Hilux conversion

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

I have posted this on the "Biodiesel and SVO Forums" site as well, but hopefully all the Hilux owners will come out of the woodwork here. In fact anyone with two bob to put in!


I need a bit of help sorting out my conversion. I will be using canola oil in a 1990 2.8L Hilux which is indirect injection using a rotary injection pump.It runs well, though never especially powerful and has done 348K km. Also the climate in Western Australia is pretty warm so my oil is always liquid. Here's my idea of how it will run:

Start on diesel, after letting things warm up a bit, start the pump pushing oil through the WVO side of things, returning to tank until the temp after the FPHE is satisfactory, then switch to run on WVO, the pump turns off and the IP fuel return, after a delay, is switched to the oil tank.



Any comments?

I'm not sure if the pump is necessary once I am running on WVO, but it would be simple to change.
I will probably be using two fuel shut-off valves for each of the 3-way pollack type in my diagram, to better cope with the heat.
The fuel lines will be HOH, all 4 lines (2 coolant, 2 fuel) bundled together.
The fuel tank will be from a wreckers, with copper pipe brazed to the bottom to run the coolant through. I drive a lot on rough roads and I don't want any water in fuel issues if something vibrates enough to crack and leak so no in-tank heating.
I am trying to find a non-copper brazed FPHE so there will be no copper/oil contact in the system, and switching after it to avoid heating the diesel.

I have been doing a far bit of lurking/searching on the relevant forums and tried to incorporate the ideas I liked.

Thanks,
Steve.

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

Re: Hilux conversion

How about this then?

The only heat comes from the FPHE, ideally getting the oil temp to 80+degC.
I haven't measured exactly how hot the coolant gets yet, thinking of putting one of these sensors in the coolant line first so I can see exactly how it varies in temp:

[Tony From West Oz Vice Chairperson of WARFA Find all posts View Profile Close Tony From West Oz]

Re: Hilux conversion

If you were to source a pressure relief valve or non-return valve with a 5psi opening pressure and use a veggie pump delivering 5-6psi, the veggie fimter would preheat during the engine warm-up. The fuel would pass thru the NR valve and be pumped thru the FPHE and filter again and again, until the filter were at the operating temperature.
Once the engine is running on veggie, the FPHE would be able to keep the filter hot, just on normal fuel flow.

Your diagrams look good.

I feel that you could use a coolant temperature gauge to measure the fuel temperature, but that you would only need to do it for a short time, and translate that to the engine coolant temperature indication.

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

Re: Hilux conversion

Tony,
Thanks for the suggestion, though I am a little confused..
Is this what you are getting at?

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

Re: Hilux conversion

I would say that is what he is suggesting. A good way to get the filter warmed, as it always has hot oil going through it.
I would imagine this expecially important on a setup for tallows, as if the fuel is not flowing fast enough through your filter, it will starve for fuel. until you have traveled long enough to get it hot.

I guess the other question is, would this allow a vane type fuel pump to get hot enough to work on veggie?

[Tony From West Oz Vice Chairperson of WARFA Find all posts View Profile Close Tony From West Oz]

Re: Hilux conversion

Yes, by doing so, you allow fuel to circulate to ensure that the filter is up to temperature before changeover.

Capt Echidna, I do not know whether this would allow the use of a vane pump, but from my experience with the vane pumps, they would not even promote flow until they started to pump, and that would be after the oil was hot enough. Tis sounds like a "Catch 22" situation to me.
The Georotor pumps may be a better alternative than the vane pumps.