Bruce, Funny you should ask. I just asked my local smog guy if he'd check my Mercedes for smog, and he was worried that diesel emissions would "plug up his equipment." I plan to call a truck place - I've heard that some of them may have equipment to test for NOx - most smog stations don't, apparently you need a 5 gas analyzer.
And you are correct that a catalytic converter or trap oxidizer will lower emissions - specifically NOx, and that veggie diesel - biodiesel or straight vegetable oil - won't plug them like dinodiesel (specifically the sulfur that's added for lubricity - and which veggie fuels don't need, being naturally more slippery.) Mercedes installed trap oxidizers on '85 through '87 diesels, then removed them, free of charge, when they got plugged. On the '87's (and I have an '87) they replaced the (removed) trap oxidizer, which had been in the engine compartment, with an "oxidation catalyst" which was installed downsteam - before the muffler. I called my local Benz dealer in Oakland, and they wanted around $200 for one - and I'd think that a good muffler shop could install one somewhere in the exhaust system on your Golf. Good luck and let us know what happens. If I find out more about getting baseline smog checks on diesel done, I'll let the Biofuels group know. Craig "bruce_leininger " wrote: > Hi. I have been running my '85 VW Golf on 100% biodiesel since this > past August and have been chewing on some emissions issues since then: > > First, where can I have my car emissions checked? I have checked > with Smog Check stations (in the SF Bay Area) and none of them want to > > touch a diesel. My car has over 200,000 miles and may need a tuneup. > I'd like to get a baseline to see what kind of improvement I'm > getting with biodiesel and how much improvement there would be with a > catalytic converter. > > > Which leads to the next question - where can a find a good catalytic > converter for an '85 Golf? I understand that use of veggie fuels > allows you to use catalytic converters that would be otherwise > destroyed by the sulfur in petro fuel. How does this work, and where > might I find one that will work for my car? > > Thanks much for your help. I look forward to hearing your replies. > > Bruce > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
