81 rodeo any good for bio??

[Raff33 Biofuels Forum Newbie Find all posts View Profile Close Raff33]

Hiya folks,
I just picked up a cheap rodeo on ebay yesterday. I have been intrigued by the whole bio diesel movement for quite some time. I am wondering if this tank is a likely candidate for running on bio?

She runs p[retty good as is, no leaks to speak of and only blows a bit of smoke when changing down and is under pretty heavy load (Ive heard this is pretty common on old diesels? I almost **** myself when I saw it for the first time..)

Anyway any advice you could give me would be really appreciated, thanks.

p.s also some reassuring that my new toy aint gonna blow up any time soon wouldnt hurt either...

[tillyfromparadise Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close tillyfromparadise]

Re: 81 rodeo any good for bio??

Hello Raff33

The Rodeo is made by Isuzu.
It should work fine on biodiesel.
My 81 Gemini Diesel made by Isuzu ran fine on biodiesel.

[Robert Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Robert]

Re: 81 rodeo any good for bio??

Just be ready to change a few filters over when the bio cleans out 26 years of sludgy build up in the tank and fuel lines. Aside from that, check your hoses after you've been using it for a while for any signs of softening. Lastly, there is a chance that over time the seals in your pump may swell and cause issues if they are not already synthetic. You'll probably need to change them out at some point soon anyway, so not a major drama. Aside from that, there is no reason why you can't load 'er up with biodiesel and start driving on it straight away.

[Raff33 Biofuels Forum Newbie Find all posts View Profile Close Raff33]

Re: 81 rodeo any good for bio??

Awesome guys, many thanks.

Looks like I might have to doa change over on the injectors, I am getting a puf of bl;ack smoke under heavy load and this is apparently dodgy injectors.

[Captain Echidna Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Captain Echidna]

Re: 81 rodeo any good for bio??

Could it also be a crook air filter? I believe black smoke it too much fuel for the air to burn the fuel properly?
Could be worth removing the element seeing its condition (new or black looking) and seeing of the problem is still there?

[Matt Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt]

Re: 81 rodeo any good for bio??

Black smoke under load is a sign of incomplete combustion and you are seeing carbon in the exhaust gases. Now, if its not overfuelling ie smoking quite easily then this is a sign of poor injection/combustion ie larger droplets don't burn fully. You will be amazed at the difference between your injectors and a cleaned / replaced one, I know I was and mine were 100K km old on mineral diesel at that stage.

Take out the injectors and clean them or replace them, you will notice the difference like night and day. It is not be too hard at all on an indirect engine, make sure you clean out around the injector before pulling it out so that any rubbish around it does not fall into the cylinder. Compressed air is good and wear face/eye protection. New injector tips should not be too hard to find if you think they need it and any good diesel shop will do this for you, Cooma disel in Canberra do a mail exchange service if your interested. Should not cost more than about $200 for new injectors look around.

Matt