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arlydude

Does anyone make their own biodiesel?

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Worse mileage is the case with 100% biodiesel and be careful, because bad brew can ruin a cdi engine pronto.

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Ignore anything you might hear about homebrew success with an old Toyota diesel (those things are indestructible as long as you don't overheat them), and also anyone with less than 100K km of homebrew usage. Homebrew biodiesel scares me. The problems aren't instant, that is dangerous because you think "hey, this is easy" and then 10 or 20K later you need $2000 of fuel system parts.

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I'd imagine the CDI engine has the same tolerances as any other Diesel engine. Sure you must be careful when you make it, but I would think if you are off a little it shouldn't harm it?

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We have a lot of older discussions on biodiesel. You may wish to read through them, as much of the info will not get posted again, and you will iss some good tidbits. People have run on WVO too... so check that out while you're looking.Not to discourage a new thread, but there are so many other ones with solid info and real life experiences......

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Evaluate the amount of work you have to put in to make bio or run on SVO/WVO.Then decide to mix the vegetable oil straight into your tank with diesel. 50% in the summer will work just alright. Thin it down in the winter, or get some snow shoes...I suspect you will achieve similar gains ignoring the free time you will have to sit and watch football.

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I have been making and running my Smart on 100% biodiesel (30% in winter) for 2 years now. The best advice I can give is pay attention to your titration and cleaning of your fuel. I water wash it untill it is clear, let it sit for 2 weeks to settle out then run it thrugh a 2 micron filter. Make sure your fire department knows you have a quantity of methanol and costic soda in your storage (I supply one of the firemarshels with a 4 gal jug every time he visits) just to be safe and to be sure you are complient to the fire laws in your area. The only problems that I have had was when we had a cold snap past -20c when I had 100% bio. The bio jelled and I had to push the car into the shop at work to warm up and dilute with dinodiesel. The other problem was that bio is a solvent, crud from the tank and lines plugged the fuel filter after the first 4 tanks. So far 38000 km on bio without any problems. Regular maintenance is all that is needed.Robert

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I have been making and running my Smart on 100% biodiesel (30% in winter) for 2 years now. The best advice I can give is pay attention to your titration and cleaning of your fuel. I water wash it untill it is clear, let it sit for 2 weeks to settle out then run it thrugh a 2 micron filter. Make sure your fire department knows you have a quantity of methanol and costic soda in your storage (I supply one of the firemarshels with a 4 gal jug every time he visits) just to be safe and to be sure you are complient to the fire laws in your area. The only problems that I have had was when we had a cold snap past -20c when I had 100% bio. The bio jelled and I had to push the car into the shop at work to warm up and dilute with dinodiesel. The other problem was that bio is a solvent, crud from the tank and lines plugged the fuel filter after the first 4 tanks. So far 38000 km on bio without any problems. Regular maintenance is all that is needed.Robert

+1I've been making my own too. I don't use it unless I am sure it has been washed properly. Robert is bang on with the titration and clean issue. A little extra time in processing could save you later...

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