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Single Tank diesel/oil system now with heaters PICS

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:38 pm
by thehanko
HI guys,

After a bit of reasearch and some advice from the forum I have now made some modifications to my hilux to make it run better on a diesel/veg oil mix 50:50.

I had 2 issues:

1) it was a pain to start on cold mornings, as cold oil gets thicker.
2) running cold oil was likely to be leaving oil deposits in my engine reducing engine life.

So, ive done 2 things, I now have injector line heaters which are run off a relay thats activated by the glow plug timer. so when you turn on the ignition and your glow plugs come on the injector line heaters also turn on and off at the same time. This made cold starts perfect again.

Next was an inline fuel heater which runs on a thermostat, the thermostat makes the heater turn off at 80 deg c, which is apparently the ideal temp to have veg oil at. it is then a similar thinkness to diesel and thus atomises better through the injectors and gets a more complete burn - less carbon. This is hooked up to a relay from the ignition.

So here are the inkector line heaters which are wrapped in a black silicon tape to insulate them a bit and keep the element in contact with the injector lines.

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here is the fuel heater, it is 75cm long so i had to fit it along the fire wall behind the fuel filter. it runs betweent he filter and the fuel pump.
its the red thing.

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the little bit where the wires are is the thermostat.
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Result - well it costs about $150 all up, and the car starts like a dream in the morning, the inkector line heaters have done an amazing job.

The fuel heater is hard to tell, its long term results are hard to gauge, but im sure it will be better. It may also result in a little better fuel ecconomy as the combustion should be more complete. Im also hoping that by running warmer oil through the IP, it will be under less strain and also less likely to build up any residue from the oil as any residue should dissolve with the warmer fuel.

if anyone wants more info let me know.

see ya

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 4:30 pm
by macca81
got any details on the heaters you used?? links would be nice ;)

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 4:57 pm
by lump_a_charcoal
Awesome! Veggie oil is such an untapped resource - Imagine if Americans used their old cooking oil considering how much shit they eat...

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 5:07 pm
by thehanko
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 0273493198

this was the injector line heater

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... %26otn%3D4
thie was the in line heater.

had to get them from the states, but both from the same guy.

the pics in his ads are a bit hard to work out but, its basically an electrically insulated high resistance wire, which heats up. simply but works very well.

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:52 pm
by pongo
the heater wires i bought ages ago didnt do squat, but i guess those ones will be a bit better, will keep it in mind.

I chewed up another good 4wd battery yesterday while cranking. I got a 990cca truck battery and now i dont have 1/2 the starting probs i used to as the motor spins alot quicker.

good to see you persevering, i havent forgot that i still owe you some oil, just been busy.

cheers

Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:49 pm
by thehanko
No Worries mate.

These ones have worked very well. initially i was sceptical thinking it wouldnt do much, but in the time the glow plugs are on the injector lines get to the point you struggle to hold them for more than a few seconds.

Statred instantly this morning, not minus temps but was still cold.

with the special he has on the 'mercedes set up' which will fit any car its pretty cheap.

the guy that supplies it said he just hot wired it to the ignition with no thermostat on his injector lines, so they are hot the whole time, and has had no problems.

But I was not too keen to let it get too hot, unlike the fuel heater which has an auto cut out switch.