Initial Considerations

Written by TsTDI

I am writing this guide on behalf of the WVO community as a primary means of searching for relevant, experienced information regarding the use of WVO in diesel engines (specifically the TDI VE rotary engine).

Disclaimer:

This is a guide and by no means a guarantee. There is nothing guaranteed with the use of experimental fuels (Please see Experimental and Alternative Fuels: an overview). This guide is written on behalf of me and my experiences thus far with the use of WVO. My experiences include the use of burning WVO in three different vehicles, two of which are converted with the Greasecar kit. I will discuss each of these further in detail later in this guide.

This guide is written to ensure the most long term success burning WVO with the information we currently have available. I cannot guarantee you will go out and run your car for over 100k on WVO, nor can I guarantee that you will switch to WVO and explode your engine in 5000 miles. These are unchartered waters and using a non ASTM Spec fuel in an engine that requires it, will always run some kind of risk. However, my research/experiences have provided success in three different vehicles and enough confidence in my program to write my own guide regarding the use of WVO.

I like to use this analogy. Having experiences with auditing financial statements at public accounting firms, an auditor provides assurance to the public (or any user of the financial statements) that the financials are in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. This means, an auditor provides assurance, not a garuntee that the financials are not materially misrepresented. Through an audit, we can only confidently assure that there were no instances of fraud, but we can not guarantee there were no instances of fraud.

Back to WVO, I can only provide you the assurance that to the best of my knowledge this is an effective way of burning WVO the safest and most efficient way possible. I can not guarantee anything regarding your use of my directions/ insight and one must take full responsibility for their own actions regarding their use of WVO, whether it is the right or the wrong way. If you blow your engine up, it is your own doing, not mine.

I urge you to read this guide and understand it thoroughly. Although the information provided in this guide is my own thoughts and reasoning, this guide is sourced from countless of hours of research (searching wide varieties of forum threads) on the internet and personal experience. Hopefully I encompassed this topic well enough for you to believe in what I am saying. If I did not, read my opinion, read another, read twenty more, and then form your own opinion regarding the topic. This guide took a long time to write and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

The Basics:

VO/WVO is a much riskier endeavor then that of its popular counterpart biodiesel. Although derived from the same source, these are completely different fuels. "Biodiesel is made from vegetable oil or animal fat (triglycerides) reacted with methanol or ethanol and a catalyst (lye), yielding biodiesel (fatty acid methyl or ethyl esters) and glycerin as a by-product."

VO/WVO is the same stuff that you cook with and eat your greasy fast food fries from. VO (vegetable oil) becomes WVO (waste vegetable oil) as soon as it is heated to a high temperature (typically fryers run at a consistent 350 deg F), and used for cooking and eventually disposed of at a restaurant. At this temperature, the oil actually burns (signaled by the small amounts of smoke rising from the deep fryer) which is cause for the darker tint that WVO typically has.

Before the Conversion

There is a lot to consider before thinking about converting your vehicle with a recommended WVO burning kit. Some things to consider are as follows:

• Source of Oil
• Consistent Source of Oil
• Initial Fixed Costs (time, cost of conversion, filtration, and storage)
• Space
• Time needed to pick up Oil
• Relationships with Oil Sources Management
• The "Mess" Factor

Source of Oil-

Obviously for any of this to be possible you need a source of oil. Not only do you need a source of oil, you need a consistent source of oil. It would be very unfortunate to purchase a kit and learn that your supply source has chosen another means of disposal or in many cases, someone else stealing the oil from you. One must understand that burning WVO or creating biodiesel (both need sources of oil) is not a revolutionary idea and if your considering starting now, your probably already behind. People have already established their suppliers and they are VERY good about making sure pick up’s are timely and clean.

Initial Fixed Costs-

There is a decent amount of money that will be invested in your "WVO burning program." My experiences have three cars burning WVO on a consistent basis so it was much easier for both my dad and I to invest a bit beings the demand for three cars was there. If you only have one car that you plan burning WVO in, you may be more conservative in your purchases for filtration, storage, and maybe even a kit; however, one must not cheap out at this stage of the process. It is very important that you invest enough money to create an acceptable means of filtration and storage. With WVO, you get what you put into it. A poor effort = poor results.

Space-

If you live in a condo or don’t have a backyard, I would sincerely recommend you to not pursue WVO. This operation needs space and lots of it. Gravity filtration is the cheapest and most effective filtration methods out there and if you do not have the space to allow this to happen, you’re severely limited to what you can do in regards to effective filtering. I recommend a shed or a garage with 30 or 50 gallon barrels of WVO oil (pre filtered) to sit and stand. We have roughly ten 30 gallon barrels, six 50 gallon barrels and one that holds over 100 gallons of oil. So in theory we can stockpile in excess of 700 gallons of oil at a time. Obviously, for the needs of a TDI, this is insane. However, burning WVO in three different vehicles, we can burn anywhere from a couple gallon during a week to close to 16-20 in a single week (our Powerstroke).

