2 tank Veg Oil conversion problems

[watercharged]

Hello all,

First off, my car is a 2003 Jetta Wagon with 5spd manual, 350k miles, injector nozles, stage 2 malone tune, and a very recent timing belt/water pump job. It runs like a champ so I decided to put the Jeep Spring lift kit on it and some 28" BFG A/Ts on it. I love the car. But I'm having issues with my self-installed SVO kit. I have a Flat Plate heat exchanger before the fuel selector valve(s), a heated Veg Oil filter, Hose in Hose heater lines, and a heated aluminum veg tank in the rear

I bought the Frybrid kit a year ago for $400 and have been slowly trying to get it to work. The guy I bought it from said it worked great in his 02 ALH Golf before I bought it. This summer I was able to successfully drive around 300 miles on SVO (yes I'm using clean virgin oil that nothing has been cooked in that I bought for $1/gal on Craigslist). However, after 300 miles or so, when I switched back to diesel for shut down, the engine stopped running. Luckily, a friend helped me figure out that I could just switch back to Veg to get home and troubleshoot the problem further. And yes, I bypassed the diesel filter in order to fully purge the engine before it cooled down when I got home.

So, the only thing I could figure, was that I wasn't purging the system adequately, and therefore was sending some SVO through the stock diesel filter. I was using a 2 valve set up at this time. One valve for the feed line, and one for the return lines. I replaced the stock diesel filter, drove the car again, and even made sure to allow more time before switching the return valve to diesel upon purging before shutting the engine down. Low and behold, the same problem happened again.

Therefore, I figured that a looped return was worth a shot. So, I replaced the stock diesel filter again, made sure the car was running fine on diesel for a few days. Then, I deleted the return valve and put a T there instead. I kinked off the return lines on the stock diesel filter, so that it could only pull from the feed line. The car ran fine for a while with the looped return, but when i took it for a test drive, it died for a third time. Thankfully, I left the stock diesel lines available for reinstallation, and just went back to a completely stock set-up. It took some bleeding of air via the #3 injector and alot of cranking, but I got the car running and returned home defeated for the 3rd time.

I'm at a point where I'm about to give up. Seems like I'm not doing something right here. I've run WVO in a Mercedes 300TD years ago, and only had minor problems during thousands of miles running oil. The veg system seems to be working fine, its when I switch back to diesel that I'm having problems.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks-- Will

 

[philngrayce]

It does sounds like air in the line. I’m not sure exactly how you have it plumbed, but from memory the Greasecar kits, which worked well for me, had the vo return looped back into the supply, after the vegie filter. The diesel line remained mostly original, with the return to the tank. When you purged, you sent the diesel return back through the veggie filter to the veggie tank. If I recall correctly, we used three valves, the third one enabling the purge.

I’m a bit puzzled that your car would stall on diesel, when it ran fine prior to switching. The most likely scenario, it seems to me, would be a clamp or fitting not completely sealed, allowing air in while you are running on vo.

I say the Greasecar kits worked fine, but so did the Frybrid ones (The problem was the businessman, not the quality of his work.) I think they had a full return for the veggie oil, but that shouldn’t affect the diesel lines. It has been a while, so I may not have all the details of the plumbing correct. I may have a manual at home; you can probably find them on line too.

 

[Nevada_TDI]

My buddy put a Greasecar kit on his 2004 Jetta wagon, and after quite a while when he switched to WVO the engine would run a few minutes then die. The kit was still under warranty and the problem was in the controller. Greasecar replaced it all was well again. This was years ago and we have lost contact since then. I had a Greasecar kit on my Jetta and it threw a timing belt (not related) to WVO. When I sent the head to Franko6 he told me to start a savings fund for an eventual new engine as the fatty acids in the WVO were a real b!tch to burn off of the head so he could repair it. I stopped using WVO at that point. You are not using WVO so maybe it won't be an issue for you. Speaking from my expwerience (think Elmer Fudd ), sorry I couldn't resist. I would switch my setup to fully manual switches if I were you, that way if something goes amiss you will know where to go and look. BTW, I have a Greasecar kit that I will give to someone if they want to crawl under the car and remove the tubing and the WVO tank from the trunk, I have all the switches and solenoids already removed.

