Biodiesel
- Thread starter Dustydog
- Start date
Regular diesel is up to 7% biodiesel - ie, B7
Ah, but which VW diesel engine and of what age? We have had three Passats the first being a 58 plate and all have been run on B7 biodiesel with no problem.
Are you talking about the new 10% version - although I thought that was on petrol, not diesel?)
It can use B7 diesel - the sticker means not to use 100% biodiesel.
My motor runs perfectly on B7. Nine years old. I'm a member of a waterways society and, we have a small diesel powered dredger, that we have to add an additive to each tank (expensive) as it can stand, not being used for a while, to stop the formation of Diesel Bug
Never heard of it before, appears that the bio bit attracts bugs that turns it to a jelly that blocks the fuel system, filters the lot.
So don't let your motor stand to long Jurying lock down I put some additive in my motor, just in case.
Never heard of it before, appears that the bio bit attracts bugs that turns it to a jelly that blocks the fuel system, filters the lot.
So don't let your motor stand to long Jurying lock down I put some additive in my motor, just in case.
Yes, all EU/UK diesels can use B7 - it's almost impossible to buy diesel that isn't B7 - the ban on "biodiesel" by VW and others means no chip-shop type of diesel, save that for McDonalds to use that in their trucks.
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The bacteria/fungi affecting boat diesel isn't regarded as an issue with road vehicles as the mandatory additives in the BS EN 590 include anti-bacteria, etc.
The diesel “ bug” tends to thrive at the diesel water interface. A good few years back the Royal Navy procured some offshore patrol vessels based on a commercial fishing vessel design. As a cost saving measure the fuel centrifuges were not fitted. The net result was that in bad weather the fuel mixed with the biogunge and then blocked the fine particulate filter. Ship then dead in water. So after that experience most ship sytems standardised on coarse strainer, centrifuges then fine
particon filters.
Yes but, we use only small quantities of diesel, taken from the nearest BP station.
There are several ways in which the bio derived fuels can cause problems with unprepared vehicles.
Apart from the issues already noted, probably the other main concerns are the propensity of the bio fuels to attract moisture. If water does start to be attracted, becasue the fuel is lighter than the water, it tends trap the water at the bottom of tanks etc, and it can't evaporate away.which can start to cause excessive corrosion in places like metal fuel tanks, and some other internal components.
The fuels can also attack (dissolve or denature) rubber and flexible materials like rubber and some synthetics found in older unprepared vehicles.
Obviously if any of the disassociated water gets into the fuel lines it can cause problems
The bio fuels also have slightly different burning characteristics, older IC engines without all the mod cons, may need to be retuned.
The move towards increased amount of Bio fuel added to retail fuel has been staged to allow the the bulk of the car stock to progressively modernise and be able to use higher proportions of bio. This is a problem especially for vintage car owners as some old vehicle cannot tolerate much if any bio fuel. For such vehicles they have to source bio free fuel, or take steps to remove the Bio elements from retail fuel.
Whilst using bio fuel helps to balance the CO2 issue, it still produces all the same other pollutants associated with burning fuel under pressure.
I believe Euro 5 or later vehicles should not have any problems with using normal retail fuel, but each manufacturer will have their own take on alloing the use of 100% bio fuel.
Apart from the issues already noted, probably the other main concerns are the propensity of the bio fuels to attract moisture. If water does start to be attracted, becasue the fuel is lighter than the water, it tends trap the water at the bottom of tanks etc, and it can't evaporate away.which can start to cause excessive corrosion in places like metal fuel tanks, and some other internal components.
The fuels can also attack (dissolve or denature) rubber and flexible materials like rubber and some synthetics found in older unprepared vehicles.
Obviously if any of the disassociated water gets into the fuel lines it can cause problems
The bio fuels also have slightly different burning characteristics, older IC engines without all the mod cons, may need to be retuned.
The move towards increased amount of Bio fuel added to retail fuel has been staged to allow the the bulk of the car stock to progressively modernise and be able to use higher proportions of bio. This is a problem especially for vintage car owners as some old vehicle cannot tolerate much if any bio fuel. For such vehicles they have to source bio free fuel, or take steps to remove the Bio elements from retail fuel.
Whilst using bio fuel helps to balance the CO2 issue, it still produces all the same other pollutants associated with burning fuel under pressure.
I believe Euro 5 or later vehicles should not have any problems with using normal retail fuel, but each manufacturer will have their own take on alloing the use of 100% bio fuel.
Is premium diesel also biodiesel? I use regular diesel and every now and then will fill up with premium or use Millers diesel additive to keep the fuel system clean.
Even non bio diesel and petrol can attract moisture. When I lived in Canada it was a regular thing from late Autumn to end of winter to dose the petrol with a water miscible additive to take out the free moisture in the tank.
There's room for confusion here - all retail diesel, regular or premium, has bio content as OC posts, but it cannot exceed 7% (the specification for B7) - "biodiesel" is usually regarded as 100% bio content - it's the latter that many brands "ban", often because it can't lubricate the very high pressure fuel pump needed in modern common-rail diesels.
Generally, those diesels before common-rail - in a caravanning context the Japanese SUV 4x4s were probably the last to adopt common-rail.
Toyota Surf 3.0L as mine could run on pure recycled vegetable oil during the summer. Never tried it though.
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