Time Needed to Pick Up Oil-

You must be aware that there is time that needs to be allocated in picking up oil, typically once a week. This must be done on a consistent basis to keep your source. If you are an unreliable pick up, management won’t deal with you and kindly ask you not to pick up their oil from their store. There is definitely a responsibility factor on your part to keep in mind that people are relying on you to get rid of their waste.

Relationships with Management-

We are friends with everyone we pick up oil from. Long time ago I worked fast food and made friends with management at a couple different stores in the hopes of being allowed to pick up their waste oil. One must kindle relationships with GM. Remember, they have a means of disposal already, they don’t need the help but you do.

The "Mess" Factor-

You’re required to pick up disposal of the oil in the cleanest and most efficient way possible. Remember that restaurant chains are trying to run a store and customers will complain over the stupidest things. If you are a slob, you will lose your source quick. You must pick up with care and have a means of clean up because spills will occur.

You will spill oil everywhere at one point or another. We are very clean and neat and even we have spilled on our garage floor more than once. Expect it to be messy and dirty. If you’re the type to not want to get your hands dirty, I would recommend against burning WVO. I will say this though, even though WVO is a messy operation, that does not mean the final product going into the final tank needs to be messy. We are very careful pouring oil in our WVO tanks in our cars (use of an oil funnel). Our trunks are spotless and free from smells of oil. Have some pride…

As I said above, our trunks are spotless on our nicer vehicles. My 2001 TDI and dads 2000 Powerstroke are kept always in immaculate condition. Our beater 86 VW IDI is a different story. Although kept in good shape, we have spilled oil in the trunk many of times. It is the car we take to pickup oil with. I would recommend designating a particular car for pick up’s because it’s hard to keep clean. Our trunk of that car will forever smell like WVO. We do have towels in the trunk but it doesn’t help much. Bottom line, be smart and understand messes will occur but that does not mean you have to be a slob. If a second car is not available, one must understand that this scenario could occur on a nicer vehicle. This is obviously a personal choice, some people could careless about their cars and some people are anal retentive like myself. Understand messes will occur at one point.

Ok now what?

You’re far from converting your car yet. I feel this is a much overlooked step of the process. One must start with a well maintained vehicle that is in perfect working condition. The car must run like a clock for you to be successful with WVO from the start. If your car is a POS, expect it to be an even bigger POS after the conversion. If the car is in perfect working order (timing belt, glow plugs, filters, routine maintenance, oil changes, water pump, all the amenities…. etc… etc.. etc…) one’s chances of successfully burning WVO are greatly increased. Other than doing obvious maintenance, ones car should not smoke excessively on startup, should not burn any oil, and one should address any CEL (check engine lights). A great idea would go to a person who knows TDI’s well and ask them to go over the car and see if they can find any problems. Do not take your car to a dealership and ask this, they will only up-sell you. Of the above things, the most important factor is making sure engine timing is correctly set (would correlate most with your timing belt install). In the TDI timing graph, your engine timing should be set above the middle (blue) line, preferably in the middle between the blue and green (upper) line. This website below shows a great example of this.

Ross Tech - TDI Timing Checker

The basic premise of this graph is advanced or retarded timing. Where the two lines meet on this graph would be an example of advanced timing. If the lines met below the blue line and more closer towards the red line, this would be an example of retarded timing. A detailed explanation of why this is important will be discussed further. Explanations and details aside, advanced timing is where engine timing should be; especially on a car burning WVO. This graph is a great example of where your cars engine timing should be.

One cannot expect to start burning WVO with a car on borrowed time and be successful. One also cannot blame WVO on the destruction of an engine that was already hurting from the start. I will mention "the idiot factor" many times in this guide. This is where it applies greatly. Do yourselves the favor and start off at an advantage with a perfectly running, well maintained vehicle. Do not blame WVO as a reason for YOUR IDIOCY.

Other than the obvious benefits of starting off with a fine running vehicle, you are able to make comparisons. If you pay attention to your engine you can prevent catastrophic engine damage. For example, if your car was not smoking prior to a vegetable oil conversion and it is now, you should expect either a coked up intake manifold (engine not breathing properly) or coked up injectors (compromised injector spray pattern and atomization). Another example of this case would be burning oil or smelling oil on startup. If this was not the case prior to conversion, one should understand that something had happened while burning WVO to cause this. Probable causes is coking of the oil piston rings. Be smart, be cautious and always pay attention! This is critical to long term success. Understand that if any problem is left unfixed, burning WVO will exacerbate this problem and accelerate it to an engines almost certain demise. It is a slippery slope…. know this and respect it!