Wal Mart biodiesel

[Charles in SC]

I noticed that my Wal Mart has changed over to biodiesel. The sign says that it may have from 5 to 20 percent bio in it. Is this stuff ok in my bus. I have a 69 GMC with an 8v-71 Detroit. What are the pros and cons?
Thanks!

[Ray D]

If it works as well as it does in gasoline, you will loose 1% efficiency for every 1% of bio in the fuel.  I was back home in the Midwest and there is a big bio plant there, I had to use my Dad's car, so I thought I would put some gas in without him knowing, he always wants to buy everything.  After I got home, we went for a ride and the car kept dying before we got out of the driveway; he said, you put gas in didn't you and I bet it was bio, I did not pay attention, not all cars take it this hard though, but  that is why it is offered both with and without.  My cousin is a big wig in the bio facility and so I talked to him about this and he said exactly as my first sentence reads.  It does not matter though, they are expanding at a rate which you won't believe, gov. even imported a German company to make the bacteria on site.  Farmers are happy though, big grain prices, which go right up to higher food prices.
Ray D

[white-eagle]

i just filled up with $430 worth of biodiesel at $3.62/gal.  it adds to the lubricity better than any additive, makes your engine run cleaner and in my case, seems to make the engine run better.  i even think i get better fuel mileage.

there is no disadvantage to biodiesel.  imho. 
disclaimer: i'm not a mechanic, i've just read some stuff that i hope is true.  my experience has all been good in my 8v92T.

[mugsytrpt]

Wow...I did not buy my bus for its great fuel mileage.  However, I do not want to see it go down.  Good luck.  It should not hurt your engine but I have no idea about efficiency.

[mugsytrpt]

Tom,

Did you buy it because you wanted Bio.?  Price looks about the same as diesel.

[white-eagle]

Mugsy, i did.  i wanted the bio.  i know it has better lubricity than this low sulphur stuff, and supposedly cleans the injectors, cylinders, etc.  my bus seems to like it.  i think i got 7mpg on the way to florida one year.  usually i'm only about 6.5.

i went slightly out of my way to go to a farmer's coop to get it.  i would always put bio in versus standard fuel if i could.  Everything i've read says it is better, not worse, than the low sulphur stuff.  i've got a report somewhere that says just using bio is better than adding any additive.

but remember my disclaimer.

[mugsytrpt]

Tom,

I do not know much about it.....I have been wondering.  There is a place I can get it close to where I live.  Not much diff. in price.  I know some who have used it but seem to have to change filters a little more.  Have you had to bother with that?

[luvrbus]

What I don't like about the Bio Fuel it is so inconsistent just like WM advertises 5 to 20 percent,I have had B20 checked before and it was 43 percent according to my wife's son in law at Ft Hood I bought it from Willies in Texas and my bus ran like crap for a 1000 miles. 

I thought surely they would have the problem solved by now but 5 to 20 percent is a quite a spread why don't they just say contains no more than 20% lol 

good luck

[demodriver]

I had to buy some for my equipment one time when off road wasnt available.  My equipment ran like crap and used alot more fuel. I will NOT buy it now.

just my .02

Eric

[TomC]

Got to watch out what you're talking about here-some are talking about ethanol (grain alcohol) that some are trying to replace gasoline with.  There is a definite drop in power and performance (somewhere along the lines of 15-20%) when using up to E85.  Use this on a gasoline engine not designed for it, and you'll have stalling, possible pinging, missing, etc-all sorts of fun stuff.  So much so-that's why you see Flex-fuel on the back of some cars that electronically adjust the engines tune, timing, fuel delivery when running on up to E85.

Running a Diesel engine on Biodiesel-up to B85 (85% veggie oil)-most Diesel engines should be able to run on this without much change in performance.  Rudolph Diesel invented his engine with the idea of running it on peanut oil.  There is a fuel station near me that sells B85 for $3.95 a gallon.  I'm going to try a couple of tanks in my Mercedes 300 turbo diesel and see what happens.  Running B15-B20 shouldn't hurt any Diesel engine-including the new smog engines.  Good Luck, TomC

[wal1809]

If your running biod in any percent in an old bus, get ready as you might have to replace the original fuel lines.  They are rubber and biod love to eat rubber.  I knew I would have to replace mine when I converted to WVO.  I did not realize the fuel lines would be damaged as fast as they were.  It was less than a year I guess from the time I ran my first bio d in the main tank until failure on the fuel lines.  Somewhere in that year I started in with the wvo and that was it for the original fuel lines.  Sprung a leak and had to replace with Viton hose.

[luvrbus]

Rudolph Diesel"s engine was design to run on coal dust anyone up for that one lol  5 to 20 percent should work ok  
A friend of mine in Phoenix that owns a large truck line Swift is experimenting with running B50 in his local trucks Volvo is doing the testing the first engine was tore down at 250,000 miles showed no wear caused by the Bio diesel,next will be at 500,000,750,000. and a million miles these are D13 Volvo engines,  

fwiw did you guys know the DOE gave Valero 241 million of your tax dollars to develop Bio fuels from animal fat,wvo, and wmo, here people like Wayne and others are doing it for nothing this free fuel  from waste oil,vo and wvo will be short lived lol.

I was told by a friend of mine that lives in Switzerland you can buy B100 fuel there @ 9 bucks a gal,then I was told by our friends from Germany 5% is the max there  

good luck

[white-eagle]

i think we are talking about different bio at some points here.  ethanol isn't what i thought was in biodiesel.  i thought it was grain oil, not distilled.  e85 is alcohol and i understand might eat rubber.  i thought i was buying fuel oils made from corn and soybeans mixed with fuel oils made from petroleum.

they (farm co-op) explained to me that the % was blended at 5-20 in order to keep the price similar to regular diesel.  too much makes it too expensive.

Mugsy, i did not have a filter issue, but i think the explanation is that it does clean your engine up a little and that applies also to your tank.  so any gunk in the tank/lines/pump may wash off into the filter.  My bus is a 91 with an engine put in around 99, so not as dirty as some of the older buses.  also, i changed the filter every year, and i know some others that don't change until it plugs up which may not happen as often.

somebody enlighten me if i'm wrong.

[luvrbus]

You have it right Tom it is just a blend of diesel fuel and grain oils they are just not consistent with the blends yet that is why they post 5 to 20 percent they have no idea it is just a guess right now as it is done after the fuel is refined then it leaves the refinery  then grain oil is added.
The refineries don't blend the fuel they sell to others that do the blending at some other location we have one here that buys from Chevron blends the fuels and markets it to others mainly the Santa Fe in Needles Ca and they transport it to a refueling point in Barstow Ca

good luck    

[Bill in KS]

BioD gives better lubricity than any fuel additive on the market. BioD can get a little wild in the winter.  Diesel fuel has been loosing lubricity ( sulfur) and power ( sulfur ) since the clean air act of 1991.  Not to mention when the sulfur got removed the bugs began to grow.

None of us would consider running our engine with out oil but we all think it is ok to run our injection systems with no lube ( no sulfur)

There are a handful of good diesel fuel treatments out there and some are made in the USA using products grown in the USA.

The best part is : the 6 cents or so it costs per gallon to treat diesel you get a 5% gain in fuel milage.  PLUS you will dramitically reduce smoke and carbon desposits.

Bill in KS