AltFuel Veggie burner (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

crushers said:
she then said she would be willing to drive the land cruiser on WVO if it saved us significant amount of $$$ but not otherwise.

talk me into it or out of it guys.
Click to expand...

In all due respect, think carefully!! My wife almost disowned me when I tried to convince her to drive a WVO conversion like my 87 HJ60. :doh:Bottom line, is she prepared to deal with the potential roadside repairs of a plugged filter or air in the system? Unless she's really committed to the cause, you may be wiser to keep it simple. A fuel efficient diesel like a vw would still save a lot in fuel costs, and you can blend filtered/dewatered WVO with an IDI diesel up to 50% in warm temps with very little problems. (a lower % is recommended on the TDI I believe).

If you are going to have her drive a WVO conversion, I would suggest at least make sure you're the daily driver on the conversion and work out the bugs before you hand it over to her.

That's just my humble opinion from my humbling experience. I'm still married, and at least I'm still driving on WVO. ;)
 
Thanks Veggie,
I have to thank you for an honest response. I gave this to the wife to read and she said the same thing.
bottom line, her response was "all we can do is try it and see". she is an adventurous soul.
i think i want to try the winter beater first so the PZJ78 will get a conversion started in the spring. I will take a look for the location for a second tank, maybe i can use the factory tank out of a pickup or troopy?? will have to see.
Cheers
veggieguy said:
In all due respect, think carefully!! My wife almost disowned me when I tried to convince her to drive a WVO conversion like my 87 HJ60. :doh:Bottom line, is she prepared to deal with the potential roadside repairs of a plugged filter or air in the system? Unless she's really committed to the cause, you may be wiser to keep it simple. A fuel efficient diesel like a vw would still save a lot in fuel costs, and you can blend filtered/dewatered WVO with an IDI diesel up to 50% in warm temps with very little problems. (a lower % is recommended on the TDI I believe).

If you are going to have her drive a WVO conversion, I would suggest at least make sure you're the daily driver on the conversion and work out the bugs before you hand it over to her.

That's just my humble opinion from my humbling experience. I'm still married, and at least I'm still driving on WVO. ;)
Click to expand...
 
so. time to do more research.
anyone have a link to a complete installed system in a land cruiser wagon with the tank OUTSIDE the body?
or
a link to a really clean install that is working smoothly?

thanks guys.
 
I drive about 3500 km a month in my hjz77 on veggie oil and spend about $100-$130 a month on diesel and about 4 hours a month cleaning oil. For me its worth it. The more money I save the more I have to buy my next cruiser.
 
Prairie, can you explain what setup you are using on your truck - ie separate tanks, filters, heaters, etc etc. and what are you doing to filter?

Any issues with your engine?

Thanks!
 
user friendly options

Hi Wayne,
For sure running grease is not for everyone. I've had my rig apart 50 times in one way or another. Either from stupidity or from just learning as you go. I've bled injectors many many times roadside.
Greasecar does offer a couple options that make it more friendly for those that don't pull wrenches though:

Greasecar Vacuum Gauge | Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems
&
Greasecar "Co-Pilot" computer controller | Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems

these help with daily issues of driving SVO. I've found the greasecar guys are ok but they're running a business mostly selling products and are not that great at tech support in my opinion. In your case with your experience you have the background to need those guys minimally for tech. support. You could build your rig and test all the bugs out yourself before handing it over for the Mrs.
You'll want to anyway once you get into it.

SVO is dirty there's no question. I drag 110L with me in 2 55L jugs for roadside fueling on my way to the coast and back. No matter what over time the back of my 40 has a thin film of grease everywhere no matter how much wiping, gloves etc. An outside tank could be part of a solution but svo is inherently dirty.
In the end though it's almost free fuel and it allows me to surf more as a result so it's worth it to me. Besides, it feels great to make your own fuel with someone elses waste and thumb your nose at the big oil system as fuel costs continue to rise.
A guy like you could do it quite easily I'd say. Before I started I'd never worked on anything and had no tools! I've since stuck a turbo on my 3B, it runs SVO and I apparently liked it so much I bought a diesel 60 as well.
I guess I'm masochistic but I sure dig the simplicity of an old diesel.

best
aaron
 
Thanks Arron, i am still thinking this over
and
trying to find free fuel here is a bugger, some company from the city has scored all the sources witha contract.
 
The SVO problems and challenges posted here are typical. Because there was no practical space for a 2nd tank on my BJ74 I decided to go the simpler and significantly less expensive route of fuel blends instead. That was over four years ago and I wouldn't do it any differently today.

