My Nissan Urvan conversion

[Urvey Member Find all posts View Profile Close Urvey]

Re: My Nissan Urvan conversion

I’m back in Adelaide against my will.

Here’s what happened…….

I left Adelaide late on the same day as getting the system up and running. Heading along the highway towards Melbourne, I waited until I was at the top of the Adelaide hills before switching over to vegy. Initially my temperature gauge which is placed in the ‘out’ port of my filter head read 50C. When I switched over, the temperature slowly dropped and then rapidly rose until plateauing off at around 75C. I switched back and forth a few times to see if I could notice any differences in power but I could not.

Around Kieth (few 100 k’s out of Adelaide) I stopped because I had a slight loss of power and I noticed the pressure gauge reading 5 psi of vacuum instead of around 1 psi. I filled up my vegy tank to see if that was the problem (I did not have a pump running), but it did not help much. Throughout the trip my temperature gauge was also slowly climbing up to about 90C. Soon I started hearing a flicking/ tapping sound which I thought was just my ball valve tapping on my radiator. It followed by a loss of power on vegy so I swapped over to diesel. Soon the diesel also lost power so I pulled over. As I slowed down, the van instantly stalled and I noticed boiling coolant pissing out of my overflow. For some reason there was no alarming reading on my temp gauge on my dash beforehand?

We camped on the side of the road and the next morning filled it up with more coolant and tried to get to a town. But 5kms down the road it just did the same thing so I got towed to bordertown. The mechanic (who was excellent about the whole vegy thing) said I’d stuffed the engine and so I sadly gave him the all clear to replace it while I travelled on to Tasmania in a mates car.

I ended up having a great trip around Tazzie, getting rides with friends, answering notes in backpackers and hitching. I met a lot of interesting people and saw some amazing scenery. I also visited the activists that were stopping logging in the upper Florentine forests. It was a bit of an eye opener for me and I’d highly recommend visiting the area to anyone like myself that doesn’t fully understand the situation.

Finally I picked up my van from Bordertown and headed back to Adelaide. The diagnosis was a cracked ‘big end bearing on the crankshaft’ something that the mechanic said was completely unrelated to the vegy oil. I was quite relieved. So in the end, the van got a new engine, cleaned out radiator and a new clutch, quite expensive!!

So now I’m in Adelaide trying to find a job so I can try and make some of that cash back. I feel like I’ve really payed my dues with this project, I hope it’s smooth sailing from here on in.

[Fitian Was here Find all posts View Profile Close Fitian]

Re: My Nissan Urvan conversion

So sorry mate. I hope this is the end of your dramas.

Stay well

Fitian

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

Re: My Nissan Urvan conversion

I had great success with the gemini, had great sucess with the merc, the toyota I bought did 60ks on veggie before doing the injector pump. $1500 latter it was going again (this was a few weeks ago ). The pump had not been touched for at least 7 years (possible longer) so was probably due for it anyway but. And after I had worked feverishly to get it ready for a trip to Adelaide.
I know how you feel. I think the "lows" of biofuel are not as dramatic as the "highs" so perservere!

[tbird650 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close tbird650]

Re: My Nissan Urvan conversion

For some reason there was no alarming reading on my temp gauge on my dash beforehand?

If it's anything like the toyota gauge set up, they won't read properly if the sensor is not in coolant........ So, if you run low on coolant, forget about what the gauge reads!!
It's quite a big issue for a vehicle of it's era, and definitely not the first time that a motor has been terminally cooked!!
More modern Hiaces have a coolant level sensor which has proved quite successful. Better late than never I guess.

Sorry to hear about the problems you had.

[zigparacingtadpole Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zigparacingtadpole]

Re: My Nissan Urvan conversion

Hey Bryan,

Its a bit of a let down really, all that work that you put into it only to have it go pear shaped a couple of hours down the road. I wish it had gone better for you.
Give me a call sometime.

[Urvey Member Find all posts View Profile Close Urvey]

Re: My Nissan Urvan conversion

I've got back on the horse. I've been testing my system this week and been noticing that it's behaving differently with this new engine. Firstly, I was starting to have some vacuum problems so I hooked up my fuel pump which solved that. I am however having some unexplainable readings on my boost gauge when I swich over to VO. Usually my guage reads about 2psi on the vacuum side but now when I switch over it instantly swings to between 10-30psi in the positive pressure side. It then takes about 10 seconds to go back to normal. What's going on?? Should I be worried about hurting the IP?

