Anyone running HDi's fueled by diesel "Alternatives"

[EvilTwin]

I'm interested in the alternatives to diesel that people have successfully stuck in their tank.

Biodiesel from the forecourts, home brewed biodiesel, Aviation fuel, veg oil or even strained chip fat from the local burger wagon, if you've stuck it in your tank, and driven round on it, then I'd be interested in your experiences both good and bad.

Dont worry I'm not on some tree hugging crusade, just looking to do a little research on the engines potential to run on anything thats not "Diesel". I used to run an old mk2 astra diesel on a mix of cheap Kerosene and hydraulic oil, ran a treat.

[mark21TD]

I ran an 806 HDI on biodiesel for a while, I did have some problems, iy kept cutting out if I went under 1/2 a tank but it also did this when on diesel so probably not the bio's fault.

There's problems with running on things like Kerosene and hydraulic oil as these are not road fuels and have no duty paid on them (veg and bio are not duty payable if you use under 2500lts per year) so you could end up with a large fine and the car taken off you if your tank is dipped.

There's plenty of people on here www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk that run HDI's on bio with no problems.

[stevemc]

one guy i work with mixes diesel with cooking oil on a 50/50 mix ,still passes mot test,but its hard to start in the winter
bio diesel does not work well in the winter ,i am a bus mechanic ,in the winter the bio diesel seperates at low tempertures causing the fuel filters
to block up ,new filters and bleed the system ,not a fun job when it happens on a main road in london

[Welly]

I know someone who experimented with his VW polo diesel (SDi?) anyway he cockily increased the concentration of cooking oil until we could see the stuff pissing out of the fuel pump itself......turns out the stuff was so thick it blew all the seals and he was trying an 80% + mix

He wrecked that car and it had to be scrapped (but he did save £12.50 on fuel ).

[robreznik]

have been running filtered cooking oil 50/50 with diesel in my old Passat tdi ( 260000miles) without issues apart from being slightly more difficult to start when its cooler in the morning - I expected this and expect it to get worse when the winter arrives - no other problems but one advatange is its safer to drive with mix as the rear bumper huggers have all moved back and given me some welcome space -