Biodiesel / LPG into a Splitty

thechief · Wannabe Joined: 07 Dec 2011 Posts: 1

Hi everyone,

Right, I'm looking to get hold of a splitty panel van which I want to run as green and environmentally as I possibly can do in line with my business.

I know lawn mower to watercooled conversions can be a bit of a job but does anyone know or have any experience of doing something like this and running it on a green fuel? Are there any particular engines that I should be looking at or companies that would be interested in undertaking such a product?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

illzlee · Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 1:02 pm Post subject:

to be fair LPG ain't that green, just cheaper!

I run my t4 on veg oil, and i know some other vw group diesels will run on it, and my xantia diesel in my bay will also run on veg.

SVO is reasonably green? Cool

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'79 Bay running citroen 1.9td and phat tyres!

Kai · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 6:18 pm Post subject:

Any thing that is not common rail injection I believe runs fine on vegoil/biodiesel.

But then the question must be asked, why bother to attempt to make an old poluting diesel engine eco friendly when a modern diesel engine is probably more eco friendly. If thats the overal intention I must add.

isn't the benefit of alternate fuels just a cheaper solution to forecourt prices rather then more economical, same goes for LPG.

In answer to the original question I guess the more modern the engine the more eco friendly its going to be.

But.... this depends on how serious you wanna take it.... I mean this running green and eco friendly. Also how much you wanna spend on it? big bucks or are you on a budget or just looking for more reliability and fuel economy like the majority of us. your not seeking any engineering prizes Laugh Out Loud

Also where are you in this world? I know a man that can if your looking to do the unthinkable, I'm talking engine conversions here Grin

Those diesel boxer engines look interesting but I bet they aint cheap.
http://vwkd.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4119

Don't stop thinking just at the engine neither, think about gearbox options too, no point in having an eco engine if your revving the nuts out of it trying to blow the engine up getting your bus to move.

I must admit that I'm in no means an eco warrior, my T5 is in the highest road tax category and classed as a 4X4, my Notchback runs a wrx engine and my daily driver over 120 miles per day averages 13MPG.

Just as my father has always told me " I have an answer for everything"
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Think......

Don't sleep and drive!!!

richbaker78 · Teacher of Padawans Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 1298

In theory as kai says all non common rail diesel will run pure veg oil but in reality it comes down to the quality of the pump. Cars with a bosch pump will run it fine but others with CAV and Lucas pumps will be on borrowed time so I would look in the VW range to start with. Fortunately this is a well trodden conversion path. THe AAZ diesels are a good shout - fitted to many golfs and similar there are quite a few on here who have done this in splits.

Regarding the green-ness of it all you have to be realistic...
As kai points out its often these things are sold as green but few actually are. veg oil is renewable at least but not really green due to its cash crop status. You can make it a bit better by using waste veg but ultimatly there is still a CO2 emission.

i ran my old vito for 80,000 miles on waste veg oil collected from takeaways etc which in my opinion is the most green of all the options but to be honest my motivation was that this was the cheapest option.

You could go modern efficient diesel and run it on Biodiesel which is better than mineral diesel but ultimatly uses the same veg oil as above plus some chemicals! Your other options....well LPG burns cleaner but isnt green and batterys whilst claimed to be the future are made of nasty but recylcleable stuff mined at the expense of many rainforests!

so in sumary its picking the best of a bad lot really...take your pick :-)

Kai · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 9:55 pm Post subject:

splitbusvanatic · Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 4:41 pm Post subject:

I love my Tds BMW. Non Common Rail. Indirect Injection.
Sorry to thread hijack here. But would a mix of Waste Filtered Veg Oil and Normal Diesel allow the car to run normally. ?
Say 40% Veg Oil to 60% Diesel.
I have a Bosch pump in this car.

richbaker78 · Teacher of Padawans Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 1298

I dont think you would find any manufacturer willing to endorse the use of biodiesel in their cars due to the inconsistent quality of the stuff and thats true of all these fuels (except LPG) but that doesnt mean it wouldnt work.

THe gamble with biodiesel is usually the engines are high value as they tend to be modern common rails and hence the gamble is much larger - personally I wouldnt stick biodiesel in your new T5, but i am plannign on using it in my 03 vito.

Re the beamer- Im not 100% but i think it would work - TBH though mixed use like that doesnt actually save much £ as veg oil isnt that cheap and you may have to up the percentage as it gets colder due to lack of heat exchanger.

splitbusvanatic · Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 1:13 pm Post subject:

richbaker78 · Teacher of Padawans Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Posts: 1298

No probs...
if you do a lot of miles its probably worth looking into converting properly with a kit. Then you can run 100% veg oil safely and relaibly in your engine. I think my conversion cost about £600 from dieselveg.com but it paid for itself many times over before the van died (unrelated to the veg oil) as at one time i was getting free fuel and claiming 42p a mile for work. The first big trip i ever did with it was to aviemore,scotland from Bath. Cost me £5 return Grin

JP on here also runs his passat on waste veg oil