Chewie Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Our American owners have decided to close down our engineering firm which is a great pity because it was only 7 minutes walk to work, 2 minutes to run and 90 secs to cycle. So now I'm gonna have to look for work elsewhere and probably have to drive. The Supra's too good for commuting. So I'm after a little diesel runabout something that I can run on veg/sun flower/ olive oil. Suggestions please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 If you are after bargain basement stuff then i'd recommend a Pug 205 diesel......... I have one for commuting and its not horrendous to drive just dog slow not sure on the running on oils though, think you need a preheater don't you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewie Posted January 19, 2007 Author Share Posted January 19, 2007 Ironically I work (?) for a diesel fuel injection manufacturer. As long as the oil is thin and can be pumped without overloading the pump you should be alright. At about -10 deg C veg oil will have the consistency of margarine. But thanks to global warming and the Gulf Steam you shouldn't need a preheater. Just mix it with diesel fuel. A guy at work runs a Xantia and it smells like a chip shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 interesting, i may have to have a little experiment with a mixture.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPRASUZUKI Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Agreed, old pug n/a Diesels go forever and cost f*ck-all to run. I took a 405 off a neighbour for nothing as he was going to scrap it!! Two new tyres and a new headlight bulb got it through MOT. That was 2 years ago and it's still going (touches wood). Slow as f*ck though. Careful on the SVO. Gordon Brown will be on your case for fuel duty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 If you are after bargain basement stuff then i'd recommend a Pug 205 diesel......... I was going to say exactly the same. My uncle has had one for years, it goes from A to B, it's really boring to be in and quite noisy, but it does the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pig Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 306 1.9 TD all the way. Loved that car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seb Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 306 dTurbo I reckon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewie Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 Careful on the SVO. Gordon Brown will be on your case for fuel duty. But of course as a law abiding, tax paying citizen of the realm but I do object to having to pay extra tax on sunflower oil freshly strained from cans of tuna when I've already paid 17.5% VAT when I bought 2 for 1 at Sainsburys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pig Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Double post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pig Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 306 1.9 TD all the way. Loved that car! 306 dTurbo I reckon 2 people with very good opinions! Only group 7 on insurance too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Hi, I have been using various diesels on veg oil for a few years now and this is what I have found: Fiat engines, not so good, oil has to be thinned way too much to be practical and they just didn't like it generally, the last one I played with I had to use an electric pre heater as well as a heat exchanger in winter months, that was an old Uno with a CAV pump. Merc vans, had 207, 208 and 308. All fantastic, ran 100% SVO with only an addition electric pre heater to ease starting. One of the vans I did probably over 50,000 miles all over Eu. including some of the colder climes. Bear in mind the older Merc diesel car runs pretty simular engines to the older vans, I know this as I have swapped them. Nissan patrol,(older straight 6) fantastic seems to run on about anything the olny prob I had was the filter in the union of the pump used to wax up in extreme cold, but by that I mean days of minus temps in the Romanian hills. Vauxhall, Novas and Corsas. Depending on what engine you pick these are great. The Vauxhall engine seems to work with 100% in summer ok, never dared run it in winter months at that level as they come with a CAV pump and everyone reports pump failure in the cold and at the time I couldn't afford the risk, but who knows. However the Isuzu engine which loads of vauxhalls use is it seems indestructable, in fact I am running one of these now in a Corsavan and this has ben run on everything from SVO to parafin without hiccup, The only addition to stock is an electric pre-heated filter taken from something else. This was simply wired across the existing glowplug supply, but be careful with this method as sometimes the glowplug heating circuit is running quite close to it's max current rating anyhow and it's worth measuring the current draw before adding extras on this circuit to be safe. Have never bothered going down the WVO lane as I dont have the time really, but have a mate who does and it seems to work well. Another mate of mine grows fields of sunflowers in romania to enhance the honey his bees produce and he has just started producing his own oil, he uses a MK1 Golf which is on it's 3rd time round the clock, seems to be fine but because of poor filtering techniques we have had to add extra in line filtering and this has become bit of a problem with filters blocking. Let me know how you get on and what you decide upon. I am sure you know anyhow but there is loads and loads of info available. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnK Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Corsa 1.5D, the NA version. As its a 1.5 its cheap tax too. Will run on veggie no problem. Bit gutless but does 50+mpg no matter how you drive it and if your careful on a run 65+! Got a mondeo Diesel now and although it has more toys and goes a bit better, fuel economy is crap by comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Just got myself a Toyota 4-Runner 3 litre Turbo Diesel About 25 mpg urban, not bad for such a big beast. I feel I'm really doing my bit for global warming, this and the Supra:d .................bring on those warm winters! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gord R Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Depends on budget... iv been looking into Leon 1.9 TDi's they have really good performance are sensible money these days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewie Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 Test drove a few 306 diesels. They seem to ask silly money for a old bangers with intergalactic mileage. 1997 plate for £2K. And it's 0-60 in hour and mins! A guy at my work designed a dual tank set up. One tank is neat veggie oil and the other tank is diesel. It's set up to start and stop on diesel then when warmed up switches over to veggie oil. No preheater cos he run a hot water line to the veggie tank. Also the veggie fuel line runs along the exhaust to keep it thin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soonto_HAS_soop Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 I've got a crappy T reg high mileage Xantia, but it has the 2.0 HDi engine, does over 600 miles to £50 of diesel on the motorway, and it will get upto and cruise at close to 115, pretty nippy on the off, has surprised a few chavs in things like Corrado vr6's too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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