sfhsport

does any one know if the '07 ford ranger tdci will or should run on 100% biodiesel? as iv tried it in mine and the first time i fill it up it still had 1/4 tank of normal diesel and it seemed ok apart from the first start in the morning, then i fill up with normal diesel again and ran it till 1/4 tank, then fill with biodiesel after 50 miles the engine managment light came on but it was still driving ok, then it went out, then i fill up again with biodiesel and after about 12 miles the managment light came on and it cut out, it did restart but as soon as it was under load it cut out again, took the fuel filter off they was a bit of dirt,put new one on then it drove ok managment light when out, but 20 miles later cut out the same as before but the fuel filter is still perfectly clean , drained the tank and again perfectly clean, we then filled it with normal diesel and another new fuel filter and it seems ok so far, the biodiesel it from a proper producer and not someone homebrew stuff they said they will give me a full refund on the biodiesel i have brought but say it should run on it and they have never had this problem , and i rather it did run on it cos its a fair bit cheaper!

S1rst

Its obviously not suited to it by the sounds of it mate. I was considering getting it for my 2004 combo but i was quoted about 98 p/l so never bothered at the time as normal diesel was only a few pence more at the time. i assume its gone up in proportion too with the normal diesel.

Out of interest, how much did you pay for the bio?

gingeRS

the tolerances is very modern common rails are so tight that they are really sensitive to bio....depending on spec.

100% pure RME should be fine in any modern diesel but as it costs over Ł1.20 per litre for certified fuel, its not really viable.

even if the bio you bought was made to european standards (EN14214) some of the cold flow properties and bulk modulus values aren't taken into account in this standard, so it can still perform very differently to standard diesel. most bio is made from used vegetable/plant oil and isnt suitable for the ultra high injection pressures in modern diesels

Bioidiesel use is very much, 'try it and see' with different cars. the manufacturers are pushing to have them warrented but the sheer variation of feedstocks available is limiting this process.

i would stick to normal diesel if it had these effects or contact ford and ask them where they stand on bio

i deal with the heavy duty side of things, but from what i can see most manufacturers only warranty to 10-30%, regardless of what 'certain websites' may say

Rossco

Ive heard of Bio Diesel foooking pumps, the Bio Diesel situation is a grey area, from what ive read the fuel can vary no end.

AlexF

What does the manual say?????

Thats where your answer is!

I have run proper bio diesel (google Enfuels) in my 1989 Pajero for about 3k miles now. Its no where near as good as diesel... cold starting is poor and very smoky, its down on power which explains why it does less MPG (about 5mpg less than on diesel). On the upside it saves me Ł9 a tank but pretty much cancels itself out with the poorer MPG I expect

I simply would not risk bio or veggie oil in ANYTHING common rail or even anything where the car is worth more than a 2nd hand pump (circa Ł500) its just not worth the risk!

Alex

S1rst

AlexF, how much do you pay per litre for bio mate?

sfhsport

the biodiesel was 75p per litre and i was garanteed it would not bugger the injection pump cos i ask that particular question cos iv also heard that some veg oil/diesel can cause this problem, the company sell between 5-9 thousand litres of the stuff per week and they said they never have had this problem. salford city councel run their rangers on biodiesel by the looks of it. http://www.autoblog.com/2007/04/26/f...k-for-uk-city/