Can biodiesel go into an ordinary diesel engine?

Answer 1

not all of them, before 1994 organic rubber fuel lines and seals were used.biodiesel tends to erode these.1995 and up synthetic rubber is used and there is no problems.

Answer 2

The definite answer is: it depends what model of car you have! Some conventional diesel car models (mostly the VW Group, including Audi, Seat and Skoda) have been certified to run on biodiesel, although that does not mean that others will not.

The Wikipedia site includes a fairly balanced discussion on the subject and includes a list of which Volkswagen models have been certified.

The best sources for information must be German, as they are the leaders on biodiesel. Figures from the European Biodiesel Board show 2005 production in '000 tonnes as follows: Germany 1669, France 492, Italy 396, Rest of Europe 627. The German web site biodiesel.de has technical information in English (click on the Union Jack on their home page) and a database of which models have been certified by manufacturers to run on biodiesel. This database is in German only but a non-German speaker should be able to cope with it (click on Fahrzeugfreigaben and then select the car brand you are interested in).

In my links below, I also give a British web site, but I should warn that their statement that all VW Group diesel cars built between 1996 and 2004 have been certified for use on biodiesel made from rapeseed is almost certainly wrong. The German site gives a detailed list, and it is most models but not all. I included this link, however, because another poster may quote it without the warning, and the site is useful as an information source on where to buy biodiesel in UK.

I work in Germany and drive an Audi A4, and before that had a VW Passat. I have used biodiesel in both, but not always (simply because I can sometimes buy regular diesel in the Netherlands cheaper than biodiesel in Germany). I drive over 1000km each week, and pretty much the same route each week, so I am well placed to judge any difference from different fuel. Some drivers report a marginally lower fuel economy with biodiesel, but I find no difference. Some drivers report lower performance when pushing a car hard, but I never drive at high speeds (even though perfectly legal here!) for the sake of fuel economy. I have never experienced any problems from using biodiesel, nor has my colleague who uses it all the time in his VW Passat.

Answer 3

Yes it can, on older cars with no modifications, newer models may need some tweaking but in theory they should have no problems.
Bio-diesel is altered veg oil(not sure of the process) but it removes the glycerine element and allows it to be used as the sole fuel. You can use use old(or new) veg oil directly, providing it has been filtered. As this still has the glycerine part in you must run the vehicle as a dual fuel vehicle, start it with diesel and let it reach normal operating temp, switch over to the oil then before switching off return to diesel to flush the system through. This is to stop the oil coagulating and blocking pump/injectors.
You would also achieve far better results by rerouting the fuel lines(for the veg oil system) through the radiator hose, this preheats the oil and allows better combustion. This is regardless of the weather, we ran 2 Land Rovers in Africa on Veg oil and still preheated the oil.
Although there may not be huge cost saving on Biodiesel, or even straight veg oil, over diesel the environmental impact is significantly reduced - surely a good thing. Also has the benefit of putting less money in the pockets of the major oil companies!!

Answer 4

It depends on the definition of "biodiesel".

Most biodiesel sold on the forecourts is only 5% bio-fuel, and 95% fossil-fuel. This is the limit specified by many car manufacturers, so any car should be safe with this mixture, provided the fuel meets the relevant EN standard (should be stated on the pump).

If the fuel does not meet the EN standard, or has a higher percentage of biofuel, it could cause damage to your engine - check with the manufacturer or your car, or do a web-search for forums of biodiesel users - someone else may have already run a car like yours for an extended time on biofuel.

Answer 5

the thing about diesel engines is, they are not build to burn diesel fuel but vegetable oils. diesel was the name of the engineer. hence the name diesel fuel. but it's wrong. the big oil companies saw their profit swim away by the (then) new invention of the diesel engine. today we face a small oil crisis and pollution. so now they want to go back and tell you about bio diesel. after that, its the old oil from your fryer. like it should have been in the first place. but to answer your question, what car, model, year is it? or go to your local garage. in most cases it's only a change of injectors.

Answer 6

Yes. and a little FYI. bio-diesel is chemically altered vegtable oil. it removes the glycerines from the oil. A vehicle that runs on straight vegtable oil is mechanically altered to be able to handle the veg. oil.
Diesel engines are ment to burn diesel. it is a petroleum distillate formed in the refining of crude oil. Vegtable oil is from vegtables. a diesel will burn it but it runs into potential problems with glycerine build up and is more suseptible to gelling in cold weather. An engine that runs on pure veg. oil also has to have a diesel backup to flush the fuel lines for the next start up, especially in cold climates.

Answer 7

Depends on how cold it is my son does 50/50 diesel/cooking oil but 70/30 in winter been doing it for nearly 2 years, and it's not agianst the law now (uk) that is.

Answer 8

pretty much my farther in law has been running his VW caddy on cooking oil and diesel 50/50 mix for about 8 years he bought it as an ex demonstration vehicle with 2000 miles on the clock it now has about 189,000miles with no problems at all just regular servicing of oil, air and diesel filters hes still using the original injectors after all those miles too

Answer 9

hi.
i feed my diesel astra new vegetable oil and it seems to run fine does more miles and the exhaust fumes smell better. it smells of cod and chips. lovely smell.
bio diesel will work on diesel engines but they were originally designed to run on oil.

Answer 10

"Dirty Jobs" on the discovery channel had a segment on a gentleman that made his own bio-diesel fuel, but I can't remember if he made any modification's to the engine.
You could probably get the episode @ www.discoverychannel.com/dirtyjobs.