Biodiesel

[lazer_mjj]

Was stood filling up the car at the pumps yesterday and noticed that Morrisons fuel is containing 7% bio diesel. Imsure I read somewhere that the T180 shouldnt run on it. Does anyone have a clue about this? Im not all that up on diesel, Im a petrol head at heart

[Daveyonthemove]

Most cars should only be run on a 5% mix of bio. Check your handbook to be safe.

[Cyker]

The only real bad thing about biodiesel is that it eats organic rubber seals and hoses, but almost all modern diesel engines use synth rubber.

IIRC 10% is the official safe figure for biodiesel blends and all DERVs should work on it with no adverse effects. I think a 5% mix of biodiesel is standard in most UK diesel pumps now (Not usually marked tho'), but 7% is a bit weird. Should be okay, but may be worth getting the fuel-filter changed at the next service as biodiesel tends to clean out all the crap in the fuel tubes and dump it there.

If it was 30% or more you'd probably need to change the fuel filter after the tank had run through unless the car was very new!

Biodiesel is supposedly better for the engine unlike bioethanol as it is great for lubricating the injectors (One of the biggest problems of the ultra-low sulphur diesel we use is that the sulphur was responsible for lubricating the injectors; Without it they had to add all sorts of crap as a substitute lubricant until they realized that biodiesel did a better job and still acted as a fuel!)

The only caveat is (IIRC) Toyota never certified their engines for running on biodiesel and anything more than 5% (Which is a mandated UK figure) might void the warranty :(

[lazer_mjj]

I best go trawl through the owners manual then. Really dont want to be driving accross town just to be getting fuel when Morrisions is only a mile away.

[baba_metca]

There is an European standart for the diesel fuel - EN590:2009 Standart. It regulates the mix to no more than 7% bio diesel. In most countries in the EU the 5% mix is mandatory. The thing is that bio diesel has advantages and disadvantages. That is why it is not recommended to use regulary 100% biodiesel. The next step is to rise that % to 10, but there a lot of factors to take to account. Not only the automotive factors, but the sheer production of such quantity.