This is a very good price. Please tell me where from Bruce? How long should the element last?

Thanks,

Fitian

Cummins at Hexham.

How long the cartridge lasts would depend very much on the oil you use and the amount of heat that gets to the filter. On my set up and on the oil I use, I estimate I will easily get 5000km out of a cartridge. I must admit that I was expecting to change the cartridge a lot more often than this.

However, there are so many variables that could affect how long cartridges last.

__________________
Cheers
Bruce
http://oztayls.blogspot.com/

1976 W123 300D (3 litre 5-cyl NA diesel running on SVO since June 2006)
1982 W126 280SE (Sadly is For Sale)
1993 W124 300D (3 litre 6-cyl NA diesel - being converted to SVO)

I'd like to continue posting the conversion of my 300D.

Here is the vegy tank. Thanks for Bruce for his advise.



I bough this tank from K-Mart for around $80. It does the job around sydney but It takes a space more than it should. I will replace it soon with another 70 litre tank from a 280 merc. This way I won't have to top up as often and will also connect the fuel guage when I get to know how.

I have also added a twin coil heat exchanger to add extra heat before and after the valve. Now I change over sooner than before.

Here it is ...



Cheers,

Fitian

Great thread gentleman! The info and pictures here are very helpful and interesting.
I'm watching this topic keenly as I'm thinking about converting Helga if I ever get her to the stage of being confident to take take her far enough away from home to make WVO use practical.

I am in the process of making up my own heat exchanger which I think will be like Chris's ( great minds and all that) where there are 3 seperate heated lines. One coiled line which picks up as much heat as possible to heat the fuel from the filters to the IP and 2 others which will be straight run larger tubes through the exchanger which will pickup less heat for fuel going to the filters and for the return line as I do not wish to run coolant back to heat the tank. I'm contemplating a 4th line to use with bio or blended fuel which I would set up as a seperate system.

I have noticed the stock spin on filter and housing get very warm after a slow crawl in the traffic. It seems to be picking up a lot of heat through the mountings which go back to being bolted to the engine. I have been wondering if a CAV filter could not be warmed sufficently the same way if mounted on a coolant heated fixture. Off the top of my head, this would be something like a piece of box tube with an overlapping plate of good thickness welded to it to transfer the heat and allow the filter to be bolted up without the bolts having to pertrude into the space where the coolant is flowing thus eliminating the possibility of any leakage.

I believe this may provide enough heat to the filter to melt any fats and the main HE could be plumbed in before this to ensure the oil after the filter was heated as much as possible. Just another idea for something cheap that could be welded up at home for the fun of DIY that I will get around to trying in due course.

Due to the amount of rubbish in Helga's fuel tank, I took it out when I first gt her and still haven't put it back. I'm using 20L natural/ white " cubee" type drums and have found them to be great ( and free -ly avaiable.) I was looking at a boat fuel tank but the 20L drums fit nicely where the original tank came out and I could carry at least 3 in the same space. I am carrying 2 drums, one in use and the other spare. I swap them over at around the 120KM mark just in case my home made pickup dosen't suck all the way to the bottom.

I pour whatever is left into the next drum to be filled and keep a few drums ready to swap as needed. As I am always putting stuff in the boot, (I have GOT to put a remote boot release on her!) the translucent drums show the amount of fuel left at a glance so not having a gauge has been no inconvienence at all for my trips which are usually no more than 25K each way. I think when I do get round to putting the original tank back in, I'll just make provision for mounting the drums on the sides of the boot like tony and Chris have done. I was also thinking of modifying an original tank but for what I tend to carry, having depth in the boot is more useful than being able to use the full width.

A few questions for the assembled Convertee's....
# When the engine is warmed up and you are running on WVO, is there any exhaust smoke either at idle or when driving along?

# What sort of fuel comsumption are you getting out of your 300Ds around the city in traffic and on the Highway?
Around the city, I am getting about 7.6 Km per litre ( not sure how that works out in L/100Km) so just curious to see how bad that is compared to what other 300D's are getting.

# When using the stock fuel Pump, is it safe/feasable to use an electric pump feeding it and what is the ideal pressure and flowrate?
I have read something about a diaphram that can be ruptured if an addition pump is used with the stock pump. Is this a legitimate concern?

Looking forward to more interesting tips and info!

Hi David,

Hope this finds you well.

I get no smokes when driving at all - On a hot day I get a hardly noticed smoke while idle.

I get around 10ks per liter / city and a little more on high ways. But who cares when it's free?

I did not use any additional pump so I can not answer this one. I know that Tony is using an electric pump for the vegy on one of his cars but he is not using it to help the stock pump.


Cheers.

Fitian

That free bit certainly is the great part isn't it?

The fuel consumption dosen't worry me at all per se, I was just wondering about it as an indication as to the state of " tune" of my engine. Obviously there are a lot of factors as to how much fuel a vehicle uses, but having some practical real world comparisons is handy as a guide as to what one should expect or aim for.

One other thing....
What are the exact hose sizes for the fuel lines and the heater hose coming out of the head? Are they 5/16 for the fuel and 5/8 for the water?
Do these equate to 8mm and 16mm in metric?

For coolant hose. I find it easir to go with the same size hose as what is in the car. This way you can buy all your fittings to match one size. I used 5/8''. I used 5/16'' for fuel lines and 1/2'' for vegy from tank to heat exchanger. Got them all from clark rubber. Usually size is printed along the hose. You may like to use a garden hose for your vegy (cheaper option).

Good luck

Fitian

I can answer this in both Yes and No, depending on which of my veggie powered 300Ds I am talking about. THe Fatmobile is smoke free at all times after the engine is at operating temperature. The white one (Elisabeth) smokes the same as it did on diesel, a small amouint of white smoke at all RPMs and loads. I need to have the injectors serviced. I do not measure the fuel consumption but I expect that I am getting around 13 L/100km combined cycle. Your concern is real, but I have not heard of a fuel pump on a veggie converted diesel leaking veggie into the sump - yet.
I do not use a pusher pump on either ov my 300Ds. In the Fatmobile, I use the electric fuel pump (Holley blue) for pumping biodiesel start fuel, I use the stock fuel pump for veggie on Fatmobile and for both fuels on Elisabeth. This pump is happy pumping semi congealed veggie from the tank. I am using a FPHE on Elisabeth, before the IP, after the fuel selection valve, and a heated CAV filter for veggie oil.The configuration for Elisabeth is

The configuration for the Fatmobile is

I hope thease diagrams help.
tony

Thank you Tony. Your info is always extremely helpful.

You have some clever configurations in your fuel system designs there.
Is there are reason you have set up the fuel systems different on each car or is this just the way you have done it as you have learned more or wanted to try different ideas?

Could you tell me where you sourced your 3 way valves and what they are worth?

David,
The configurations were developed at different times, based on knowledge and ideas which occurred in the space-time continum between the conversions.
the Fatmobile started out with the Holley Blue pumping the veggie, but I couldn't get relaible operation on the veggie, hence I swapped it to the main tank, after successfully using the stock fuel pump for both fuels on Elisabeth.

I use the Pollak 6 port valves as they are cheap and are readily available to WARFA members (we hold a stock of them).

They are available from "Paul Griffiths" <paulgriffiths@narva.com.au> for around $80 each (at last enquiry) plus delivery.

I have many more configuration diagrammes, including ones for rotary IPs.

Regards,
Tony