AltFuel Making the switch to Bio

[Paco]

I have finally used most of the diesel that was in my duel tanks and am ready to switch to Bio. Should I run it dry to start fresh? It seems like it would be a pain because of having to prime the fuel system to get it going. I know that there are different blends but is one better than the other? I am in Portland on the west coast so if anybody knows where I should go (or not go) I would be interested in your advice.

Thanks

Mike

 

[JohnnyBoy]

way 2 go, f##k oil companies.

 

[johncarron]

For what its worth, I have a knowledgeable friend with a JDM turboD in his old 4Runner who mixes them all the time. He brews his own bioD, but only runs a mix in winter.

Ditto on f**king the oil companies.

 

[o2bin4lo]

Going with Bio

Buy a bunch of fuel filters. the bio will clean the crud out of the tank!
Mixing Bio with dino is what makes this fuel so cool.
Brew it at home, buy the dino stuff only on long trips where you may not be able to get bio.
Check out the national biodiesel board and Andre at the
Utah Biodiesel webpage.

James

 

[fe sus]

paco-
there's no need to run the system completely dry... in fact you will most likely find running a blend of bio and dead dinosaurs is your best bet in all but the warments months/climes. i live up in seattle and am curretnly running a B75 blend that has yet to congeal even when the temps got down to 20F. ditto on fuel filters. personal preference is to get them from NAPA (they have the filter you need) and avoid FRAM.

 

[FL cruiser]

A filter suggestion: A Racor turbine serires marine filter setup like a model 500FH.
It has a clear bowl you can see the particles or water. It has a drain valve on the bottom. The turbine deflector at the bottom spins the particles to the bottom bowl.
Initial filter housing costs are high, but replacement elements are cheap $7 to $8.

 

[Paco]

Thanks all for the advice. I have one filter in reserve so I will either get more or look into the marine filter set-up. I am thinking about going to have my emissions tested before I change just to document the difference. I am not saying that I don't believe all the claims, but it would be nice to document the difference for myself.

Correct me if I am wrong, but it is the sulfur that is the lubricant in regular diesel? And with the bio, lubrication is not a problem so additives are not needed? I did see one post where a guy was putting additives in every tank for lubrication.

 

[M John Galt]

it is the sulfur that is the lubricant in regular diesel? And with the bio, lubrication is not a problem so additives are not needed?

North American diesel no longer has any significant amount of sulfur. Most refineries use a small percent of biofuel to meet the new ASTM fuel lubricity standards. Are you planning to use 100% biodiesel or a blend of diesel and biofuel? Up to 20% bio no modification is required. Above that percent, some 'rubber' components in the fuel system may swell and get soft. Toyota fuel filler spouts are one problem item. Above 20% the detergent properties of bio will quickly loosen crud that's built up for years. It's a good idea to add a small inline fuel filter like a Purolator PRO #806 ahead of the system filters to monitor fuel quality and catch big chunks.