I would echo Marshall's remarks on biodiesel price and quality. One must exercise prudence and good judgement with biodiesel purchasing as one would with any other expensive product. My personal experience is that the price and quality of local petrodiesel varies even more than biodiesel. One retailer here sells petro diesel that runs 10 to 20 cents cheaper than national brands, but performs as if it were adulterated with some odious substance that saps power and generates a steady trail of foul acrid smoke. So I avoid it. Likewise I avoid some of the overpriced and overhyped biodiesel retailed here. I use biodiesel suppliers that maintain consistent quality and acceptable pricing, but can't claim that this is available everywhere else. Caveat emptor.
Bruce --- Marshall Booth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > David Brodbeck wrote: > > My car seemed to idle rougher on biodiesel than on > petrodiesel. Anyone > > else seen this? It could have been just clogged > filters, I suppose. I > > changed the inline filter halfway through, with no > obvious change, but I > > didn't get around to changing the main filter > until I had finished off > > the tank. > > Biodiesel is a better solvent that conventional > petrodiesel (everything > else being equal). All that needs to happen is for > freed deposits to > clog an injector nozzle, or even for a bit of carbon > to loosen in a > prechamber and the idle and noise can roughen up > VERY noticeably. If > it's cylinder specific you'll need to perform all > the same diagnostics > that you would any time the idle gets rough > (determine which cylinder, > etc). A few full pedal acceleration runs will clean > up MANY > carbon/coking problems. The main filter CAN be > almost completely clogged > without there being ANY evidence of the inline > filter being discolored > or occluded. > > But then there is also the quality and energy > content of the base petro > stock as well as the quality of the bio stock. With > pure petro diesel, > it's very common for the quality to vary greatly. > Different batches of > fuel (all meeting the minimum standards common in > the US) to deliver > economy that can vary over a more than 20% range > (even more when winter > additives are added) and can have a Cetane rating > (Cetane is unrelated > to power but is an indicator of ease of ignition) > anywhere from 40-50. > There is also the quality of the "bio" component. > While I don't know > this for sure, I expect it's far less tightly > defined and controlled > than the petro component. > > My own experience with biodiesel was rather good > until a few weeks ago. > Since then, the biodiesel I have been able to > purchase has been of > marginal quality, delivered poor economy and has > been expensive to VERY > expensive when compared to petrodiesel. I was ALMOST > a believer. Now my > enthusiasm has reverted to skepticism. Until > Biodiesel of uniform and > suitable quality can be reliably supplied at a price > competitive with > available petrodiesel, it will remain nothing more > than a novelty that > some might occasionally use as a fuel system > "cathartic." > > Marshall > -- > Marshall Booth (who doesn't respond to unsigned > questions) > "der Dieseling Doktor" [EMAIL PROTECTED] > '87 300TD 181Kmi,'87 190D 2.5 199Kmi, '84 190D 2.2 > 227Kmi, '85 190D 2.0 > 159Kmi, '87 190D 2.5 turbo 234kmi > Diesel Technical Advisor MBCA, member > GWSection > http://www.dhc.net/~pmhack/mercedes/mbooth1.htm > > > _______________________________________ > For new parts see official list sponsor: > http://www.buymbparts.com/ > For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://striplin.net/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_striplin.net > Bruce 82 300CD 333kmi 'His' 85 300CD 234kmi 'Hers' 75 240D 185kmi 'Theirs' (Back in Commission) 77 240D 199kmi 'The Brown Car' __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
