Apologies if this has been done before, but a search has turned up nothing
Ok, so I’ve read all the markerting stuff, and apart from the bit which says the ‘aftersmell’ will be akin to popcorn I can find nothing that inspires or amuses me.
My motor has been carefully selected (Tm’s words, not mine) to trial Bio diesel.
Does anybody run on biodiesel?
What sort of performance can be expected from the truck running on bio? Bearing in mind I have nothing to compare it’s performance with, especially in my own motor as it’s only 3 days old and has just covered 1000kms.
Can anybody throw any light on the subject please. Would prefer first hand experience and not MMTM info
Kate:
Can anybody throw any light on the subject please.
I can’t answer your question as I’ve never used it myself but one thing I can say is that if you’re putting it in a new truck that you should check the warranty very carefully as you might well find that using biodiesel will render it void.
I have used pure biodiesel in my deisel cars for about 2 years now. I get mine from a supplier in the area and have had no problems what so ever. The performance is slightly better and there is no problem with starting even in the coldest weather.
There are two downsides -
It smells like a mobile chippy (ours is recycled chip oil)
It is a very effective cleaning agent, and will shift all the gunk out of the sytem, depositing it in the fuel filter. Filters will need to be changed more often. Not so much of a problem on a new vehicle. (No, it is not fish-bits or bits of batter )
National Buses recently abandoned their testing due to concerns over the “green origins” of the oil they were using. I doubt many companies are going to trial 100% Biodeisel anyway, but there is some concern over the origins of the oil.
Our company tried it as the suppliers are just behind our yard, but due to the need for more filter changes we were told to stop by the leasing company as they would not honor the warranty or service contract for new filters or break-downs resulting from blocked filters.
I have been using Biodiesel in my car for the past month and have noticed no difference in the performance when running solo.
However when I took the caravan away for the weekend 2 weeks ago, I noticed a significant drop in performance. I hardly got the car out of fourth gear on the motorway and at times running uphill, had to drop as low as second.
Therefore not sure how a truck would cope pulling a fully laden trailer.
I will keep on using it in the car because bought in bulk (200 litres) I can get it for 70p per litre, but in future when I take the caravan away, I will revert to a tank of normal diesel for the trip.
We use it in some of the buses i drive.Compared to the other buses, same age/model, i would say there is hardly any difference in performance, maybe just a tad less accelaration.
One thing i have noticed is the bio diesel buses take longer to start when cold.
Good point is it smells ok compared to ordinary diesel
No idea about trucks but in some of the newer cars with fancy shmancy common rail diesels biodiesel is incompatible with the high pressure pumps and causes internal breakdown of the fuel system, some manufacturers will only warranty if you use less than 10% biodiesel.
It doesn’t play well with water. One of our 7.5t drivers got their truck washed whilst out in Kosovo (pretty much everyone that has a house on a major road opens a car wash, so sometimes you can have 5 of them in a 100-metre section of road), and some of the water from the pressure washer must have got in the tank. When he inadvertently filled up with biodiesel on the way back, he broke down and they had to drain the tank.
our company started using it but after a lot of trucks failing to start(would just turn over and over but not fire) and filters blocking a lot and night heaters only blowing cold air they gave up!!dont want to put you off!! i cant say i noticed a lack of power as i was in a renault premium at the time so i had no power to begin with!
I can find nothing that inspires or amuses me.