BIODIESEL im Test | Posts 32+

You can adjust a TDI engine to match the viscosity, why not also adjust it so that it can start cold with it.

No, with the conventional TDI process (direct injection into the combustion chamber), a seemingly insurmountable obstacle arises when using vegetable oil: fuel can leak into the engine oil, especially under partial load conditions.

Unlike diesel fuel, PÖL does not evaporate from the engine oil due to its high flash point.

In principle, fuel contamination in engine oil is never completely avoidable in direct injection engines.

The presence of phosphorus, oxygen, and lithium (POL) in engine oil can have serious consequences: High local temperatures can cause the POL component to crack and polymerize, leading to solid residues that can clog lubrication channels.

Best regards,

Hello!

Just a quick note about biodiesel. A local taxi company switched to biodiesel for cost reasons. The result was a 90% failure rate of their fleet (VW, BMW, Mercedes) due to defective ESP (Electronic Stability Program) systems.

And, what else can one say about that??????????????

Biodiesel is never cost-effective; the savings on fuel are offset by the increased fuel consumption.

Hi everyone,

Peter.

Conclusion: A 90% failure rate of the vehicle fleet (VW, BMW, Mercedes) due to defective ESP systems.


Has he converted the BMW and Mercedes (which were not approved from the factory) to use Viton seals? Were his VWs approved?

Did he alternate between diesel and only RME, or did he consistently use only RME?

Finally, there's the question of the supplier's quality. Has he kept the fuel receipts and documented the kilometers driven? If so, he has a chance of obtaining legal protection from VW, provided that the VWs had factory approval. (In that case, the responsibility falls on the RME supplier).

And, what else can one say??????????????

That RME is a work of the physical realm. Do you want to hear that?

As a taxi entrepreneur, I would rather buy up old W124 diesel cars and run them on pure rapeseed oil. If it has to be done, then it has to be done.

Best regards,

And, what else can one say??????????????


I'm more inclined to grant some exemptions.

Ultimately, all manufacturers of injection systems have repeatedly emphasized that their products do not have RME approvals.

CU Gremlin.

Mc_Givertechnik wrote:

Hello! Just a quick note about biodiesel. A local taxi company switched to biodiesel for cost reasons. The result was a 90% failure rate of their fleet (VW, BMW, Mercedes) due to defective ESP systems. And, what else can one say about that?????????????? Biodiesel is never cost-effective; the savings on fuel are offset by the increased fuel consumption. Hi everyone, Peter

"I'm sorry, but something doesn't seem right. An electrical contractor here has been using biodiesel in his VW fleet for years and hasn't experienced any problems whatsoever that can be attributed to it."
So, either the cars were not approved for RME, the biodiesel was of poor quality, or the temperature was once -20°C...

Even though I personally wouldn't use biodiesel, one has to remain realistic.

Hi,

Okay, so my next car (a G4 variant) also has a PD engine with 74 kW. If I find the note in the owner's manual about BD fuel compatibility, I will continue to use it, and I will also use it in combination with Minol. Since I keep all my fuel receipts, and I have so far found the note about the new standard at every fuel pump, it will be easy to provide proof.
My current G4 also received a new ESP after 23 months because the old one was leaking. At the workshop, they simply stated that the vehicle is approved for RME, so the pump will be replaced under warranty. They did it, and there were no further issues. The new pump is now also injecting RME and Dinol alternately and is still leak-proof so far .
Let's see how it goes next time...

Greetings.

Eike.

I've also been thinking about using biodiesel for a long time. Although my Audi is approved for it, it already has 120,000 km on the odometer.

Regarding the ESP (Electronic Stability Program) replacement offered as a courtesy... if you have a good dealer, it might work, but I know many cases where it hasn't been replaced!

I've read many discussions, both for and against, and I can only say one thing:

Keep away!
From a chemical perspective, one thing is clear:
Additions of 5% BD are actually very good for ESP (Electric Spark Plasma) applications (study by TU Munich, endurance test 400h), but more than 5% BD is very problematic for ESP lubrication. The wear in this study was significantly increased! I might find the link again and post it later...

Regarding the seals: They cannot withstand BD (bio diesel) unless they are fluorinated. They are fluorinated almost everywhere, but not in the ESP (exhaust gas recirculation) systems from BOSCH! They have always refused to use seals that are stable with BD (please correct me if I am wrong!).

Therefore, anyone using this equipment will inevitably have to factor in potential damage to the ESP (Electronic Stability Program) sooner or later.

Is it worth it???????

Source: Mainpost from July 9, 2004.

Traveling with the Raps.

Visiting Ochsenfurt, a small but truly authentic hub for biodiesel.

Würzburg - Ten years ago, the commercial marketing of biodiesel as a fuel began. The 'Campa' company from Ochsenfurt has been involved almost from the very beginning. Many years later, and after numerous price fluctuations at gas stations, these pioneers are reaching their limits.

Waiting at the gas station isn't worth it. At Hennermann in Ochsenfurt, the biodiesel pump often remains unused for long periods. The pump for regular diesel, on the other hand, is usually busy. Many standard diesel engines could actually handle the 'eco-fuel' made from renewable raw materials. Just now, the price of diesel has exceeded 93 cents, while rapeseed-based diesel costs 76 cents, a difference of 17 cents. This makes many people who could use biodiesel think twice about not doing so. Everyone wants to switch eventually, especially if the price of fuel continues to rise, possibly even this summer. If only the uncertainty weren't so great: What car manufacturers write in their owner's manuals often contradicts what local workshops say.


