Skoda Fabia 2012 1.6 TDI Vegetable Oil fuel mix?

[howard2]

Does anyone have experience of running a Skoda Fabia 2012 TDI or another vehicle with the same/similar engine (*see end for details) on fuel containing vegetable oil? Lots of the articles/posts I've come across just mention older vehicles (mid 2000's and earlier) and tend to discourage doing this with "newer" diesels.

I've done some research online and it looks like blending in small amounts to each tank probably wouldn't do harm, but too much probably might cause issues such as problems starting it, particularly in cold weather. The main issue it might cause particularly at first is apparently clogged fuel filters, so factor changing them regularly at the start till the system gets flushed out.

If anyone has tried this on this model or similar models experiences would be greatly appreciated.

I was thinking of adding say 5l of vegetable oil to a tank of standard diesel to start with might be a good starting point. Alternatively I've seen some people recommending mixing vegetable oil with petrol, particularly in winter (e.g. 20% petrol to 80% vegetable oil should be ok in temperatures down to -18C http://www.biopowered.co.uk/wiki/Blending_vegetabl... ). So could add 5l vegetable oil, 0.5l petrol to a tank of diesel to offset viscosity and cold temperature issues? If this went well then gradually try increasing the ratio of vegetable oil and petrol to diesel and see how it goes?

For starters I would just test with fresh vegetable oil but if it went well I might try processing used vegetable oil in the future.

Thanks for any help and If there are good resources you'd recommend checking please post.

• 1.6 TDI CR, 66 kW, 2010–2014, CAYB (EA189), 1598 ccm, I4, 16V, DOHC, common-rail, turbocharged 66 kW (90 PS; 89 hp) at 4200 rpm, 230 Nm. (170 lb•ft) at 1500–2500 rpm

[lost in espace]

Hi I used to do this a lot with the older tdi, 100% in the summer. You will probably get away with a low mix, with petrol and some acetone I suggest too do a google. It will pull all the crap out of your tank and fuel lines, and changing the filter isn't easy when you are on the side of the road ask me how I know.

I would say it is not worth the risk you can get bore wash and oil contamination, I think this is how I killed 2 engines/cars but did big mileages and it did pay for itself many times over. I was cleaning free oil with a centrifuge.

Get a cheap EV like a 24kw Leaf and try to do all your local motoring in that I suggest.

[Dave Hedgehog]

seams like a lot of messing about if you buy the oil as it seams to be £0.8-1.0 a litre

cough red diesel cough

[howard2]

Thanks for the replies. Roughly how many miles did you manage on the veg oil lost in espace before the engines died? That's impressive using a centrifuge, it must have been massive to have processed enough for it to have been worth it, I used to work in a lab with one but it was for small volumes only.

If you buy the oil at 80p/l which is the cheapest from the supermarkets currently (Morrisons in a 5l bottle), you'd be saving around 50p/l (40%) compared to standard diesel. If it would cope with 10l or 15l in the winter and maybe 15l or 20l in the summer it could add up over time e.g. filling a 40l tank with the following veg oil quantities instead of diesel and assuming same mpg would save:

Veg Oil Cost saving Cost saving %
5l £2.50 5
10l £5.00 10
15l £7.50 15
20l £10.00 20

Also it's more environmentally sustainable, but maybe not worth the hassle and risk! Red diesel would save a lot more but I wouldn't do that. Hopefully others will reply about their experiences in similar cars.

[gmaz]

Modern diesels with high pressure fuel pumps will not handle veg oil very well. Even older ones (< 2002 ish) will need a fuel warmer to reduce the viscosity in the winter.

If you want to do it I'd buy an older diesel car with a more basic fuel system.

[Kolbenkopp]

gmaz said:

Modern diesels with high pressure fuel pumps will not handle veg oil very well. Even older ones (< 2002 ish) will need a fuel warmer to reduce the viscosity in the winter. If you want to do it I'd buy an older diesel car with a more basic fuel system.

Yep, agree. Not sure what a decent W124 300D Merc costs in the UK, but that would work with veg oil OOTB and any expense put into keeping it in running order will repay itself on resell time.

[howard2]

Thanks for the advice. I've found some forums where blending veg. oil with petrol and/or diesel seem to have been ok with these sorts of vehicles but who knows?! Bit of a gamble!

[RizzoTheRat]

I think part of the issue is the higher pressures on modern diesel injection systems. I used to run my 1.9 TD Citroen ZX on veg oil with no problems. The version I had with the Bosch pump was supposedly one of the best engines for it (after the Mercedes one), but the same engine was available with a Lucas pump which couldn't handle the viscosity.
The answer for those engines was apparently to use a heat exchanger to use coolant to warm the oil, and run the engine on diesel before switching to the secondary fuel tank once it was warmed up.

[lost in espace]

RizzoTheRat said:

I used to run my 1.9 TD Citroen ZX on veg oil with no problems.

Ha forgot about my ZX, always wanted one bought it off a dodgy trader smelling of dogs. Of course had no fuel in it when purchased, filled it to the brim and went to pay and found 1/4 of the tank on the forecourt floor.

I ran it on 100% veg oil winter and summer, never missed a beat just stank of burger joints when the wind blew the wrong way. Great engine, Bosch pump. Saved me a fortune but I used to just put 20l of Costco oil cubies in when it was very cheap, then prices went up and we moved onto used oil. Can't remember why or who I sold it to, but it was a great car although they are not terribly crashworthy.

My old school pre PD TDi engines did 30k and 40k before they blew. The first one just went pop, scrapped it for parts and did OK out of the car as a whole. The second had the turbo go, put a new one on but was never right so scrapped that too.

The centrifuge isn't big, just a good way of getting the water and crap out of the fuel. I ran 2 tanks with a heat exchanger, homebrew. Time consuming though.

[mercedeslimos]

Wouldn't even touch it with a 40-foot barge pole.

The 1.6 engines are fussy as it is, injectors are a consumable sometimes. I wouldn't give it a week before it gave some sort of bother. They should be a ~55-60mpg machine anyway in the light Fabia, and a set of injectors fitted would take a long time to repay with a twenty quid a week saving. I know many engines have a fuel quality sensor too, which retard the timing etc so they are down on power and not as good on juice.

I ran the 2000 A4 I have at the moment on veg for a few weeks. No cost saving at all as it was only doing 36mpg on veg, does 44-45 on diesel. Was also way smokier and stank nasty, burning eyes nasty.

Just my 2p, but having used veg before, the car has to be right for it. Never had the balls to use it in a common rail!