why cant diesel cars/vans,etc use Biodiesel?

Question

I see on most modern diesels a warning not to use biodiesel- why is this? does it kill the engine?
ta.

It says in the manufacturers handbook not to use Biodiesel- who is right?
My car started to cut out when I used it.

Answer 1

Car manufacturers and fuel companies make a lot of money out of each other and it would do them no good if you went for the cheaper stuff.
Its no coincidence that cars are not much more fuel efficient now to what they were in an age of technology where they can easily get motors to do more than 100mpg

Answer 2

You can use it. Just some manufacturers aren't sure just how their engines will do on it and don't want you coming back to them with complaints. It does bung up the fuel filter on Ford cars quicker than most others.
Biodiesel is legal. All taxes have been paid on it. Biodiesel has been in use for over (at least) 70 years, usually under other fancy names. South Africa used sunflower oils in deisel vehicles in the 1970s when they were under oil embargo. A 'bio-diesel' was used by both the Russians and the Germans in WW2.

Answer 3

Biodiesel can be run in any conventional diesel engine...made after low sulfur diesel was introduced... only due to gasket/fuel system degradation..which is easily replaced. Biodiesel is a much better solvent than petrol. diesel, so at first, your going to be changing fuel filters frequently, until all the "junk" is cleaned out of your fuel system.
this might have been why your car was missing out..fuel filter clogging

I own a semi and have run biodiesel in it...makes it "purr" like a kitten. Smoother combustion is relaxing.

While biodiesel does produce fewer BTU's it is offset by greater lubrication...your total fuel economy loss should be no more than 2% to 3%..I personally realized no detectable deficit.

the only real concerns about biodiesel are gelling/cloud point in cold weather and fungus growth...both of which are easily remedied by fuel additives.

For more info., I recommend:
http://www.biodieselnow.com/

Just in case you didn't know..diesels do NOT use spark plugs..LOL

Answer 4

Aside from being too thick when cold, all the new automotive diesels cannot use straight vegetable oil as the older diesels can. The new diesels require a blended fuel, supposedly for lubrication from the petroleum mixture. Actually I think Big Oil got into the picture somewhere.

If an individual grows plants and makes his own fuel the government gets upset because he is avoiding taxes. They can't get his money. The taxes on the land and everything else he uses is not enough. Try making your own ethanol fuel and you wind up in jail even quicker. Build your own solar/bio-fuelled steam electric generator to provide your own electricity and when the government can't tax your electrical use, they will invent some unjust way to shut it down or force you to pay an unjust tax.

The main barrier to energy self-sufficiency and cheaper cleaner living is the government and its overpowering greed for taxes. Government should be rewarding people for being self-sufficient, not preventing them from doing for themselves. Try putting passive solar collectors, active solar generators, geo-thermal heating/cooling and earth-sheltered or underground houses almost anywhere and between the government and the banks [following the lead of government], you will not be allowed to and if allowed cannot borrow the money to do these things. Why? Because they would not be under governmental control or would reduce the amount of taxes collected. Should the money you earn and save belong to you or to some politician who just takes it with some new tax?

Answer 5

In a word: Lubricity. Biodiesel is a vastly superior lubricant, as compared with old high sulfur diesel. Mind you, the sulfur was there to be a lubricant. So ultra-low-sulfur has close to no lubricity whatsoever. To replace the lubricity of sulfur, Europe adds 5% biodiesel to 95% fossil diesel. This is sufficient to replace the lost lubricity from the loss of sulfur. If you go 10% or more biodiesel, you get much better lubricity than you had before. Think of it this way. What would you rather have lubricating your fuel injection pump? Alcohol from your medicine cabinet? Or Wesson oil from your kitchen? At railway museums, we have historic diesels. We are VERY worried about lubricity because it determines the life of systems we can no longer get parts for. If somebody came out with a fuel that vastly improved the life of those parts, I'd be all over it... But it's your call. If you just think biodiesel is "Weird", and you are risk-averse and afraid of change, or you just don't want anything to do with "the environmentalist agenda" or whatever... or you detest anything that is "green"... Or you just want to "stick to" traditional diesel (which really means you have CHANGED to ultra-low-sulfur diesel!) -- then you would have an amazingly common attitude. Just goes to show people's sense of tradition is way stronger than their sense of protecting their investments in expensive equipment.

Answer 6

Technically its illeagal to use biodiesel ( kind you get from resturaunts) , because it isnt a certified fuel by the DOT.
Using this needs a special setup anyway- you cant just dump it in your stock tank and go.
Another whole fuel system needs to be plumbed in - as well as valving/ect.
When starting the vehicle, straight diesel is needed, while the biodiesel is warming up ( it gels when cold) - once its at proper temp, then can be switched over, the same idea goes as well when you shut it off - it must be purged from lines before shutting down.
Not to mention the fuel should be thouroughly filtered of all contaminants.

Answer 7

No, don't beleive it they can even run on vegetable oil. The warning is to not mix diesel with the bio. because it gels creating a clogging throughout the fuel lines, filters, injector pump, injectors. It is very costly to have every component removed and cleaned from the entire in fuel injection system. They can be converted by simply draining the diesel fuel before using diesel.

Answer 8

I run a 2.8 turbo diesel Mitsubishi Pajero on a 50/50 mixture of diesel and vegetable oil with no problems And since the 1st of July you don't have to register with C&E if you use less than 2500 litres per annum therefore no tax due, but keep your diesel and veggie oil bills so that you can prove what you have used if challenged, I am saving about £30 per month by using it .

Answer 9

Generally, Bio Diesel doesn't burn as easily as your regular Diesel fuel. It needs a hotter spark and I believe also a finer fuel injector. If you put Bio Diesel in your tank, you might wind up flooding the engine with a fuel your car can't burn properly.
Diesel cars can be equipped to run on Bio Diesel even if they're just regular Diesel engines and will then be able to run on Bio Diesel. If you fill up your Diesel engine with Bio Diesel, it may run, but there's no guarantee unless you get the conversion done.
Cars that have Bio Diesel engines will, on the other hand, also handle regular Diesel fuel perfectly fine.
Also many people that have Bio Diesels will use regular Diesel fuel in the winter time because Bio Diesel can keep you struggling to get your engine started when it's too cold.

Answer 10

The reasons that they won't warrant it is that they're still studying the long-term effects. Diesel engines last a VERY long time, and just because Willie Nelson thinks it's great doesn't mean that there won't be side-effects after 500,000 miles.