[lists] Re: Coconut oil as fuel !!

[Guest guest]

I'm the friend that mentioned as having tried it and gunked up

an engine.

OK, a little correction here. I have never actually done it. I own

three diesel motors and have owned 3 previously. A diesel is a

wonderful motor until you have to repair it. They can be horribly

expensive to repair. Because diesels operate under such high

stresses, if they " blow " let me assure you they self destruct in a

magnificent fashion. I've experienced it three times.

I am not a rich man so I am not about to take foolish actions that

may lead to repair bills that I cannot afford, or the loss of a

vehicle that I need. When the latest round of fuel price hikes came

about, I like many was searching for relief. The difference is, now

in my fifties, I've seen all this before. This is my second time

around after the 1970's and early '80's.

The short answer is that practically any diesel can be coaxed to run

on practically any clean RAW vegetable oil. The problem is

carbonization in modern engines which are not designed to be easily

disassembled and cleaned. Old style Lister diesels are designed for

it, but no modern vehicle engines are designed for it.

Carbonization takes place as burnt particulates in vegetable oils

are blown past the piston rings and mix into the engine oil. As the

oil circulates, the particulates precipitate out around cavitation

prone areas of the engine. Eventually they build up carbon deposits

that choke off a vital oil port. One day your diesel comes to a

screaming halt either because it cremated a bearing, or worse, it

threw a large part out the side of the engine block. Believe me,

it's not fun to raise your hood beside the road and see a hole in

your engine that you can stick your fist in. I've done it. Although

it wasn't from using veg oil, it was from improper lubrication.

So we now have established that you don't run raw veg oil for any

length of time except in an emergency.

For constant use, you must convert veg oil to biodiesel, which is a

chemical process that requires a lot of work. If your time is money,

there's only half a chance that you can break even at the process.

Still it appeals to me and I am looking into it just for the sake of

an emergency. We live on the Atlantic coast and I'm concerned about

a devastating hurricane, but the plain truth is that I have oil

drums and can store a considerable amount of petro diesel. I've

crunched the numbers and it doesn't come out for me. That's not to

say that it won't work out for someone else, somewhere else.

Then there is " Diesel Secret " a compound that you can buy to add to

filtered waste vegetable oil, then optionally combine it with petro

diesel for cold weather use. I have not heard any negative reports

about it, but then it may take many miles and hours for negatives to

show up. I'm not convinced.

In short, in my situation, it's not worth all the trouble and risk.

Daddybob