With my last engine I enjoied quick heating of the VO and temperatures as high as 90C but now it takes half an hour of driving to get about 65C and it struggles to get much higher than that. Adam suggested that it is probably because I had my radiator cleaned out and therefore the coolant is being cooled down better. So how can I get more out of my FPHE?

At the moment I have a 76C thermostat but there is also a 82C thermostat used in Urvans. Would changing that make much difference?

Should I tap the coolant from another place where it would be hotter?

I would like to use coolant to heat my system but I may have to turn to 12V heaters if that fails.

Bryan

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

Re: My Nissan Urvan conversion

Does the veg oil pump all the time? if so it my have a chance to build up pressure in hoses etc, which will take a while to release when it has somewhere to go (through the IP)

I thought I had a rappid drop in temp from my heat exchanger. It was in fact that the temp probe with 2 hose clamps around it the probe got a lot hotter than the probe just resting on the metal T before the engine. It may be worth checking nothing has "shifted" in the engine rebuild.

I would be temptend to start wrap everything in insultion to help it get up to temp, and perhaps the hotter thermostat. Mind you 65 is in the 50-80 degree zone thats desired.

I dont think there is anything hotter than the heater circuit in a cars system.

Good to see you sticking at it. I got another supplier of oil today (only 10 litres a week) he was throwing it out at the dump. My wife said "and some people say its hard to come by" I reminded her that for one sucess I have had 2 failures, and it seems to be for everything WVO related, not just oil supplies!

[Urvey Member Find all posts View Profile Close Urvey]

Re: My Nissan Urvan conversion

Thanks for your suggestions guys. I think that maybe the thermostat is something I need to check out.

Does your engine get up to temp as it should on the gauge?

When driving around town the gauge stays about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. It reaches this in about 5 min. The gauge only sits directly in the middle after a prolonged period of driving at 100km per hour. Does that mean that my 'normal opperating temperature' is when the gauge sits 1/4 up from the bottom? or does it only reach 'normal opperating temperature' on the highway?

David, I turned on the ball valve allowing coolant to flow to the cabin heater and I recieved hot air. So I guess there is no problem there.

Does the veg oil pump all the time?

No, my pump turns on when I switch to vegy.
I think I discovered my pressure problem today but I don't know how to fix it. Basically I think the problem is in the way I purge the system. I have two 3-way valves, firstly I turn the supply valve back to diesel and then I wait a while (to allow the vegy to leave the lines) before switching the return back to diesel. The longer I leave between switching the two valves, the higher the pressure I get next time I switch to vegy.

So this is what I think is happening... When I have the supply as diesel and the return still looped, the fuel being returned from the IP is going backwards through my system trying to return itself to the vegy tank. However, the flow must not be able to go backwards through the 'off' pump, so pressure builds up. Next time I switch over to vegy all this pressure is still in the lines and therefore I get super high positive pressure on changeover. I'm making the assumption that fuel can not flow backwards through an 'off' fuel pump, is this correct? What can I do about this? I'm sure it is not good for the IP to be pushing the return fuel into a 30psi line.


This weekend I took the van for a trip to a friends beach house. It was about a 250km journey and I learnt a lot more about how it is behaving. It
took a while but I got the vegy oil up to 95C and it was still climbing!! What temperature is too high for the IP? I stopped and opened the ball valve which allows coolant flow also to my cabin heater (not just my FPHE). This must have slowed the flow a bit because the temp instantly dropped to 80C and then slowly climbed to 90C where it stopped. So I guess as long as I drive over 100km per hour, I can get it up to temperature.

