****Edit 4th Jan 2006****
It has occurred to me that newcomers reading this thread may be put off by this account of an unfortunate experience and get the idea that it was caused by biodiesel.
In the time since this thread was posted, much investigation has been done and the real causes of the fault have now been found.
I can safely say that biodiesel was NOT to blame.
Circumstantially, it looked like biodiesel caused a fault, but with proper scientific study, it has been proved that there was an existing fault, plus a bad design by Land Rover, plus my own lack of care with decanting fuel and contaminants which caused a blocked filter. This blocked filter when changed put air in the fuel lines. The existing fault of the primary (in tank) electric pump then became apparent when it was unable to re-prime the fuel lines. After many tests and the replacement of the primary fuel pump (broken probably years ago), the car has run beautifully on 100% biodiesel for a few thousand Kms.
An autopsy of the broken fuel pump showed that it had thick deposits all over the the commutator, indicating that it had not turned for years, Additionally, the coils showed no electrical current flowing through them - the root cause of the black deposits many years ago.
This clearly proved that although the fault had occurred after biodiesel was added to the car, biodiesel was NOT the cause of the breakdown.
I will post more on this later, but for now, please do not draw the conclusion that many people too easily jump to out of ignorance - biodiesel did not cause my breakdown.
****End of edit****
Well, I'm broken down by the side of the road in Baulkham Hills at the moment.
I expected to have to change a fuel filter, so I thought how clever I was when I recognised the symptoms of poor fuel delivery and pulled into a quiet side street. I managed to swap the filter out within minutes. However, then I discovered that the clever people who built the Freelander put the fuel pump before the filter, not after it! Who does that? What a silly idea #@!&*
Anyway, the short story is that my fuel pump is now not pumping properly, as the petro diesel sludge got washed into the pump before the filter. I really should have fitted that CAV filter first.
We've got a whole bunch of guests coming around this afternoon for a party. They're all going to ask "where's you car"? Then they're all going to mutter to themselves: "yeah, we knew he shouldn't have used that biodeisel stuff, now he's gone and ruined his car - we warned him he would". Grrr.
I have to find a moment (perhaps tomorrow) to return to my car, remove the pump, take it home, try to clean it out and then return to re-fit it. I just hope it's not pissing with rain when I'm ready to do it. Sigh.
It has occurred to me that newcomers reading this thread may be put off by this account of an unfortunate experience and get the idea that it was caused by biodiesel.
In the time since this thread was posted, much investigation has been done and the real causes of the fault have now been found.
I can safely say that biodiesel was NOT to blame.
Circumstantially, it looked like biodiesel caused a fault, but with proper scientific study, it has been proved that there was an existing fault, plus a bad design by Land Rover, plus my own lack of care with decanting fuel and contaminants which caused a blocked filter. This blocked filter when changed put air in the fuel lines. The existing fault of the primary (in tank) electric pump then became apparent when it was unable to re-prime the fuel lines. After many tests and the replacement of the primary fuel pump (broken probably years ago), the car has run beautifully on 100% biodiesel for a few thousand Kms.
An autopsy of the broken fuel pump showed that it had thick deposits all over the the commutator, indicating that it had not turned for years, Additionally, the coils showed no electrical current flowing through them - the root cause of the black deposits many years ago.
This clearly proved that although the fault had occurred after biodiesel was added to the car, biodiesel was NOT the cause of the breakdown.
I will post more on this later, but for now, please do not draw the conclusion that many people too easily jump to out of ignorance - biodiesel did not cause my breakdown.
****End of edit****
Well, I'm broken down by the side of the road in Baulkham Hills at the moment.
I expected to have to change a fuel filter, so I thought how clever I was when I recognised the symptoms of poor fuel delivery and pulled into a quiet side street. I managed to swap the filter out within minutes. However, then I discovered that the clever people who built the Freelander put the fuel pump before the filter, not after it! Who does that? What a silly idea #@!&*
Anyway, the short story is that my fuel pump is now not pumping properly, as the petro diesel sludge got washed into the pump before the filter. I really should have fitted that CAV filter first.
We've got a whole bunch of guests coming around this afternoon for a party. They're all going to ask "where's you car"? Then they're all going to mutter to themselves: "yeah, we knew he shouldn't have used that biodeisel stuff, now he's gone and ruined his car - we warned him he would". Grrr.
I have to find a moment (perhaps tomorrow) to return to my car, remove the pump, take it home, try to clean it out and then return to re-fit it. I just hope it's not pissing with rain when I'm ready to do it. Sigh.
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