whats the story using bio diesel?

trixyben

a mate of mine has a courier outfit 6 or 7 transits and he runs them all on the biodiesel, it costs €1.14 per litre from station. He has been using it for well over a year now, ok he hasnt been stoppd and dipped but wat would happen if he did, he knows the petrol station owner very well who says its compeletly road legal fuel and he will stand by that if customs try to do him.

so wat is the story with it then is it 100% legal to use it or what, its a massive saving instead of paying €1.40 per litre!

eagerv

trixyben wrote: »

a mate of mine has a courier outfit 6 or 7 transits and he runs them all on the biodiesel, it costs €1.14 per litre from station. He has been using it for well over a year now, ok he hasnt been stoppd and dipped but wat would happen if he did, he knows the petrol station owner very well who says its compeletly road legal fuel and he will stand by that if customs try to do him.

so wat is the story with it then is it 100% legal to use it or what, its a massive saving instead of paying €1.40 per litre!

Worth noting that there is less energy per litre of biodiesel than normal diesel. Not sure exact figure and possibly varies considerably.. possibly 10% or more.

Builderfromhell

Also worth noting that biodiesel can corrode fuel lines in certain cars and can be problematic to start in very cold weather.

TylerIE

trixyben wrote: »

a mate of mine has a courier outfit 6 or 7 transits and he runs them all on the biodiesel, it costs €1.14 per litre from station. He has been using it for well over a year now, ok he hasnt been stoppd and dipped but wat would happen if he did, he knows the petrol station owner very well who says its compeletly road legal fuel and he will stand by that if customs try to do him.

so wat is the story with it then is it 100% legal to use it or what, its a massive saving instead of paying €1.40 per litre!

A number of people using bio-diesel from a station that sells it at €1.149 (Im sure its the same one) that I know personally have had no trouble. One of them the car (Mondeo TDCI) didnt start one day, but it was just the fuel filter was full of crap, once he replaced it car was fine. Its also perhaps worth considering that most of the vehicles which purchase biodiesel there are older vans and farmers cars, so it may be hard to find its effects on newer vehicles.

None of them have ever been dipped, but they looked at the diesel and it appears to be more like they believe bio diesel should look like, than washed diesel. Also customs do be around that area regularly enough so if the diesel wasnt legit I imagine they would have picked up on it?

Re legality, I dont know, but a previous post here stated that when dipped customs checked that its specific gravity, and when it really was biodiesal they asked nothing more. If the petrol station is selling it to the public, and you hang onto receipts showing you purchased it from a real business, then your probably minimizing any risk of hassle. Some petrol stations further South sell biodiesel, and some forum users make their own (while paying the appropriate tax) so if tax is paid it appears to be road legal. Even in the UK there is an obligation to pay tax when selling it or making over a certain (low) threshold.


A small number of people report, second hand stories, of problems with it and their engines.

So it appears to depend on your vehicle type....

dr.fuzzenstein

Anywhere in Limerick selling this?

TylerIE

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Anywhere in Limerick selling this?

Theres a station somewhere near Portlaoise I think selling biodiesel.... but its only a few cent cheaper per litre IIRC. I think they were 136.9 - 138.9 when normal diesel was about 142.9

trixyben

been speaking to good few people over the wkend and it seems they are all using it! they keep their receipts to keep themselves right and any problems with the law at all the petrol station owner will stand over the sale of the diesel 100%

think i might start using myself tbh

bazz26

On the inside of the fuel filler flap on my car it specifically states not to use bio diesel.

_Conrad_

bazz26 wrote: »

On the inside of the fuel filler flap on my car it specifically states not to use bio diesel.

I'm guessing it's a modern common rail engine?


The problem with bio diesel or veg oil too and fuel filters is that it can pick up extra crap from the tank and lines but if you change the filter more regularly it's grand. Running one car on straight veg oil most of the time throughout the summer and it's fine, just been changing the filter every 5000 miles. It's 10 euro and can be changed on my old vw in about 3 minutes.
I won't be runnign 100% veg in colder weather as i don't want to modify the car and it does make it a but harder to start from cold but during normal eather once you've got good glowplugs and your pump and filter are good it's grand. Will be running a mix in cold weather though. Some recommend a tiny bit of petrol put in too but i'm not telling anyone to do that

There's a lot of misinformation put about regarding the use of veg oil and biodiesel. Of course it has it's own issues but there's a bit too much "oh no you can't possibly do that the car will blow up in your face" type of panic about it, because it's different, but i guess some people will just never adjust to things.