Vegetable Oil advice needed

[NollingtonHards]

Ive seen loads online about running a car on vegetable oil but i'm worried that if i do it, i'll do it wrong and bugger the engine ha.
So a few simple questions to help me
1) Mechanical fuel pumps only yes? i have the 1.9td Bosch
2) What type of vegetable oil? any particular brand etc
3)Can it be poured straight in to the tank? (any mixing required? preferred ratios of diesel/ vegetable oil etc)
4)Effect on MPG & Power? if any
5)Cheapest place to buy vegetable oil?
6)Any recommendations e.g. shorter servicing intervals

Thanks for the replies in advance, hoping to save some money due to £125.9 a litre for diesel ( it was 85p a litre for petrol when i started driving two years ago )

[StevieboyTD]

1) Mechanical fuel pumps only yes? i have the 1.9td Bosch perfect pump for the job

2) What type of vegetable oil? any particular brand etc any veg oil will be fine

3)Can it be poured straight in to the tank? (any mixing required? preferred ratios of diesel/ vegetable oil etc) yup, just pour it in

4)Effect on MPG & Power? if anything mpg and power will by fractionally lower as veg contains less power per litre than pump diesel, we're talking 40mpg down to 37mpg stuff here

5)Cheapest place to buy vegetable oil? cash and carry is around 78p/L, but some of the supermarkets often have good deal on, right now tesco is doing an offer on their sunflower oil, wakes it around 70p/L i think

6)Any recommendations e.g. shorter servicing intervals Change the oil and filter every 3k (you cover the cost of this in the first tankful!), carry a couple of extra fuel filters (or fit an cheapo inline paper filter) as the first tank or two of veg will clean out your fuel tank (block the fuel filter in the process.

[GeordieBoy]

Everything you need to know is on here:- http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/forum

Any kind of Veg Oil aslong as its liguid, not the lard type. If its new oil (SVO) just pour it in your tank, mix with 10% Petrol in this weather.
If its waste oil, then it needs settling, filtering, then put into your tank, same as above.
MPG maybe slightly lower than diesel, power maybe slightly less also.
Macro sell it in 20 ltr containers KTC oil, 20 ltrs at 86p a ltr.
Servicing, oil and filter change every 6k miles.

[NollingtonHards]

This is brilliant exactly what i needed to know but one thing, you say that it will clean out the fuel tank but will it be fine if i change the fuel
e.g. use vegetable oil for a week, then put in 20 litres of diesel then once the diesels been used put vegetale oil back in? (sorry for the questions but i usually mess up on stuff like this)

[GeordieBoy]

This is brilliant exactly what i needed to know but one thing, you say that it will clean out the fuel tank but will it be fine if i change the fuel
e.g. use vegetable oil for a week, then put in 20 litres of diesel then once the diesels been used put vegetale oil back in? (sorry for the questions but i usually mess up on stuff like this)

Yep, can put diesel in whenever you want. Keep a spare fuel filter in the car with tools to change it, incase it blocks up when you are out driving.
Normally when it starts to block EML will come on at about 4k revs, then gradually get worse, but should normally always get you home.

[StevieboyTD]

This is brilliant exactly what i needed to know but one thing, you say that it will clean out the fuel tank but will it be fine if i change the fuel
e.g. use vegetable oil for a week, then put in 20 litres of diesel then once the diesels been used put vegetale oil back in? (sorry for the questions but i usually mess up on stuff like this)

It doesn't "technically" clean the tank, it's just heavier and stickier than the diesel that's already in your tank and it slips under it and picks up all the much and snot that's been happy sitting there for the last few years, then the veg oil get's pulled down the fuel line to the filter, still carrying all the junk it's picked up.

You might have to chage a couple of filters, but after that your tank will be clean.

[Gary406]

is straight clean veg or sunflower oil from the store not to thick ?

can you use it in winter with no pump diesel added ?

im really thinking of starting using it for mine

[Gary406]

when i look in tesco at sunflower oil it looks thick,

[GeordieBoy]

Sunflower Oil is fine, in this weather tho I'd add 10% Petrol.

[Gary406]

is it still worth the while getting the veg oil and petrol ?

will i still save a bit of cash over the year

[Gary406]

and is it ok to add say 20 litres of veg oil to 1/4 tank of normal derv ??

shall i still add the 10% petrol to the 20 litres of veg oil before i pour it into the 1/4 tank of normal derv

[StevieboyTD]

You don't normally need to thin the oil, it's fine as it is.

Only when it's STUPIDLY cold, then you might need to help things out a bit. 5% petrol is fine.

Not forgetting that sunflower oil gels at a lower temperature than "normal" rapeseed oil (most store bought vegetable oil is rapeseed based)

We only went down to -7 here and i started fine without petrol in mine.

[Gary406]

Everything you need to know is on here:- http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/forum

Any kind of Veg Oil aslong as its liguid, not the lard type. If its new oil (SVO) just pour it in your tank, mix with 10% Petrol in this weather.
If its waste oil, then it needs settling, filtering, then put into your tank, same as above.
MPG maybe slightly lower than diesel, power maybe slightly less also.
Macro sell it in 20 ltr containers KTC oil, 20 ltrs at 86p a ltr.
Servicing, oil and filter change every 6k miles.

good forum that , saved it thanks

[Gary406]

You don't normally need to thin the oil, it's fine as it is.

Only when it's STUPIDLY cold, then you might need to help things out a bit. 5% petrol is fine.

Not forgetting that sunflower oil gels at a lower temperature than "normal" rapeseed oil (most store bought vegetable oil is rapeseed based)

We only went down to -7 here and i started fine without petrol in mine.

so rapeseed vegatable is best ?

[StevieboyTD]

and is it ok to add say 20 litres of veg oil to 1/4 tank of normal derv ??

shall i still add the 10% petrol to the 20 litres of veg oil before i pour it into the 1/4 tank of normal derv

It's fine to mix derv and veg.

Mix the veg & petrol outside the car if you can, it takes a bit longer if you rely on the motion of the car and the fuel flow to do it for you.

You're only using the pump fuel to thin the veg now, you don't need to spend out on diesel anymore.

You get the same thinning effect from a fiver of petrol that you'd get from £12-£15 of diesel.


Sunflower is best for low temp conditions, but rapeseed is fine too. (sunflower usually costs more)