Its been a while since I last posted, but I now have a photo of the simple heated fuel filter solution.
Its a baby bottle warmer from mothercare (in this case babytec) wrapped around the existing canister fuel filter. Its 25w and normally allows you to heat your babies bottle via the lighter socket. It works really well and costs £8 new. Whats more it has a thermostat in it so its pretty safe. This would not be enough on its own to run pure oil during cold spells but its really just to get around the waxing problem. A very cheap and simple solution that can be fitted in 5 minutes.
7 comments:
Excellent - i've done the same to my W124 E300D running on veg in the hope it will help cold starts:
http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/2209/bottlewarmerkm8.jpg
Turning the key to the acc position twice before starting help as well, in order to have the glow plugs on twice. For very low temperatures you should mix some thinner fuel in as well, like diesel.
what temp in degrees do you consider it cold?
The important temperature to consider is -3 degrees C. At that temperature vegetable oil will start waxing and clog filters. Cold starting will get slightly harder from around zero. This is just my experience you understand. I have never had a veg oil merc not start and thats including without any mods and during winter.
I Kenny
It is with great interest that I watched you posting on You Tube and I am thinking to give it a go and get an old Mercedes witch will make an outlaw of me as I am living in the sunny south west of France, but willing to risk it.
I would like to ask you a couple of question before I spend my money and risk jail for driving on VO in France.
Regarding the car that you picked for your trip, why did you choose a 190 D?
From what I understand a boch Diesel pump is vital for the smooth running of a car running on SVO or WVO.
• Is the model of the Mercedes impotent? (if I get a 250 D a 300D or any other Mercedes Diesel will it work as well as on your 190 D)
• Is the vintage of the car important? (will it work as well on a 1995 as I do’s on a pre 1989)
• Will a mixture of Diesel and VO work well for winter months (say 50/50) or will I have to use some sort of thinner when I am on 100% VO?
• I did find out that VO will work on a more recent car like a Renault Megan CDI but do you know if it will work on a HDI engine? (I drive a Renault Traffic Diesel HDI as well)
Thank you very much for your posting and I am looking forward to ear your advice.
Regards.
Errol
Hi,
I was a huge fan of the 190 already, I got into the veg aspect of it because of the 190d but many other cars work well too. All w201, w123 and w124 mercs with diesel engines will work just as well, including the later multivalve w124's. On our travels we met someone running the newer shape with rounded headlights of it and he said it worked fine. To be safe though I would stick with an older one, also they are better built than the new mercs because the accountants weren't involved in the build quality decisions. The w124 250d and 250td have the exact same engine as the 190d 2.5 so they are fine.
Diesel and oil will work fine. The diesel is working as a thinner. They mix well and don't separate so its an excellent option. You can use paraffin if you prefer its a little thinner but it depends on its price where you live. Paraffin also helps clean your injectors.
To be honest I would stick to indirect injection, although other cars will work they are the best bet for good atomization (and therefore least risk of long term damage through polymerization).
I don't know much about hdi but they seem to be some form of high pressure injection system. I would think the veg oils thickness may interfere with the injection more than it would on a relatively low pressure system due to the injector nozzles being smaller. I am not really an expert on other diesel engines though, just the old mercs.
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