carbon build up
Moderator: Fatmobile
carbon build up
I was wondering if anyone had taken the head off of, or torn down an engine that had been run on biodiesel or veggie. I am concerned about possible carbon build up.
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coke
I highly doubt carbon buildup would be a problem. Biodiesel burns cleaner than diesel fuel/kerosene. A lot cleaner. Smells good too, especially if you visit McDonalds for your grease. 
In recent news: McDonalds had a sudden urge of business after a diesel powered volkswagen burning McDonald's fry oil was seen passing through town, with the sweet smell of french fries exiting the exhaust!
In recent news: McDonalds had a sudden urge of business after a diesel powered volkswagen burning McDonald's fry oil was seen passing through town, with the sweet smell of french fries exiting the exhaust!
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Fatmobile
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carbon buildup
I ran an engine on vegy for over 10,000 miles before I broke a timing belt and sent it to Jack as a core.
He said it looked normal as far as carbon goes.
I saw alot more carbon buildup on the engine I opened today and it was run on diesel.
He said it looked normal as far as carbon goes.
I saw alot more carbon buildup on the engine I opened today and it was run on diesel.
the reason I asked about the carbon isue is that
a) a friend of mine has a furnace that he is running biodiesel in and it gets an inch of carbon wich stops the furnace from firing.
b)i just had my dads turbo rebuilt(mouse nest in the air filter, talk about f.o.d.) and although it didn't have an excess of carbon built up, the carbon buildup was verry hard. it took 5 hours of sandbasting ( normally a 1 hour job. if that) at a higher pressure than normal. (like a well seasoned skilet, none of this teflon bs.) though it might have been the several months of straight veggie before we started into bio.
a) a friend of mine has a furnace that he is running biodiesel in and it gets an inch of carbon wich stops the furnace from firing.
b)i just had my dads turbo rebuilt(mouse nest in the air filter, talk about f.o.d.) and although it didn't have an excess of carbon built up, the carbon buildup was verry hard. it took 5 hours of sandbasting ( normally a 1 hour job. if that) at a higher pressure than normal. (like a well seasoned skilet, none of this teflon bs.) though it might have been the several months of straight veggie before we started into bio.
vegitarian 1991 passat 1.6 td
cold little 91 golf "no vegies in winter"
cold little 91 golf "no vegies in winter"
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GreaseBaron
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Carbon contamination
For what its worth, I will add this:
I started using SVO in the early 1990's (primarily in generator systems) and was doing a lot of experimentation at that time. Biodiesel was not as popular as it is now so I was pretty much on my own to figure out what works and what doesnt. I did a lot of experimenting to find out the minimum temperatures at which STRAIGHT VEG OIL could be fed to a diesel to get it to run. I fed it in cold (under 100 F) on many occasions to find the point at which it would "die". I can say from experience that if you feed straight veg oil into a diesel under 100 F for long periods of time, your oiling system will pick up carbon contaminants. I live in Wisconsin, and the temps get pretty low in the fall and winter. A problem I observed was that the engine oil would get contaminated to the point that "at low temperatures" (under 32F) it can cause the oil pump pickup screen to become CLOGGED and starve the main bearings. If you use low weight oil in cold temps, it will help. But I also would recommend changing oil (and/or filter) more frequently in very low temps.
(I eliminated this problem by "eliminating" the fine mesh pickup screen at the input of the oil pump. Ya its probably taking a chance, but no similar problem since.)
I started using SVO in the early 1990's (primarily in generator systems) and was doing a lot of experimentation at that time. Biodiesel was not as popular as it is now so I was pretty much on my own to figure out what works and what doesnt. I did a lot of experimenting to find out the minimum temperatures at which STRAIGHT VEG OIL could be fed to a diesel to get it to run. I fed it in cold (under 100 F) on many occasions to find the point at which it would "die". I can say from experience that if you feed straight veg oil into a diesel under 100 F for long periods of time, your oiling system will pick up carbon contaminants. I live in Wisconsin, and the temps get pretty low in the fall and winter. A problem I observed was that the engine oil would get contaminated to the point that "at low temperatures" (under 32F) it can cause the oil pump pickup screen to become CLOGGED and starve the main bearings. If you use low weight oil in cold temps, it will help. But I also would recommend changing oil (and/or filter) more frequently in very low temps.
(I eliminated this problem by "eliminating" the fine mesh pickup screen at the input of the oil pump. Ya its probably taking a chance, but no similar problem since.)
Last edited by GreaseBaron on Wed May 17, 2006 12:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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GreaseBaron
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Carbon contamination
In addition to the above post:
The purity of your "fuel" will also contribute to carbon buildup in the head and injector areas. Before I got real serious about fuel purity, I used to litterally get my "fuel" from horribly contaminated dumpsters. I tried filtering it as best I could (with the knowledge I had at the time) but in reality I crammed a lot of CRAP through those poor injectors just to test limits on what they could handle. The more CRAP you have in your fuel source, the more carbon you will see left over after the combustion process. I also noted a buidup of "residue" in my exhaust systems but never to the point where it was a problem. Again, these problems were a result of straight grease with to much contaminants rammed into injectors at to low a temperature for long periods of time.
The purity of your "fuel" will also contribute to carbon buildup in the head and injector areas. Before I got real serious about fuel purity, I used to litterally get my "fuel" from horribly contaminated dumpsters. I tried filtering it as best I could (with the knowledge I had at the time) but in reality I crammed a lot of CRAP through those poor injectors just to test limits on what they could handle. The more CRAP you have in your fuel source, the more carbon you will see left over after the combustion process. I also noted a buidup of "residue" in my exhaust systems but never to the point where it was a problem. Again, these problems were a result of straight grease with to much contaminants rammed into injectors at to low a temperature for long periods of time.
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davidpa28140
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