Electric Diesel fuel heater

ed4ferrets · Post by **ed4ferrets** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 1:14 am

Earlier BX's were fitted with these, anyone have one for sale?

Post by **docchevron** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 1:52 am

They were?
Why the hell would you want one Ed?
You're not going that evil veg oil route are you??????

ed4ferrets · Post by **ed4ferrets** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 2:04 am

Post by **docchevron** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 2:07 am

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Especially not on a Lucas pump!
You'll kill it!

BTW, what the bleeding hell are you doing up at this time of night mate?

DavidRutherford · Post by **DavidRutherford** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 1:16 pm

I'm less sure that such a thing ever existed, certainly for the UK market anyway.

There are plenty of aftermarket inline fuel heaters out there, but you'd be better off with a fuel/coolant heat exchanger.

CitroXim · Post by **CitroXim** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 1:34 pm

docchevron1472 wrote: You'll kill it!

Yes, I'll second that. Lucas pumps are great performers but such delicate little flowers. They like only real dino diesel with added lubricity and if given a strict diet of that, last forever and a day. Even if they become incontinent in old age, as they frequently do, it's a doddle to replace their seals.

I rate them as being better performers than the Bosch VE. The only thing the Bosch has going for it is it's toughness.

When I strip my dead one I hope it'll reveal just waht damage veg or bio does to them. It can act like the health warning on the side of a fag packet...

Later XUD's had a small fuel heater under the fuel filter housing and it was thermostatically controlled. In the cold the fuel runs around a labyrinth cast into the thermostat housing before entering the filter proper. These can be recognised by the fact thay sit on top of the thermostat housing and have a domed lid. I reckon it would be feasible to transplant one onto an earlier XUD by exchanging the whole thermostat housing.

However well you heat veg before showing it to a Lucas, it'll still spit it's dummy eventually. If you really want to go veggy, a Bosch pump is an absolute must.

DavidRutherford · Post by **DavidRutherford** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 7:25 pm

What early XUD-engine'd BX's did have was a fuel pre-heater built into the water pump inlet manifold, on the back of the block. These were notorious for going porus, and were a bit of a load of bollocks really. Bypassed, the engine still works just as well as it ever did.

For a decent veg-oil set up, you need twin fuel tanks, a change-over (divert-type) valve on both the flow and return, pre-heating, line heating, tank heating and a shut-off fuel bleed timer.

And a bosch pump. (although a Lucas one will last a very long time if the setup is done like this, as you never overload it with viscous SVO, it's always at temperature.)

I've had plans to do this for ages (and now finally all the bits) I'd budget on spending the best part of £500 to do it all properly.

Thereafter you do of course need a supply of oil, and the ware-withall to pre-condition it as necessary (filtering, handling etc.)

A lot of effort really. Does your mileage warrant it?

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:12 pm

Don't the seals on Lucas pumps tend to react badly to anything other than dino diesel, or have I been misinformed?

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:18 pm

Veg oil is still more expensive that diesel, so i've stopped using it....

Way2go · Post by **Way2go** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:26 pm

Costco apparently do the best prices on SVO.

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:35 pm

Dont know what their prices are like, however, i doubt its 50p a litre cheaper than diesel which is what it used to be & worth taking the risk for pump damage.

If its just a few pence cheaper, i'd rather use bio-diesel which is slightly safer. Infact the best oil to use is sunflower, its got a lower viscocity & can work much better in winter (doesnt freeze as easily) than standard rapeseed, downside is that its more expensive.....

CitroXim · Post by **CitroXim** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:21 pm

mat_fenwick wrote:Don't the seals on Lucas pumps tend to react badly to anything other than dino diesel, or have I been misinformed?

Lucas seals fail even on the finest dino Mat. It's very common to find a Lucas weeping from the throttle and fast idle spindles. The upside is the seals are very easy to replace and it can be done in-situ as well

Experiments I've done with old Bosch seals show they react to veg after a while and on the Bosch it's a much more involved job to replace them. new seals though are good for veg and bio, being (I believe) made of viton.

jonathan_dyane · Post by **jonathan_dyane** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 12:58 am

DavidRutherford wrote:I'm less sure that such a thing ever existed, certainly for the UK market anyway.

There are plenty of aftermarket inline fuel heaters out there, but you'd be better off with a fuel/coolant heat exchanger.

No, assuredly UK BX's were indeed fitted with the electrical diesel heater in question, my grandfather purchased an early MK2 19RD estate when it was about 3 years old (registered late '86 IIRC) which was fitted with a Bosch pump and the electrical diesel heater. I believe C15D vans of the same period were also so equipped...

Post by **docchevron** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:29 am

citrojim wrote:I rate them as being better performers than the Bosch VE. The only thing the Bosch has going for it is it's toughness.

Erm, I rate the Bosch MUCH more highly than the Lucas, although my car is presently equipped with a Lucas pump. Although that will change.
You can just do so much more with the Bosch pump if you're methodical.
When you get it all setup just right the Bosch pisses all over the Lucas.

CitroJim wrote:Later XUD's had a small fuel heater under the fuel filter housing and it was thermostatically controlled. In the cold the fuel runs around a labyrinth cast into the thermostat housing before entering the filter proper. These can be recognised by the fact thay sit on top of the thermostat housing and have a domed lid. I reckon it would be feasible to transplant one onto an earlier XUD by exchanging the whole thermostat housing.

Yep, it's dead easy, and a good thing to do!

David wrote:What early XUD-engine'd BX's did have was a fuel pre-heater built into the water pump inlet manifold, on the back of the block. These were notorious for going porus, and were a bit of a load of bollocks really. Bypassed, the engine still works just as well as it ever did.

Agreed. they are pointless PITA things.

cavmad · Post by **cavmad** » Wed Dec 24, 2008 7:39 am

MULLEY wrote:Dont know what their prices are like, however, i doubt its 50p a litre cheaper than diesel which is what it used to be & worth taking the risk for pump damage.

If its just a few pence cheaper, i'd rather use bio-diesel which is slightly safer. Infact the best oil to use is sunflower, its got a lower viscocity & can work much better in winter (doesnt freeze as easily) than standard rapeseed, downside is that its more expensive.....

Even ten pence per litre cheaper is worth it though surely? I ran a BX almost entirely on vege oil for quite a few months and far from harming it I swear it actually ran better, cleaner and faster on the stuff mate.