Engine Suitability






Engine suitability for vegetable oil

Most Diesel-engined vehicles which regularly drive longer distances (so reach a good working temperature) are fundamentally well suited for running on vegetable oil. However, to judge the suitability of a particular vehicle, and so to avoid any disappointment in converting to vegetable oil, you should carefully consider the following points.

If you have doubts about any of these points, then you should not attempt to convert that vehicle.

1. Technical Suitability

We do not offer upgrade kits for most vehicles (whether car, van, lorry or tractor), fitted with a distributor-injection-pump made by CAV, Lucas, Stanadyne, RotoDiesel or Delphi. These are generally not suited to vegetable oil.

However other injection systems apart from these types are suitable (e.g. Common Rail-Systems from Delphi and Lucas).

2. Condition of Vehicle

The engine, injection system and electrical system of the vehicle must be in good condition. If that is not the case, for example if the vehicle has been run on Biodiesel in the past, then we CANNOT garantee the conversion. If in doubt, then the compression and injection pressure should be checked along with an computer diagnosis of the engine, where applicable.

3. Journey profile 2-Tank-System

Vehicles that do not regularly reach a good working temperature by running under load for longer journeys should not be converted with a 2-Tank-System. On journeys of less than 30 km (20 miles), the motor will not reach an optimal temperature. Besides the reduced savings, there may be a sharp increase in possible defects, such as mixing of vegetable oil in the motor oil and/or wear and tear.

4. Savings

The more fuel you use, the greater the cost savings and environmental benefits of switching to vegetable oil.

5. Filling possibilities

There are many ways to fill up with vegetable oil.

1. Install a tank at home and have fuel delivered, just as you would with home heating oil.

2. Fill up at a supermarket, or buy bulk quantities from a local cash and carry (they can sometimes supply oil even cheaper than the delivered bulk rate due to price wars, and to their greater buying power)

The more often you can fill up at home, the less you will have to visit filling stations and fill up with petro-diesel (though you still can use petro-diesel)

Changes in driving and servicing

Driving on vegetable oil won't cause you any great inconvenience, but there are some guidelines you should follow to avoid any problems:

Shorter service interval between oil-changes for certain engines. Direct injection engines (TDI CDI HDI etc.) must be serviced with a special plant-based lubricant oil every six months.  Alternatively, you can have your engine oil analysed at regular intervals (not practical for most circumstances). These measures prevent potentially damaging "Polymerisation" of vegetable oil mixing with the engine lubricating oil.

Adding normal Winterdiesel to the vegetable oil in the tank in sub-zero temperatures.

On 2-tank conversions, it is essential to run the vehicle on diesel for the last few miles before letting the motor cool. This flushes the vegetable oil out of the injection system ready for a cold start next time.