The fuel system was clean to begin with and the back of the truck has stayed clean as well. I've had no real problems. I just have to remember to drain all the Summer fuel that contains fats and PHO out before it gets cold in the Fall and they clog the intake screen in the tank. I mix all the components of my fuel together before it goes through the final 5µ process filter and into the vehicle tank. If the mix is thin enough to easily hand crank through the 5µ filter then it's the right viscosity for that operating temperature. My truck has a FPHE just before the fuel filter and IP, everything upstream of that is unheated. I also always use plug-in preheating to bring the engine up to 'room temperature' before starting in the winter. Cold starts cause the most harmful engine deposits with any fuel mix.

I generally run a mix of 30% biodiesel, 15% VO, 5% petrol, and 50% ULSD and it's been working fine for years with no change in extremely clean exhaust emissions tests. In the winter I use less VO and more petrol. At $5.50 for diesel the fuel cost savings definitely merit the effort. More importantly it didn't cost thousands of dollars and the savings completely paid for the investment in a few months. I have no vested interest in one form of alternative fuel system over another. Do the research and make an informed choice for what works best in your specific situation.
 
Has anyone considered fabricating a WVO tank as part of a roof-top luggage rack? Would the fuel line be able to run through the roof support?
 
me, i would not want to have the COG modified by having the tank on the roof ... add to that the movement of the fluid as you go around a corner might be a bit ... unnerving.
 
I run a two tank system, hot fox heater in the veggie oil tank, on board feul filter and also veggiemax 12volt inline heater if needed. As far as filtering the oil most of the filtering is by letting the oil settle in the jugs I pick it up in. if I have time I heat it and run it through a centerfuge or a three filter system 25, 5 and then 1 micron filter and you are good to go. So far 45000 kms in the last year and no problems at all, other than running the filter to long and having to change it at the side of the road and if I don't have a filter I just pay for feul and run diesel. On average a tank of diesel will last me 2500kms the rest is wvo so it pays for itself fast. It's a plant drive system works great
 
arturo7 said:
Has anyone considered fabricating a WVO tank as part of a roof-top luggage rack? Would the fuel line be able to run through the roof support?
Click to expand...

I had a dual compartment tank fabricated and installed it in place of the stock tank. Also had to remove the spare tire. The veg side holds 120L and the diesel side holds 40L. The veg side has a home-made coolant heater coil built into it. I have a 2" diam. 3-way valve that I can switch to select which side to fill, both fill from the stock filler. I cut a 6" square hole in the floor to make it easy to access the valve. Works great!

Weled tank cost $500, $100 to coat the inside to prevent corrosion, $50 for the diverter valve and misc ABS fittings and hose.
 
arturo7 said:
Has anyone considered fabricating a WVO tank as part of a roof-top luggage rack? Would the fuel line be able to run through the roof support?
Click to expand...

Abitibi had his WVO tank on top of his roof. He has since built a custom 45L tank for ULSD mounted underneath and uses his OEM 95L tank for WVO.
 
metal

just look into what material is best for svo. Aluminum coated and regular steel are the choices. One will cause more tendency for polymerization and one less. When I did my rig I ended up coating the inside of the tank which turned out to be a time consuming process b/c the material might cause a reaction and sludge to build up in your tank. I forget which is the best material for svo but it wouldn't be hard to find.
 
me, i would not want to have the COG modified by having the tank on the roof ... add to that the movement of the fluid as you go around a corner might be a bit ... unnerving.
Click to expand...
been there, done that. Yes it is unnerving. I moved the tank down into the back. I'll still haul veggie on the roof rack in containers at the start of a long trip. It's OK driving through states that are flat, but by the time I hit the mountains, I want it gone.

Been running it over 10 years now. The first year or two it's more difficult, but gets easier as time goes by. During the first year after a series of unwanted roadside stops, my wife didn't even want to RIDE in the Cruiser for a long time. All is well now.

At first it can be a time consuming hobby, but gets better as you find consistent GOOD WVO sources and get better at filtering, transporting, storing, etc.
 
What about a 2-3 inch high custom built tank which fit on the floor in the back. It could be heated by a water line from the rear heater run through the tank. Fuel could be run through a diverter valve to the regular fuel line. This would keep the center of gravity low,and divert heat away from the engine in hot summer environments. Mike
 
I run a 6" deep tank that sits on the rear cargo floor. It sits between the wheel wells with 4" to spare, and it's about 6" from the rear seat back. Capacity is 36 gallons. A guesstimate would be that a 3" tank built to use all avail floor space would hold 20 to 25 gallons.

I took the lines off the floor heater and run them to a heat exchanger under the floorboard just in front of the spare tire. This works OK down to 45 degrees, but any colder it's hard to get the veggie from the tank to the heat exchanger.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom