OK. Well biodiesel works. And it smalls nice!

[delicanuck]

Hiya,
I just started running on biodiesel a couple of days ago. I could be imagining it but I think the car runs better. I do know that I didn't have to downshift going up the cut in North Van and when I push the peddle a bit, I don't get that puff of black smoke. I still get smoke but there's less and its white and people seem to like it.
If you are in Vancouver, you might like to visit http://www.VancouverBiodiesel.org where you'll find a lot of information. Here are a few starter factoids:
Biodiesel isn't cheaper than dinodiesel, at least not in the near term. Over the life of your vehicle, you may save on wear and tear. I am buying bioD from the above mentioned coop where I paid $70.00 to join and paid $145.00 in advance for my first 100 litres. After that, the price goes down to something like $1.15 . On the other hand, over the life of my car, I will probably create less environmental impact than if I drove an electric or hybrid. And I get to rationalise my groovy Delica to me eco conscious and conscientious wife.
If you have rubber fuel lines and gaskets, biodiesel will desolve them over the coarse of a few months to a year so be prepared to replace them eventually. Your new fuel lines should be " Viton " lines from Dupont. Many newer cars already have Viton or comparable. Check your lines monthly and if they get spongy and diesel is oozing through them, its a pretty good bet they used to be rubber, (but have transmutated into pudding).
There is a funny tax thing where if you burn *less* than 50 % biodiesel, i.e. B50 or lower, you don't have to pay the fuel tax on the biodiesel. You you use more then 50 %, i.e. B51 or higher, a $0.21 per litre tax kicks in. This tax is self assessed, meaning that you have to keep track and pay the government yourself. I think I'll try that and let you know how it goes.
I sent an email to the folks at AirCare and they profusely expounded upon the benifits of biodiesel, which I took as implying that I wasn't going to have a problem when I take my car through. We'll see.
Biodiesel is non-toxic and it tastes OK but not good enough to qualify as an emergency food so keep the Power Bars in the trunk.
I haven't yet found where I can buy a decal that says "Poutine Powered". I may have to make 'em.

[BCDelica]

Biodiesel is non-toxic and it tastes OK but not good enough to qualify as an emergency food so keep the Power Bars in the trunk.

I like that, I run WVO and tell people it's great being able to purge your fuel lines by using your mouth. You only get left with a stale french fry taste afterwards, but no worse then eating at McDonalds. I never knew that it was the same with biodiesel. I would like to start one here, but many are interested, but very few are willing to commit.

Though I have Van's coop in my fav's I never noticed that David Suzuki and Daryl Hannah were members. Neat. I would like to believe that if I was a well off celebrity I would still make all the same eco lifestyle choice's, but I could just as easily be in a rehab center regularly and a tabloid star. 8) :lol:

[fj45jeff]

A few of the guys in my club (Coastal Cruisers) have been making their own bio-diesel for quite some time now. I think its costs them around 75 cents a litre to make, and a fair bit of work initially anyways.

[josh]

Bret,

I read your posting, and I am concerned about the white smoke. In a deisel black smoke is good. White smoke however means that there is incomplete combustion and you are doing a lot of harm to your engine. My advice would be to try a different level of Biodiesel or stop using it altogether.

Hope this is helpful.

Josh

[Green1]

If you have rubber fuel lines and gaskets, biodiesel will desolve them over the coarse of a few months to a year so be prepared to replace them eventually. Your new fuel lines should be " Viton " lines from Dupont.

so... what material are the fuel lines in a 1991 Delica? and where can one order replacments if they are the wrong material?

[delicanuck]

Hi Josh and others,
I've been reading and asking around about the white smoke question. I thought some of the large brained set at the biodiesel coop would be anxious to chime in with opinions but alas, not the case. So instead, I called a friend of mine who is an heavey duty diesel mechanic and asked him about it. He said that smoke from a diesel is primarily unburned or poorly burned fuel and the colour of the smoke woud have to do with the nature of the fuel. Improperly burned dino-diesel contains some carbon and a lot of other stuff. The other stuff is invisible so most of what you see is the carbon. The exhaust from biodiesel contains almost no carbon. After all, thats why we're using it. As a result, biodiesel exhaust doesn't look black. Most of what comes out of the pipe is nitrous oxide (NO) which, as above, is invisible. Hmmm.. So I set my car at high idle and high choke and went to the back and watched the exhaust come out. The exhaust seems to be invisible as it leaves the pipe and doesn't take on any white-ness until a few inches from the pipe. What may be happening is that hot NO comes out of the pipe and warms some of the surrounding, moisture laden air, as well as accelerating the air in the same direction. (One of Bernoulli's principles, second principle I think? Venturi effect?) As the warmed air is carried out a few more inches towards the rest of the cooler atmosphere, that atmospheric water would condense out as vapor, which would look like white smoke through the rear view mirror, but if I go round the back and stick my hand in the stream of white smoke, my hand gets wet, and vaguely tasty. The white smoke seems to disipate quite quickly a few feet from the car. Because it is white, I think that fact is not data, just an observation. Black smoke may disipate as quickly but remain visible longer against a blue background. I put a white card behind the pipe to see if there was any particulate depostion and all I got was a soggy card. Dinodiesel would leave a black blotch as demonstrated on my little trailer after a trip running on dinodiesel.
As I mentioned above, this is not the difinitive answer I was looking for but I'm still looking this up. Next stop my be the AirCare folks. Oddly, they seem quite willing to help. I'll keep you all posted.

[josh]

Excellent research Brett, i think my concerns are washed away.

__________________
Josh
91 Exceed

[delicanuck]

Hello Green1 and others,
Remember a few weeks ago I mentioned Viton? After way too much phoning and emailing around, I found someone in town who actually had some Fuoro-ethyl lined tubing. Fluoro-ethyl poly something-or-other is the chemical name for the Viton product group. Viton is the Dupont product name and Fluorel is the 3M product name so either one works. The tubing I found is Fluorel lined with a nitrile jacket and I think I paid about $6.00 and change per foot at New Line Hose and Fittings in Burnaby B.C. http://www.new-line.com/Public/aboutus.htm
If you call them they will say they don't have it. If you go there they will say they don't have it. You have to be persistant. They have it. If you get stone walled, hang up and call back, then ask for Darryl.
My mechanic..... Hey! My baby is still under warrantee so my mechanic does the work for now. My mechanic told me the sizes I need are 8mm on the intake side and 6.5mm after the pump so that works out to about 3/8ths and 1/4 I.D doesn't it?
Dupont and 3M also make fluoro-ethyl gasket material. I wonder if I should cross post to the leaky fuel pump contingent.

[digitalart]

Biodiesel is non-toxic and it tastes OK

From what I've read about making biodiesel in your garage, you need Lye & Methyl Alcohol to process your vegetable oils into biodiesel. Since lye is poisonous & caustic, and mythyl alcolhol will blind you or kill you, I'd refrain from downing a slurpee cup of biodiesel. It's probably not a good idea. Check out this link...

http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/biodiesel.html

Does anybody know of a biodiesel co-op on the Island? It sounds like running SVO or WVO is an even smarter option than biodiesel.

[biozach]

Anyone know what the temperature range for biodiesel is? I've been filling up with B40 but there's a warning at the pump saying if temperatures hover around 0 C then I might get jelling. Are there any additives to increase the temperature range?

[jeremy]

Hey Delica Forum, I'm wondering what blend of Biodiesel work best in a 91 Delica? I live in Squamish but I heard the Vancouver Biodiesel Coop is the place to go. Any thoughts? Any thoughts on fuel additives and how they might effect dino or reg. diesel? Thanks. Jer

[BCDelica]

Brett, since you have been running on biodiesel for awhile now, have you ever had any problems with filters clogging?

Seems that a common problem with WVO, and to a lesser extent biodiesel, is fuel tank lining paints breaking down and cloging filters in older vehicles. The Van Coop is know to produce high quality, well washed biodiesel so it should be OK for people whom run B100 in their 20 year old Toyotas.

[Schwa]

Maybe I can clarify a little...

Improperly burned dino-diesel contains some carbon and a lot of other stuff. The other stuff is invisible so most of what you see is the carbon.

The visible black smoke is what's known as particulate matter, and is basically tiny solid particles, usually a heavy metal or sulfur center coated in carbon... This is what the new diesels eliminate by way of a PM trap and a rich burn (or extra injector in the exhaust) to clean the filter.

The exhaust from biodiesel contains almost no carbon. After all, thats why we're using it.

Actually it has less particulate matter, mostly because there aren't heavy metals and sulfur for the carbon to stick to. Bio-D has lots of carbon in it, almost as much as dino-D. The reason we call it a low-carbon fuel is that the carbon came from the carbon dioxide in the air, not ancient carbon stored under ground.

As a result, biodiesel exhaust doesn't look black. Most of what comes out of the pipe is nitrous oxide (NO) which, as above, is invisible.

Most of the exhaust for any internal combustion vehicle (gas, diesel, propane, methane, ethanol, etc) is carbon dioxide and water vapour. The reason you hear about the NOx is that it's the main regulated pollutant that diesels produce, and using bio-D produces less PM and more NOx. Gasoline engines also produce carbon monoxide and lots of unburned gas (HC) which diesels also don't do. Either way NOx is a relatively tiny percent of the exhaust content, usually measured in parts per million.

Hmmm.. So I set my car at high idle and high choke and went to the back and watched the exhaust come out. The exhaust seems to be invisible as it leaves the pipe and doesn't take on any white-ness until a few inches from the pipe. [...] but if I go round the back and stick my hand in the stream of white smoke, my hand gets wet, and vaguely tasty. The white smoke seems to disipate quite quickly a few feet from the car.

This sounds like it may be the steam in the exhaust condensing in the cool air rather than white smoke, it would be good to have someone drive behind you while you boot it up a hill to see what comes out the tailpipe. If there is white smoke actually coming out of the exhaust (not just forming near the pipe) then it may indicate some other kind of problem with incomplete combustion, otherwise it sounds like simple water vapour condensation which is no problem, but also not 'white smoke'.

[BCDelica]

The visible black smoke is what's known as particulate matter, and is basically tiny solid particles, usually a heavy metal or sulfur center coated in carbon... This is what the new diesels eliminate by way of a PM trap and a rich burn (or extra injector in the exhaust) to clean the filter.

Hmmm, you might be just out of school recently. It's true that WVO exhausts plenty of carbon, but do reduced molecular bonding and less of the other nasties (it's been a real long time since I've been out of school), but the measurable particulate matter is greatly reduced. Somewhere I have aircare results before and after my WVO conversion, the first time I think was 25% and running on WVO it was 3% - with 30% being a failing grade. I paid for the second aircare on my own, they're not required in Powell River, and was disappointed that they wouldn't test for NOx's.

This sounds like it may be the steam in the exhaust condensing in the cool air rather than white smoke, it would be good to have someone drive behind you while you boot it up a hill to see what comes out the tailpipe. If there is white smoke actually coming out of the exhaust (not just forming near the pipe) then it may indicate some other kind of problem with incomplete combustion, otherwise it sounds like simple water vapour condensation which is no problem, but also not 'white smoke'.

Not too surprising, you guys do live in the lower rainland. IP timing can go a long way to deaingl with Deli smoking issue's.

[snottyone]

But how enviromentally friendly is it? We use more corn(example) for biodiesel, people have less corn to eat. This is happening all ready as some farmers make more selling their crops for fuel than food. Now we have to cut down more trees to make more farmland to feed the people. Less trees in the air to clean up even the reduced carbon emissions that you are putting out, on top of the emissions from us still burning dino fuels. Quite a few people where I work who are uber enviromentalists are dead set agains bio fuels. If you are burning old french fry oil that is one thing, but to reduce food crops to fuel might not be the answer. What is I don't know.