Biodiesel is a solvent and as such will also start cleaning your diesel engine and your fuel system. What it is going to clean is the sludge left behind from regular diesel fuel. Over time, this sludge can clog your filters. The truth is, biodiesel will keep your car's fuel system very, very, clean. The degreaser cleaning properties of biodiesel will clean the system of the accumulated diesel sludge/debris first. It might take weeks, months or years, who knows? Engines are funny. After a while, you may need to change your fuel filter, but you'll need to change them anyway as a normal maintenance procedure. The good news is, once your engine's fuel system has been cleaned, it will stay incredibly clean from then on. 5. I have heard that biodiesel will eat or degrade the rubber in my fuel system? Biodiesel is a solvent and a degreaser (a good one) and as a solvent, yes, it will eat rubber over time.
The truth is, petroleum diesel with a high sulfur content does this too, only slower. Biodiesel acts a lot like Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) that is now fast becoming the diesel standard. Also, since 1993, diesel engines and equipment have been reworked and redesigned, using synthetic rubber with ULSD in mind. The auto makers have been phasing out rubber from the fuel systems themselves. This is resulting in fewer fuel leaks for diesel and biodiesel users alike. If you have a pre-1994 vehicle with rubber fuel hoses and are experiencing leaking problems, then yes, you should replace them with ULSD compatible hoses. 6. If I switch to biodiesel and don't like it, are there any problems with switching back to diesel again? No problems at all. You can switch back and forth as much as you like. 7. How are automobile makers, and specifically their warranties, responding to biodiesel usage? It's kind of interesting to watch, truthfully. As the biodiesel industry gets older and wiser, more and more OEMs (Original engine Manufactures) are warming up to this idea and making positive statement about 100% biodiesel and this is reflected in their warranties.
The truth is, it's kind of tough for them to argue the fact. The diesel engine, after all, was designed for this. Caterpillar, John Deere, and New Holland all accept and explicitly warrant B100 biodiesel in their engines. Others are taking a more "wait and see" attitude. They are warranting blends like B20, or B5 but stop short of wholeheartedly endorsing the idea. Other say they "neither oppose nor endorse" the use of bio-fuels. One, check your warranty. Two, if a OEM wants to deny a warranty based on biodiesel use, they can. But legally, they have to show a compelling reason that biodiesel hurt the engine. Which would be very hard to do. This is a very good reason to use ASTM (Commercial biodiesel) fuels, especially in newer cars or trucks. 8. What is biodiesel made from, besides vegetable oil? 2 viscosity standards, straight vegetable oil like the kind Rudolf Diesel used in 1912, is much thicker. This is the thing which kept biodiesel out of the energy/fuel playing field for so long.
What has happened recently is a process called "transesterification." This process is used to thin the vegetable oil and remove the glycerol molecule from the vegetable oil and replaces it with methyl alcohol , or methanol. In order to do this, the methanol is mixed with sodium or potassium hydroxide (Lye) before being mixed with the vegetable oil. This is the basic process. Commercial production requires more ingredients and more refining processes, but you get the picture. 9. Should I worry about residual methanol, lye, or glycerol? For home-brewers, the possibility of residual ingredients or by-products in the brewed biodiesel is a compelling reason to "wash" then test the biodiesel. Biodiesel that is commercially sold, is regulated and made to the ASTM standard, does not allow for residuals to be present. Therefore, you should have little worry with commercial biodiesel . 10. I'm thinking about converting my car/truck to run on straight vegetable oil (SVO) because it does not involve all the chemicals, and is cheaper. Why doesn't everyone just convert to SVO? 2. There are no worries in that regard. One of the compelling reasons to buy a biodiesel kit in my opinion is to get rid of that financial albatross, called "heating oil" in colder climates. A biodiesel kit can pay for itself in a matter of months, one winter definitely. 2. This, of course, requires a bit more experimentation, but generally, if a heater is designed for kerosene, then it will work with a biodiesel blend. David Sieg is the Managing Director of Global Biotechnology Solutions, an American Company based in Vietnam.
They where finished in Atlantic Blue, then white / Silver and next to that a solid white. The sales person said they had put the white / silver along side the plain white to try and show off the difference in the colour's of the two white cars. My reply was - " I can see it in the price to ". Under the showroom lights the Atlantic Blue killed the other two colours dead in the water I.M.H.O ! I do have a bit of a soft spot for a nice shade of blue on my cars if I am to being total honest here. I think the Lapis Blue on the Golf R is very nice colour indeed and Atlantic Blue is about a close as your going to get unless you buy the R version. The sales person made the comment that the blue Golf just looked more car for the money, his words not mine ( but I did have to agree) the car just looked more classy some how ?
