You are right Chris, Adelaide's ambient temperature yesterday 43.9 degC and on 28th Feb 45.7deg C
Forecast temp for Roxby Downs (just into the outback) today 48deg

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Johnnojack
4WD Isuzu Jackaroo 3.1 68,000km on WVO 2 tank home built system 6 solenoids. Mk. 8 version.

Hello,

I have come across some problems with the blend I have been using (WVO with 2% alcohol 96).

After having burnt around 100l of this blend without any issues, the other day I filled up with another 45l. Shortly afterwards the car started to smoke a lot and showed typical starvation symptoms.

The fuel pressure gauge was indicating correct pressure, so it couldn´t be fuel starvation.

Since the problem persisted I switched back to the auxiliary tank and the problem progressively went away, but the car was still feeling somewhat rough.

Drove home, lifted the bonet and saw that the WVO transparent prefilter was showing an opaque yellow liquid, not the usual golden oil.



So it was time to get those 45l out of the tank. While I was pumping the oil out I noticed that apart from the funny colour the oil appeared to be quite thick, for sure thicker than the oil I had poured in.

Replaced the Fleetguard, flushed the lines and the water trap, filled up with fresh WVO – no alcohol this time- and the car was going again, but still feeling a bit harsh. Got the injectors out and their tips were full of carbon.




Cleaned them, fitted them back and finally everything was ok.

I guess the oil became too thick to be sprayed properly and the injectors got coked. Why did it get thick and opaque? I don´t know.

I had previously burnt 100l of that blend without problems, so I cannot say that definitely the alcohol is to blame, but never had this problem before.

Remarkably the reaction only took place once the oil was in the fuel tank.

WVO from the same batch was tested for water and I couldn´t see any bubbles or sparkling.

So I have now 140 litres of 1 micron filtered blend. Only the idea of getting rid of it is painful enough, so I have started mixing it with regular WVO at a 20% ratio. This brings the alcohol concentration down to 0.4%. I have used 30l of this new blend and so far so good. The car is running fine and the oil is no longer opaque and thick. I hope it stays that way until I finish the stock.

Unless I eventually find the cause of the problem was not the alcohol, that´s all for me with it.



On another matter, it was a really good move to get rid of that metallic drum and to filter the oil to 1 micron instead of 5 microns. Now my on board filter (FF167A) is lasting around 3000km, which I find good enough. It should get even better once I recondition the fuel tank, but I will wait until I feel motivated enough to do that.
The 1 micron filter bag can filter around 200l before it gets clogged as long as I am careful enough to stop pouring oil when it becomes too thick and dirty.


Regards
gonzalo

Hi gonzalo,

the picture of the wvo in the filter looks bad.

To me it just looks like fats that were liquid when filtered have gone semi solid again at a cooler temperature.

Have you tried this. Get a sample of the problem wvo in a small container and put it in the fridge overnight. Do the same thing with some of your good wvo and see what happens.

I filter my wvo to 2microns and sometimes the high melt point fats just pass through on warmer days. When the temps drop again the wvo has small globs of fat that would clog any unheated filter pretty quick.

Let us know how you go because the alcohol thing is intresting.

God bless froggo.

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HJ45 Landcruiser Troopy
Home made 2 tank system
Blending in main diesel tank
SVO/WVO Converted 18/01/08

Hey Gonzalo, just reading your posts on filtering - it sounds to me like you are trying to directly filter to 1 micron i.e. no intermediate steps ? If so this will be a long and painful process, i would suggest you look at filtering in steps, firstly through a mesh screen (like insect screen), then through a poly bag (we call them woolies or bunnings bags in OZ), then a 5 micron filter bag, then finally your 1 micron bag.

You can have these all running at the same time from one into another so your total amount processed will be higher than 5 litres and your expensive 5 and 1 micron bags will not clog too quickly

Craig

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Toyota Surf SSRG 1993 3 Litre Turbo
Single tank conversion
blend of 70%WVO, 25% Kerosene, 5%ULP - varies by time of year

Hello,

I regret this reply is so late, but I have been quite busy with other matters.

I have done the test Froggo suggested, this is, putting some of the problematic blend in the fridge to check if the problem was related to fats solidifying at cold temperatures.
When I was preparing the sample I was surprised to find that after some weeks of settling, the oil was no longer opaque and thick, but almost back to its original transparent state.
After 24h in the fridge the oil has become thicker, but the colour remains unchanged. Photo.
This seems to indicate that the problem was not related to HMP fats.

Dave, after this I too believe the problem was some kind of emulsion. The oil itself didn´t show water content but the moisture could have been in the tank in the first place.

Craig, filtering in stages is a good idea, but I have a problem with space. The area where I have to process my oil is very small, so I have no choice but to pour the oil straight into the 1 micron bag. It is sort of a “just in time” filtering approach.
I collect the oil from a 1000l container at a recycling centre, so if I pick it up from the top it is reasonably clear.


Cheers
gonzalo

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I agree that it looks like an emulsion and since any water in the tank, however it got there - condensation etc. - would settle to the bottom of the tank where the pickup is.
If the tank has a drain plug then it is a good idea to let it settle overnight and drain a few litres off in the morning.
If no drain plug then an electric pump could be used on the fuel supply line to pump a few litres into a bucket.