Any diesel geeks

[gojo83]

I am looking to do a paper for school and wondering what the general feel is for the home brewed biodiesel. I am looking at it from a personal make and use sustainability for a small scale business. Do you think that sustainability could reach an equilibrium in the current age of insane diesel prices and from the looks of it only getting higher. With the implementation of cars like the new chevy sonic turbo diesel and the TDI jetta this could be a smarter way to run a small fleet of veihcles.

[CALL911]

I've got a VW Golf TDI. When I was researching it, and looking for the one I wanted, I came across a few that had a conversion done to run off of used vegetable oil. I have heard of others running successfully off of used car oil, and used transmission fluid. I think if someone has access to that amount of fluid, and wouldn't drive the car anywhere where they would need to fill up at a pump (like on a road trip), then it may be a great way to save on diesel prices.

The problem I had with buying one was that I had no one to take it to fix it when it broke. There are only a few people who really know how to correctly work on TDI's where I live (and I live in the 2nd largest city in Indiana). The dealerships routinely screw up working on TDI's. If the conversion is done, you will be totally on your own to do any kind of major engine repair.

For more research, check out www.tdiclub.com (http://www.tdiclub.com) there is a lot of info on the coversions over there. I personally don't think there's a big enough market out there to be successful financially. Diesel is expensive, but when my TDI averages 51.3 MPG on its last tank of fuel, the extra .35 cents a gallon more over gas more than makes up the difference in fuel economy.

[Mystery Bird]

The guy that usually does my auto transporting converted his 97 Chevy 2500 to run on straight grease from the local Chinese resturant. He doesn't charge me very much because fuel is free. Here is another useful site http://www.goldenfuelsystems.com/.

[CALL911]

Yeah, they guys running used oil, and used vegetable oil got it for free as well. Again, I think its a great idea in theory, but unless you know everything about the car to do the maintenance if something goes wrong, it may not be for you.

[shownomercy]

If you plan on using it in your own vehicles be prepared for replacing filters very frequently, biodiesel is a awesome cleaning agent and you will clog up your fuel filters fast. After the initial clean out of lines though, it is a nice fuel, the start up costs are a little steep but if you can find a place or two that can supply you with grease/oil you are set. I believe its similar to ethanol in that you will get worse MPG but overall will be cheaper.

I would personally start off by converting an old 12v or something similarly mechanically injected over, easier and cheaper to fix. Then move your way up to common rail stuff.

[Bersaglieri]

I'm not sure I'd call myself a diesel geek, but you're headed in the opposite direct of my specialty so it doesn't matter, lol.

I like the idea though, I'd love to have a VW TDI car, but the woman hates em.

[CALL911]

I'm not sure I'd call myself a diesel geek, but you're headed in the opposite direct of my specialty so it doesn't matter, lol.

I like the idea though, I'd love to have a VW TDI car, but the woman hates em.

Its a love hate thing for me. I love the economy it gets me, especially with my long commute, and properly maintained, they can go up to 500,000 miles before catastrophic engine failure. But the hate part of it, is that out of all 4 cars I own, it breaks the most, and is most expensive to get parts for and hardest to find people knowledgeable to help me when its beyond my capability to repair. Parts are expensive.

But if you are willing to spend the money and effort to keep it properly maintained, they are a good long lasting economical vehicle.

If you do decide on one, do your research as there are some significant differences between the TDI years. I have the ALH engine (1999.5-2003). This was the model that has the best fuel economy, and seems to be sought after the most. Some of the newer models get about 5-8 worse MPG, and had major fuel pump issues/failures that lead to much bigger problems.