any experience with 89 hilux motor on biodiesel?

[Lucas Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lucas]

Great forum - good work everybody!
I'm about to try my 89 diesel hilux 4WD (2.8litre, 4 cyl, LN-type engine) on bio from Rutherford (thanks Gunner!). Would be interested in hearing from anyone with a similar vintage engine or any toyota engine of similar age in maybe a cruiser etc. My fuel delivery system is pretty simple and I can easily change over hoses if required but I'm not sure if the injector pump is likely to cause any dramas? I haven't been able to find out if they have any natural rubber seals etc. My local (mainly truck) diesel mechanic says I "should" be fine but he hasn't had direct experience.
Anyone out there driving one of these old bangers on biodiesel?
Thanks
Lucas

[Terry Syd Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Terry Syd]

Re: any experience with 89 hilux motor on biodiesel?

I've got a an '84 Hiace van with a 2L engine (2.4 litre) it is the same block, but a shorter stroke crank.

If you run B100 you may find that the timing is a bit too far advanced for the faster burn of the biodiesel (you will notice more power at part throttle but less power at full throttle as the piston is trying to compress an expanding mixture). You can retard the timing a tad by loosening the two 12mm bolts on the front of the injector and the two 12 mm bolts on the rear flange. After you loosen the bolts, just put a crowbar under the injector and push it toward the engine a bit.

Big hint. Mark the present position of the timing mark on the housing before you shift the timing, that will give you a reference to always go back to. Set the timing by the feel of the engine response and economy, not by any marks on the housings (all engines should use seat of your a-- timing).

I run my injector timing at a half-way point, so if I was running 100% either bio or petrol diesel it isn't that far off, and with a bit of each in the tank it is right on.

Another adjustment is the quantity of the fuel for each stroke. You can limit the travel of the throttle cable by the use of a 10mm wrench. Biodiesel requires a tad bit more fuel to reach the same level of hydrocarbons as petrol diesel. However, since we are going into summer where the hotter air reduces air density (and later, Peak Oil) you may want to keep a leaner burn.

[Lucas Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lucas]

Re: any experience with 89 hilux motor on biodiesel?

hmmm interesting - thanks Terry.
how long did you have the old Hiace on biodiesel? and did you run it on 100% or as a mix?
did the injector pump work okay on it?
Lucas

[Billyh Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Billyh]

Re: any experience with 89 hilux motor on biodiesel?

I have 85 BJ70 with a 3.4L motor and am about half way through my 200L a couple of observations.
1 I have put a cheap petrol filter befor the main filter as I had the clogged filter which actualy built up such pressure as to spray fuel all round the bay and blew out the rubber ring when the pressure was released. Of course this is locking the gate after the horse has bolted but I feel better about it.
2 Check all hose connections as the bio seems to find any week links.
As for the effect of the bio diesel on the running of the beast I found that it seemed to have more power at lower throtle openings and less when asking more of the motor. This is probably explained by the last post about changing the timing.
It is smoother and seems to use slightly more fuel than the petro diesel but this could be because of the problems that I've encounted and the fact that I had to put some petro diesel in on the weekend partly because I miscalculated how far I was going and the fact that the fuel level sender seems to behave differently with the Bio.
I hope my experience will save someone from the same trials and tribulations.
Thanks to all the contributors. Bill

[Terry Syd Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Terry Syd]

Re: any experience with 89 hilux motor on biodiesel?

Lucas, the amount of biodiesel I have run through it since 1999 has varied considerably. Sometimes I had access to B100, other times it was blended. Of course, since my appearance on the 7:30 Report and causing the Government a bit of embarassment - I now only run Government approved dino diesel.

All the information I have related to the members of this forum about biodiesel and biodiesel production are as a result of my activities BEFORE the Government put the knife in the back of the homemade biodiesel enthusiast (see the BEER thread for more background).

[Lucas Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lucas]

Re: any experience with 89 hilux motor on biodiesel?

thanks Terry and Billy, i'll give the BD a go on the weekend and will see what happens. sounds like it should be okay as long as i have a spare filter or so ready for the initial purge of fossil gunk. I've already got a pre-filter installed (CAV type with a glass bowl) so hopefully I can catch most of the rubbish in there first. cheers. Lucas