might buy this 82 k20 4x4 6.2 detroit and become a member...

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MrMarty51

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I dont know much about bio fuel but from what I have read it is not the best of options.
In colder weather I believe it requires a heater to keep it liquid enough so it can be pumped.
I just dont know enough about it so be sure to do the study.
 

TigerTodd

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If that thing has never seen bio before you're going to want to be close to home when you start using it so the towing bill will be cheaper.

Good luck with the purchase and welcome to GMSB.

thank you and i dont believe its ever seen bio.. what can i do to make it run good on bio? switch fuel lines i figure...
 

Blue Ox

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thank you and i dont believe its ever seen bio.. what can i do to make it run good on bio? switch fuel lines i figure...

Bio is going to find every bit of dirt and muck in that fuel system and break it loose for you. So be prepared to change a lot of filters until it's clean.

Bio also doesn't like cold and loves to absorb water. So don't expect to drive the truck much when the temp is below 40° and try to turn the fuel over frequently. Also, where are you sourcing the bio? If the producer doesn't do a good job of washing the alcohol out of it after processing it will absorb even more water. Water has same effect on your fuel injection system as sand.
 

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oh it didnt load your replay before i wrote.. i gotcha. definitely makes sense. thanks for the info!
 

MrMarty51

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Bio requires a heater to keep it flowing, I think even in moderate temps.
Do the study then decide.
Used motor oil can also be filtered down and be burned in a mix of diesel. Let it settle out for about two weeks to a month then filter it through four filters and mix it with the diesel.
I always add two stroke oil to My fuel, an ounce to two gallons on an estimated rough measure. I also add in Stanadyne Performance formula fuel additive, that boosts the cetane rating and helps to prevent jelling of the fuel and also has lubrication properties mixed in, this low modern diesel fuel does not have near the lubrication properties that these old injection pumps require to keep them from wearing out at an early stage of their life cycle.
When it gets to 0 and below I blend no. 1 diesel with every tank full, estimating how much fuel it will take to fill the tank, then partially fill with the no. 1 and top off with the no. 2. Not over a 50/50 mix which is good to about 45 below or more.
 

TigerTodd

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Bio requires a heater to keep it flowing, I think even in moderate temps.
Do the study then decide.
Used motor oil can also be filtered down and be burned in a mix of diesel. Let it settle out for about two weeks to a month then filter it through four filters and mix it with the diesel.
I always add two stroke oil to My fuel, an ounce to two gallons on an estimated rough measure. I also add in Stanadyne Performance formula fuel additive, that boosts the cetane rating and helps to prevent jelling of the fuel and also has lubrication properties mixed in, this low modern diesel fuel does not have near the lubrication properties that these old injection pumps require to keep them from wearing out at an early stage of their life cycle.
When it gets to 0 and below I blend no. 1 diesel with every tank full, estimating how much fuel it will take to fill the tank, then partially fill with the no. 1 and top off with the no. 2. Not over a 50/50 mix which is good to about 45 below or more.


wow brother.. thats a ton of info.. thank you. this is my first diesel.. I'm excited to learn more about this motor and how to get the best performance/fuel economy/reliability with doing minimal work. i want to keep this truck basically stock, with little mods here or there to gain as much power as i can without doing turbos or anything like that.
 

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I've run bio for years in my Powerstroke, never heated it, but don't run it when it' s cold because it will jell. I've also used it in my TDI Beetle with no problem. If you you run SVO you have to heat it.

I will eat up certain types of rubber lines, mostly those used on older vehicles, my Ford is a 95 and I haven't had any problems, but I have a 80's Mercedes that I would have to replace the fuel lines on if I ever get it running and want to use bio.

Haven't tried it in my CUCV yet, but I am not using it as much as I used to, I don't have the time to make it right now.
 

TigerTodd

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I've run bio for years in my Powerstroke, never heated it, but don't run it when it' s cold because it will jell. I've also used it in my TDI Beetle with no problem. If you you run SVO you have to heat it.

I will eat up certain types of rubber lines, mostly those used on older vehicles, my Ford is a 95 and I haven't had any problems, but I have a 80's Mercedes that I would have to replace the fuel lines on if I ever get it running and want to use bio.

Haven't tried it in my CUCV yet, but I am not using it as much as I used to, I don't have the time to make it right now.


wow brother.. thats the info im looking for!! i want to eventually have most cars diesel for the family on bio.. any wagon diesel car for example, hopefully BMW in the future as our 2006 e91 XI gets 14mpg around town. horrible.

anyways.. what kind of fuel lines should i look into? steel braided..? thx!!
 

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I understand everyone's concern with bio and cold temps but the op lives in San Diego. People there think it's freezing if the temp drops to 60 degrees.
 

TigerTodd

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I understand everyone's concern with bio and cold temps but the op lives in San Diego. People there think it's freezing if the temp drops to 60 degrees.


if its 60 here at the beach you'll see peeps in scarfs.. lol
 

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^^^ good post dude.
:waytogo:

Thanks. I have a little too much experience with it. We saw a lot of bio related stuff during the economic mess of '08ish when fuel was nudging $5.00/ gallon. All of a sudden people were brewing fuel at home like bathtub gin during prohibition. Bio has some significant advantages, but for now it probably works best as a blend. In that case it boosts cetane and lubricity significantly. Still have the issues with cold and water.

The other thing that people were fooling with was straight waste vegetable oil. Which some people mistakenly call biodiesel. WVO needs to be heated to well over 100° to flow properly. It also needs an obscene amount of filtering. The major drawback for a vehicle is you can't shut it down with WVO in the system. Once it cools it congeals and sticks everything in the injection system. So you have to start up on biodiesel or Petro diesel, get the system hot, switch to WVO, then switch back before you shut down. Not ideal for a trip to the grocery store. Also, the glycerin in WVO turns into glue when it comes in contact with petroleum.

Of course, if you wade through the catalytic cracking process to separate the plant Esther's from the glycerin to turn it into biodiesel you avoid some of the issues, but the biggest problem with all of it was that when petro fuel got expensive you couldn't find WVO anymore.

We had one customer who was running a generator to power refrigeration on straight WVO. He had an elaborate filtration system that took up more space than the generator. It was a seafood supplier for restaurants so they could collect the used cooking oil on their way out. They would also crack their own bio for startup and shutdown.

We would rebuild a seized injection pump for them once a year.

And as Todd seems to have noticed, it's rough on certain rubber compounds.

That should about cover it. Thanks for listening. :rolleyes:
 

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