one on eBay for $40.00 and I have been waiting for over a week for it to come in. This is NOT an OEM replacement so I will let you know how it works.
8/17/2010 - 335,000 miles
I have no problems to report with my GreaseCar.