 

[Andyinchville1]

My buddy put a Greasecar kit on his 2004 Jetta wagon, and after quite a while when he switched to WVO the engine would run a few minutes then die. The kit was still under warranty and the problem was in the controller. Greasecar replaced it all was well again. This was years ago and we have lost contact since then. I had a Greasecar kit on my Jetta and it threw a timing belt (not related) to WVO. When I sent the head to Franko6 he told me to start a savings fund for an eventual new engine as the fatty acids in the WVO were a real b!tch to burn off of the head so he could repair it. I stopped using WVO at that point. You are not using WVO so maybe it won't be an issue for you. Speaking from my expwerience (think Elmer Fudd ), sorry I couldn't resist. I would switch my setup to fully manual switches if I were you, that way if something goes amiss you will know where to go and look. BTW, I have a Greasecar kit that I will give to someone if they want to crawl under the car and remove the tubing and the WVO tank from the trunk, I have all the switches and solenoids already removed.

HI,

I live a little ways from you but I am interested in the grease car kit especially the tank .... Anyway I could persuade you to sell it to me ?
I may not need all the lines but the tank / switches / solenoids would be great.

Thanks

Andrew

 

[Nevada_TDI]

HI,

I live a little ways from you but I am interested in the grease car kit especially the tank .... Anyway I could persuade you to sell it to me ?
I may not need all the lines but the tank / switches / solenoids would be great.

Thanks

Andrew

I am not being an a-hole here, but if crawl under the car to remove the tank myself, I will not give it away. I just noticed where you are, and this is the wrong time of year to drive across the U.S.

 

[Andyinchville1]

I am not being an a-hole here, but if crawl under the car to remove the tank myself, I will not give it away. I just noticed where you are, and this is the wrong time of year to drive across the U.S.

Hi

I meant if you took it off you could sell it to me meaning charge money and shipping ...

Could that be possible? How much?

If I were closer I would try to come out but I am literally across the country from you.

Sorry for the confusion but I would be interested in buying it if you would sell it at an agreed to price..

If you prefer not to take it out I could understand that too.

Thanks
Andrew

 

[Nevada_TDI]

I apologize, I misunderstood what you said. It is winter here already and to not beat my arms to death will require a lift. I will keep you in mind if I find somewhere that I can use their lift.

 

[Andyinchville1]

I apologize, I misunderstood what you said. It is winter here already and to not beat my arms to death will require a lift. I will keep you in mind if I find somewhere that I can use their lift.

Hi

Ok no problem.... keep me in mind.

Be safe

Thanks

Andrew

 

[blankenman]

Off the subject a little but I'm hooking up a heat exchanger to heat up some biodiesel in the tank. I assume hooking the coolant line between the oil cooler heater is the best place? Anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks so much for any info

 

[WooK]

It does sounds like air in the line. I’m not sure exactly how you have it plumbed, but from memory the Greasecar kits, which worked well for me, had the vo return looped back into the supply, after the vegie filter. The diesel line remained mostly original, with the return to the tank. When you purged, you sent the diesel return back through the veggie filter to the veggie tank. If I recall correctly, we used three valves, the third one enabling the purge.

I’m a bit puzzled that your car would stall on diesel, when it ran fine prior to switching. The most likely scenario, it seems to me, would be a clamp or fitting not completely sealed, allowing air in while you are running on vo.

I say the Greasecar kits worked fine, but so did the Frybrid ones (The problem was the businessman, not the quality of his work.) I think they had a full return for the veggie oil, but that shouldn’t affect the diesel lines. It has been a while, so I may not have all the details of the plumbing correct. I may have a manual at home; you can probably find them on line too.

Hey Phil! it's actually 2 3-way valves. one to enable the switch and the other for the purge.

Going back to the original post, you're getting air in somewhere. I have a Greasecar Kit in my 2006 Jetta and still running awesome! i still have the manuals with me so let me know if you need it.