I did only get to drive about 50km on vegy however because I was starting to get 10psi of vacuum at the IP, instead of the normal 1psi. I guess this could mean my filter is starting to clog up? I don't know whether I should try replacing the filter or look at getting a stronger fuel pump?

cheers

Bryan

[melvindin Biofuels Forum Newbie Find all posts View Profile Close melvindin]

Re: My Nissan Urvan conversion

I always wonder why some people are spending too much$$$$ on converting their cars in norder to use SVO. If you change vege oil into Biodiesel then there is no need to go through all this hassel of changing the fuel line system.
I am a biodiesel educator and will run two hands on workshops in Sydney in Mid March.
Need more info? conatc me

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

Re: My Nissan Urvan conversion

I always wonder why some people are spending too much$$$$ on converting their cars in norder to use SVO. If you change vege oil into Biodiesel then there is no need to go through all this hassel of changing the fuel line system.

No, just the hassle of purchasing chemicals, mixing stuff, making measurements, washing, setting up pumps, mixing tanks, keeping the dog and the kids out of it, avoiding methanol fumes, getting safety glasses and gloves to avoid any methoxide splashes, working out what to do with the glycerine and wash water.
And doing this everytime you want to make some

Change the fuel system once, filter oil (same as biodiesel) and skip all the above.

Still wondering?

Some people choose to do Bio, some dont. Both have positives and negatives. Which is better depends on your situation. I got an A in tech, and a D in chemistry. I can, and have, made a litre or two of bio, and its not for me.

Good luck with the course, bio still beats fossil fuel

[Fitian Was here Find all posts View Profile Close Fitian]

Re: My Nissan Urvan conversion

If you blend your oil as I do, then there is no need to go to any hassel with making bio OR modifying your car! Just Filter the oil, throw in some petrol, Kero or Diesel and your done!
Beats every other way of using veg that I know of.

I may agree and disagree with you on this David.

I agree that blending works better for people not wanting to go through converting their car as well as for people not wanting to make bio.

Like what Chris said. all options have postives and negatives but here is my point. Using two tanks conversion is the best of all because you can use all available options. Bio or all types of blends for a start up then WVO for the rest of the trip. But the good thing here is that you will not use petrol or kero or even diesel for too long - only at start and just before stopping - while you will have to use either of them all the time if you running on blends.

Filtering the oil is a common thing for all options and this is the only thing you've got to do once the car is converted.

Cheers,

Fitian.

[Urvey Member Find all posts View Profile Close Urvey]

Re: My Nissan Urvan conversion

Hi all,

It's been a while! I guess I got a bit pissed off with the whole vegy thing so I put it on the back burner for a while. Things kept going wrong with my system and my veg oil processing was a pain in the arse.

Things have improved. The van's running well and over easter I went on a 3000km trip to the east coast and back using only half a tank of diesel. I did however break down in Hay for 3 days when my IP started leaking fuel. I expected the worst (especially with my luck) but it ended up just being a cracked O-ring in the top of the pump, $175. The mechanic said it was stiff as hell, I wonder if the heat in the VO would have deteriated it?
On the open road, my VO temp rises up around 100 degrees if I don't shut some coolant off from my system. How hot is too hot for my VE type IP?

What I did to improve my system-

I installed a 90 degree thermostat and now my vehicle quickly reaches normal opperating temperature instead of always sitting on cold.

I changed my return line from entering after my FPHE to just before it. Now I switch over when the temp in my filter is around 35 degrees and is quickly rises to over 70 degrees. Before when I switched, the temperature would always drop considerably.

I've put a few more photos up.
1-My 2 valve switches and the hole ready for my injector line heater switch (if I get around to it) and my turbo boost gauge.

2-The facet pump at the base of my VO tank, the little guy barely makes a sound!

3- Somewhere in NSW. I raised the floor and stored 400L of fuel under it in square containers. The bed is ontop of that and infront of the bed I installed a row of 2 seats. The setup worked great for camping.

[Fitian Was here Find all posts View Profile Close Fitian]

Re: My Nissan Urvan conversion

Congratulations mate , So happy to see you back.

I like your setup and wondering how The facet pump works please?

Thanks

[Urvey Member Find all posts View Profile Close Urvey]

Re: My Nissan Urvan conversion

It seems to work great. When I first put it in I would occasionally hear a ...Put, put... but I haven't heard a noise from it in a while. I've been wondering if it's broken, yet I still seem to get slight positive pressure at the IP.

[Fitian Was here Find all posts View Profile Close Fitian]

Re: My Nissan Urvan conversion

Do you have any photos of it. How did you install it please.

Thanks