Volvo Owners Club Forum - General

Volvo Owners Club Forum (https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/index.php)

- Diesel Engines (https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=113)

- - General Volvos and chip fat (https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=45405)

Still looking for the original article I saw but found this on a page...

Quote:

Mixing fuels
Myth: Mix it with diesel fuel or kerosene, then just put it in and go.

Examples:

"I've been running a vegoil/diesel mix, 50/50 winter 70/30 summer."

"I'm running on about 50% petro-diesel to 50% veg-oil, no problems!"

"I use 90% WVO and 10% kerosene as my standard summer fuel."
Responses from seasoned SVO users:

"Your cold starts will begin to deteriorate, your filter will probably start plugging, your injectors will get coked up, setting the stage for ring sticking, glazing of the cylinder walls, increased lube oil consumption and eventual engine failure -- if you can continue to get the thing started in the morning. More than 20% or so veg-oil in the diesel is not a good plan for more than short term 'experiments'."

"Mixing veg-oil and diesel isn't advisable unless you heat all the fuel."
We've said much the same: "You'll need what amounts to an SVO system with fuel pre-heating anyway."

I found this article which has some comparisons between SOV and diesel but is very long.....

http://www.biomatnet.org/secure/Fair/F484.htm

Here's a brief rundown......

Quote:

That's double the temperature the two-tank SVO systems use. At only 70-80 deg C. veg-oil is still much more viscous than petro-diesel -- six times more viscous in the case of rapeseed oil (canola),

Roy

well all i can say/repeat is i have found NO and i mean NO problems running on a VO/PD mix in a vehicle where the pump was 'supposed' to be TOTALLY unsuitable - mixes varying from 50/50 to 80/20. and to repeat there is theory and there is practice and here (in my experience) the practice does not appear to support the theory. The D24T is a bigger version of the Golf engine which has megga miles on VO so i cant see any reason why the D25T VW/Volvo engine is not a GOOD candidate for running VO.

regards

I topped 9,000 miles on 50/50 SVO/diesel this week, with no problems -other than of my own making!. All I can say is that it wont start on 90/10 SVO/Unleaded in winter time.
I should have the twin tank solution installed and commissioned within two weeks, I just need to obtain a small marine tank to go in the boot and plumb that in. The wiring and control valve is in place. Mainly I need to wait for a few days of dry weather to allow the puddle in the driveway to dry out as I don't fancy laying in it as I run the pipework under the car!

Regards

TFB

Quote:

Originally Posted by DLM48 (Post 349990)

The mega milage cars are with coverted Golf's though David. The test results I've seen show problems appearing when the miles start to build up to around a 100,000 miles. With the savings available, due to the tax break now, it may be economicly viable to wear an engine out early and replace it, but my concern is that people will write their Volvo off if the engine needs a major rebuild or replacement, and a lot of good Volvos will end up on the scrap heap.

Have you stripped your engine down to see if everything is OK and staying nice an clean inside?

Roy

If I could get 100,000 miles out of the car I would be extremely happy. In that time there are a hell of a lot of other things that could go wrong with it with a repair cost that would exceed exceed the replacement cost.

Regards
TFB

Yippee!

Finally got the time and the weather to complete (to a working state) the twin fitting this afternoon.

Things still to do

1) put some food dye in one tank to see how long the pump takes to purge ( I have fitted a clear disposable filter in the return from the pump so I can tell by the fuel colour when it has purged)

2) tidy up the hoses going to the aux tank in the boot

3) tidy up some of the wiring in the engine bay

4) take some photos and post them on here

Regards

TFB

Some pic's of the installation attached

The hardest part of the installation (not including getting the time to do it) was finding places to physically mount the stuff to. I ended up using a length of 100mm cable tray to mount the heat exchanger, relay, din rail terminals, heated filter and 6 port valve.

The new fuel lines from the valve to the aux diesel tank run from the valve and are zip-tied to the existing fuel lines under the car and then come up through a grommet under the back seat where they then pass under the rear seat into the boot. I have left enough slack on them so that the aux tank can be lifted out of the boot for filling if required, although I can just open the boot, unscrew the cap and fill it from a pump in situ.

The aux tank is a bit bigger than I would have liked, but it offered the best shape/size combination I could find at the chandlers. There is a semi-transparent strip on the side to check the level, but I can't see the fuel behind it! so I'll just have to unscrew the cap and peek in.

I will try adding some food dye to the fuel to see how long it takes to purge the veg oil from the pump, at the moment I'm allowing about 1/2 a mile to purge at the end of the journey and it seems to work.

Future works

1) find a better way of securing the aux tank. It's fairly solid at the moment, but I wouldn't want it flying around in an accident.

2) add a buzzer, via the courtesy light to remind me if I haven't purged when I open the door.

3) add a low fuel level indicator to the aux tank.

4) wire up the light in the heated seat switch to give a visual indication when in purge or auto mode.

Regards

TFB