Biodiesel impressions

[Rob Taggs]

The state agency I work uses a 5% blend Biodiesel in all their dump trucks. You get far less black smoke than you do with the regular #2 diesel but, it does have its problems. When biodiesel is first used in truck that has been run on #2 diesel it will flush out all the gunk from the previous #2 diesel and clog up the fuel filters within a few days. This has happened on ALL our dumptrucks.

With all the brand new dump trucks, this has happened to all of them also. My guess is all the trucks are leaving the factory with old #2 in their fuel systems. I talked to a manager of the largest salt mining company in the country and he forwarned us that this would happened to our equipment as soon as the state mandated it's use in our state vehicles. Yes, was he right.

I can state that you get no more power from this than you do from #2 diesel.

 

[Reg# 43897]

All sounds right to me. We had to change our filter in our CRD Liberty PDQ as well. What I found was a much smoother engine running bio-d. There was less stink and no smoke at all. The vehicle ran much better. Some claim lessened fuel economy but we did not see that at all - stayed exactly the same.

I think that the stuff is great.

John.

 

[Pablo]

All that cleaning with 5%? Wow.

I wouldn't expect the true performance/emission changes until over 20% or so....just guessing though. I wish I had a diesel. But the petrodiesel fuel is way higher than gasoline here now. D > $3 gallon!!

 

[Reg# 43897]

I have read (not sure if it is anecdotal or not) that any percentage of bio-d will clean as effectively as another. I had a filter clog within about a week of using around 5% bio-d. No bull.

John.

 

[Bobby Johnson]

Around where I live we use B20 biodiesel. I love the stuff. I have not had any problems with the filters on any of our tractors. However, I was aware of the need to change out the fuel filters and did so shortly after the switch to B20. Burns cleaner and our three Kubota diesel tractors also run much quieter.

I am currently using oil analysis on our big 105 hp tractor. I am eager to see how long of an oil change cycle we will be able to get since the manager of our B20 source seems to believe we will be able to significantly increase OCIs.

Makes me wish there were automotive companies(Ford, GM, Honda, etc.) offering diesel options for when I go to purchase my next car.
Bobby

 

[TeeDub]

BioDiesel is essentially a type of fatty acid ester, so the cleaning properties are not surprising. However, this is also why B100 gels at low temps and why no aftermarket fuel additive is going to be effective in preventing this.

You can go to blends as high as B20 (20% Biodiesel) and still use the stuff in fairly cold weather. I recall seeing that they were running B20 in some of the Park vehicles out at Yellowstone in the wintertime.

 

[Rob Taggs]

Oil analysis is done on our dump trucks every 300 hours now. We changed to 300 hours, we were going every 6000 miles at the time of the oil change. We use Wix filters. Trucks do tend to idle alot on the roadside. The state buys a junk oil made by McCollum or McCullah or something like that. Made in Iowa of all places.

What has got me worried is that my new truck will be a 2008 or 2009 and these have the new 2007 mandated oil specs. Have the feeling the state will just use this same old junk oil on the new trucks. New trucks are going to have an afterburner type device on the exhaust to burn the leftover coming out of the exhaust.

All the new trucks we have are Sterlings and Internationals. The Sterlings are junk for the most part, frames cracking and electrical problems. And I might add, more than one of the Sterlings came with missing grease zerks (So much for the quality control of Sterling), they are a joke. The Sterlings come with Catapillar engine which blacken the oil real quick and fairly high metal readings. The Internationals have the new updated 466 engine with a larger turbo. They are a joy to drive. The Sterlings and Internationals are speced out at around 275 to 285 h.p. and the Internationals have far better get up and go.

A warning though, don't get any dump truck with an Eaton/Fuller autoshift. Those transmissions are dogs. The Allisons are the best. If you get in a tight spot with the Eaton/Fuller autoshift you better be religious because you will not have the get up and go to save your skin. Your wife will be collecting your life insurance.

 

[Pete]

What if I start buying biodiesel to heat my home? Will it only clog the filter, or would there be more serious consequences?

 

[Reg# 43897]

I would expect that you would need a new filter rather soon. Other than that you need to be concerned about the % of bioD versus ambient temperature. If your tank is inside, I would expect that such a fact would negate that concern. If t'is outside, you would be well-advised to add an anti-gelling additive to the fuel as vehicles do. My understanding is that bioD burns more cleanly than petro-diesel.

John.