Biodiesel? Sure, but only if the vehicle is approved for it, and most car manufacturers only allow it with restrictions. Or would you rather buy the biodiesel package with the intelligent sensor? It detects which fuel is currently in the tank and adjusts the engine so that it complies with European emission standards. And then there's all the talk about the quality differences and the aggressiveness of biodiesel, which can damage the rubber compounds in the car because it reacts chemically differently to plastic than regular diesel.

As prices rise at the gas pumps, the pressure to make a decision increases. More and more people are choosing biofuels. Rapeseed-based fuel is gaining popularity, and the lonely gas pump at Hennermann is a testament to that.

Between 30 and 40 people per day are now buying the eco-friendly fuel from the mineral oil dealer in Ochsenfurt, which is significantly more than before. Some of the uncertainty has been eliminated: there are now uniform European quality standards. Since February, biodiesel can even be mixed with fossil diesel – as a blend from a single pump. Only the car manufacturers are still hesitant about granting complete approval, and without it, the warranty is voided even when refueling.



Not far from Hennermann, on the grounds of Südzucker AG, the company Campa has been producing and selling biodiesel since 1998, the fuel that 'never runs out.' While the average distance between biodiesel filling stations in Bavaria is normally 24 kilometers, in Ochsenfurt it's only a few hundred meters. At Campa, Managing Director Rupert Schmid explains how rapidly the industry is growing: From mid-2003 to mid-2004, Campa doubled its sales of biofuel, from 70,000 tons to 140,000 tons. Twelve tanker trucks leave the company premises every day to supply filling stations throughout Bavaria.

Campa, a pioneer in biodiesel production, is now the largest producer in southern Germany and, after the Hamburg-based oil mill ADM Leer Connemann, the second-largest in Germany. Campa has just opened another location in Neuss, and another is planned for southern Bavaria. The industry already consumes almost all of the rapeseed grown in this country – a million hectares.

Renewable raw materials as fuels: The idea is almost a hundred years old. As early as 1912, Rudolf Diesel, in his patent application for diesel engines, pointed out the possibility of using plant oils as fuel, either by modifying the engine or the fuel itself. The latter is what happens in biodiesel production. The raw material, rapeseed oil, is a plant oil; however, modern diesel engines with their high-tech injection systems are not designed to run on plant oil. It is only through the chemical process of transesterification (see box) that rapeseed oil is converted into rapeseed methyl ester (RME), which is biodiesel.

RME releases only as much carbon dioxide (CO2) during combustion as the rapeseed absorbed from the atmosphere during its growth, making it CO2-neutral. Almost: The production of RME involves the use of fossil fuels and releases additional CO2, which, according to the German Environment Agency, results in a relatively small climate protection effect. Critics also argue that biodiesel is only marketable due to subsidies. Mineral oil tax does not apply to biodiesel.

Perhaps the most compelling argument is that biodiesel, and consequently rapeseed cultivation, have become new opportunities for local agriculture. In the 'Verwertungsgesellschaft für nachwachsende Rohstoffe' (VNR), a company based in Bergtheim near Schweinfurt – one of the Campa partners – approximately 3,500 farmers from Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and Hesse have joined together. In this way, the rapeseed producers, as co-owners, ensure the long-term supply of raw materials for the biodiesel plant in Ochsenfurt.

However, biodiesel cannot completely replace fossil diesel. The German Environment Agency has calculated that, due to the limited amount of arable land, a maximum of five percent of the diesel fuel needed for transportation can be replaced with rapeseed grown in Germany.

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Ordered some fun pumps... I'm already looking forward to seeing housewives and retirees who can drive for 8 weeks on a single tank of gas.

CU Gremlin.

Hello,

Regarding the topic of biodiesel, I feel I need to chime in again.

I've been fueling my Passat with biodiesel almost exclusively for the past 5 years and 211,000 kilometers.

OK, I am a frequent rider .
OK, I rarely keep the fuel in the tank for longer than 1 week.
OK, maybe PD elements are less sensitive than ESP .
OK, if necessary, the required parts will be replaced .

However, ultimately, everyone must decide for themselves what they want to do. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to people who don't drive much, though. The cost savings are simply too small, and the depreciation outweighs that consideration. I also share the technical opinions mentioned above regarding potential degradation of the Blu-ray drive.

I myself will continue using this car with BD, as I consider the return journey to be problematic. Certainly, a fuel stop along the way with Dino, for example, because it's a foreign country or the fuel filter is slowly clogging, is no problem, as long as you drive fast enough so that the aggressive Dino diesel doesn't have time to attack (it's all a matter of perspective, be careful, this is sarcasm!!). I can't detect any increased fuel consumption...

The reason for what is supposedly VW's withdrawn approval is not an admission of guilt, but rather to comply with the EU4 standard. This standard, due to its setup, only works with Dino or, optionally, with BD (why not the other way around?).

If you ask me about the next car... I would either order the BD-Kit along with it, but most likely I would do a straight vegetable oil conversion from the beginning so that I can refuel at home (saving time...).

PS: I'm not an environmentalist at all, but I am innovative. And if I were to ask my workshop, they would also report about defective cars, whether they are 'Dino' (older models) or 'BD' (newer models). Customers without problems wouldn't go there, logically. And I believe that if you were to count the number of ESP (Electronic Stability Program) failures reported by customers with exclusively 'Dino' cars, people would stop driving 'Dino' cars and start walking instead. But as I said, ultimately, everyone has to decide for themselves.

Regards,
Ralf.