Former VWDieselParts.com Forum

How much veg oil can be safely mixed with diesel before the fuel lines need to be replaced? Or how long till they likely are going to need to be replaced using a minimal mix or other problems developing? I expect a few filter might be the first thing to clog up.

safe? 0% veg. that's "safe".

Straight Veg oil or even WVO will not effect the fuel lines like Bio-diesel.
They are two entirely different materials.
I would agree with canman regarding bio-diesel, though.
If your going to run any bio-diesel, save yourself the trouble and replace the fuel lines.
Give some thoughts to replaceing your IP's gaskets if they are older than 10yrs.
But, I've been running a mix of filtered WVO and Diesel (10% WVO) this winter to 70% WVO,20% kersosene, and 10% gasoline for the last 3 months.
You need to consider your local temps as to the amount of vegi you want to run.
Lower temps mean lower percentage of vegi!
Or none if its too cold!
My fuel lines are fine, my pump is leaking, but that I beleive is likely a result of the original gaskets failing after 27 yrs.
Gasket kit on the way!
Believe Fatmobile can speak to this as well and with more run time than myself.

Ask vano7 he likes using blends and hasn't destroyed anything (that he will admit to) yet.

ALMOST 3 YEARS AND THOUSANDS OF MILES STILL RUNNIG STRONG CHANGE A FILTER ONCE AND AWHILE

You mentioned clogging the fuel filter. My straight veggie 2-tank friend Omar (see his posts) gave me some airplane fuel line, which is about 1/4" ID tubing, which I wrapped around a fuel filter, put compression fitting on each end and attached with hoses into the air-heater circuit that warms the inside of the cockpit. The hot water from the radiator flowing through this circuit warms the fuel filter nicely, but - of course - only after the car warms up, which means that I don't start driving until the car's has had a chance to warm up a little and melt any fat that may have solidified in my fuel lines. This practice may also save me from "blowing" a head gasket.
My only concern - which is "provisionally" unfounded (only a hunch) - is that by warming the fuel too much, the diminished viscousity of the "hot" fuel going into the IP - while being good for atomization at the injectors - might not lubricate the IP properly.
Maybe someone knows the answer to this question; I haven't posed it formally.

veg has better lube than regular diesel today... even at higher temps.


feel your IP anytime its been running after a long run and it will be hot (and any fuel in it)

Lower viscosity increases the strain on your IP & timing belt ( look at anyone trying to start a car on a cold day with thick engine oil in it ) and raises the internal pressures until it warms up.

To control viscousity, at this time of year in Seattle, I've been usually adding about 20% RUG (gasoline) to the usual WVO. Last night, Omar sent me a file on making injection line heaters, which he uses due to running a dual fuel system. He says that he sometimes forgets to switch back over to diesel before shutting down, but that the injection line heaters are a good idea anyway - at least to remove any gelled/solidied deposits of veg.. Since I just went through the major hassle of rebuilding my entire engine, IP and other things - while being unemployed - I want to be nice to my new "baby"; just did the 1000mi. retorque.
Here are the links for the file I mentioned: http://www.frybrid.com/images/filter%20cutaway2.jpg, and
http://www.fattywagon.com/install%20page.htm
Omar just gave me 70 gallons of EV olive oil (just past it's sell-by date), to run for the hot months. I'm running 20% diesel now (those prices - yikes!!), and this appears to keep it from gelling at these mild Spring temps.
I think I'll run some diesel purge once in a while, just to keep things cleaned out.
Please let me know what you do to minimize any possible damage from running these alternative fuels; just a good link would do.
Later!
- Michael (Seattle).

A vacuum gauge on your fuel line will tell you alot.
There is a post about vacuum gauge installation around here somewhere.

I've just reinstalled my vacuum gauge between my IP and my fuel filter. I'm concerned about keeping the IP healthy; I know that keeping the vacuum low will help with this. Thanks for your suggestion.