Biodiesel Wisdom?

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Stewart (oily!)
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Biodiesel Wisdom?

Post by Stewart (oily!) »

The ZX TD has been needing its bulb squeezing again in order to start of a morning, I replaced all of the leakoff pipes, nothing, then I looked at the fuel filter, the rubber seal appears to have grown? its loose! attacked in a similar way to the way LHM attacks certain types of rubber, the car has been on virtually 100% biodiesel for a couple of months now and is otherwise running very smoothly, I have replaced the filter, primed it and await developments, top tip, the sunroof emergency allen key fits the fuel filter top, and boidiesellers always carry a spare filter :?
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Post by ed4ferrets »

Bummer :? I've also dabbled with bio and in my browsing have seen reference to rubber fuel pipes deteriorating also seals in certain diesel pumps, presumably this has occurred with your 'rubber' bulb! I haven't often run 100 percent biodiesel so haven't had a similar experience.
Marty said: "Take some small comfort from the fact that the driver of the other car, having failed the breath test will even now be in a little cell, with luck they will double him up with some mean bastard who will be tattooing a fandango on his arse"

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Post by pitman »

Im not completely sure but I think that Biodiesel is mainly for newer cars that have got a release note for Biodiesel from the car maker.

I don't know if the ZX has such a release note. You could ask your Citroen dealer. I think Biodiesel is a quite agressive substance.

You can add pure vegetable oil to some degree, depending on the temperature, if your injection pump (generally Bosch) tolerates this without having any issues with joints etc., but Biodiesel is different.
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Stewart (oily!)
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Post by Stewart (oily!) »

Luckily the only part affected appears to be the filter O ring, theres a new one in there now, seems too have cured the starting, the element is a different brand, maybe the O ring wont be affected, especially at 80p per litre :)
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Post by cavmad »

Is the biodiesel ok to run in a n/a 1.9 BX Stewart? I`ve just been told where the biodiesel garage is in Ellesmere Port and I`m thinking of fuelling the estate up on it. Also as it`s (apparantly) ten pence per litre cheaper than diesel is it fair to assume the garage owners have paid the duty on it?
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Post by Stewart (oily!) »

I am still happy with it, its good to have a bosch fuel pump though, the rest of the rubber in the system only consists of pipe from the tank to the metal bits and then from the metal bits up to the pump, if problems present themselves then it would not take long or cost much to replace them, the engines run beautifully on it and the price is right.
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Post by ed4ferrets »

Cavmad I've run bio homebrew in my n/a 1.9 without hassles, presumably a bulk supplier would have stringent quality checks to prevent comebacks :?

There's no noticeable change in performance and it's a lot lighter on the wallet!! Bosch pumps are apparently not affected and fuel lines in cars from late 80's onward are supposedly not a problem either O:)

The maker/supplier is responsible for paying duty but it may be a good idea to have them confirm that :wink:
Marty said: "Take some small comfort from the fact that the driver of the other car, having failed the breath test will even now be in a little cell, with luck they will double him up with some mean bastard who will be tattooing a fandango on his arse"

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'99 Xantia 1.9TD Break (almost there)
'63 Renault Caravelle
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Post by cavmad »

Thanks gents, successfully ran old BX estate on vege oil without any problem. In fact it ran a hell of a lot better with it than without it. Just need to check what pump is on my new estate then off to the bio-fuels garage to ak them about duty!
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Post by ed4ferrets »

Biodiesel has better lubricating qualities too, and burns much cleaner 8) 8)
With better lube the rattling tincan sound effect is a bit less noticeable at idle too. As Stewart was saying spare fuelfilters should be on hand as it seems to have a bit of a detergent effect on tank and fuel line, loosening any accumulated crud which is then deposited in the filter. This is gradual and could take some weeks of running on 100% bio, you would then need to replace the filter, don't know what the signs would be .... fuel starvation maybe :-k
Marty said: "Take some small comfort from the fact that the driver of the other car, having failed the breath test will even now be in a little cell, with luck they will double him up with some mean bastard who will be tattooing a fandango on his arse"

'94 XM 2.1TD Break
'99 Xantia 1.9TD Break (almost there)
'63 Renault Caravelle
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Post by ernst stavro blofeld »

I doubt if the noise reduction is due to better lubrication. Think about it guys: if the lubrication was in any way unsatisfactory, then the engine wouldn't last for half a million miles! No, I reckon that it is due to a difference in the cetane level modifying the combustion advance, in the same way as making a minor adjustment of pump timing would.
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Post by ed4ferrets »

:-s I'm not implying dinodiesel is defective in the lube department [-X :), just that biodiesel has better lubricative qualities. Whatever is responsible the result is less 'rattle' 8) 8)

Apologies lads for diverting from the original query but bio is good stuff =D> , it's not toxic either so if you were strangely inclined you could use on salad :shock: :shock: (NOT recommended [-() ..... I prefer olive oil myself :wink:
Marty said: "Take some small comfort from the fact that the driver of the other car, having failed the breath test will even now be in a little cell, with luck they will double him up with some mean bastard who will be tattooing a fandango on his arse"

'94 XM 2.1TD Break
'99 Xantia 1.9TD Break (almost there)
'63 Renault Caravelle
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