Besides buying a new car, is there anything we can do about these gas prices?
It seems like every week I pay $10 more for gas. When is the price going to stop rising?
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Mrjingleswilly · 51-55, M
You can run a diesel on vegetable oil. In the uk you can manufacture 2,500 litres before it becomes taxable. I tried to get a collective together to collect used vegetable oil for processing, but nobody could be buggered with the hassle. Which is typical of the average UK male. All moan and no action.
robb65 · 56-60, M
@Mrjingleswilly The problem we have here is that there aren't very many choices when it comes to diesels. If you want a 3/4 or 1 ton work truck you're in luck, If you want a small truck or economy car good luck finding one. A few years ago we had the scandal with VW rigging their cars to sense when the emission systems were being tested and adjust to fool the test. So there was a recall and VW "fixed" the problem but the cars that were fixed no longer got the fuel mileage the did when they left the factory. That incidence seems to have dampened the market for small diesel cars.
Back in the late 70's and early 80's there were some small diesel cars and trucks being imported. Toyotas and Nissans were at least somewhat common. I think Mazda had one but I can't recall seeing one. There was the VW Rabbit and Rabbit truck, and I remember driving an Isuzu car that belonged to my girlfriends parents. It was under powered but cheap on fuel.
IF I could find an early 80's Toyota or Nissan that was either still running or at least complete and the engine not locked up I would consider buying it. Not that I think I would save that much on fuel because honestly those trucks aren't suitable for the way I normally use a truck, but they would be ok for a spare vehicle and to run to town on to grab a sack of dog food or some small items. The big advantage would be in a SHTF situation where you needed transportation but gas was not available. Not only would vegetable oil be an option but so would used motor oil, and even if you weren't running it on straight vegetable oil or used motor oil using those to supplement the available diesel fuel. ( I currently dispose of my used motor oil by mixing it with diesel and burning it in my tractor).
Back in the late 70's and early 80's there were some small diesel cars and trucks being imported. Toyotas and Nissans were at least somewhat common. I think Mazda had one but I can't recall seeing one. There was the VW Rabbit and Rabbit truck, and I remember driving an Isuzu car that belonged to my girlfriends parents. It was under powered but cheap on fuel.
IF I could find an early 80's Toyota or Nissan that was either still running or at least complete and the engine not locked up I would consider buying it. Not that I think I would save that much on fuel because honestly those trucks aren't suitable for the way I normally use a truck, but they would be ok for a spare vehicle and to run to town on to grab a sack of dog food or some small items. The big advantage would be in a SHTF situation where you needed transportation but gas was not available. Not only would vegetable oil be an option but so would used motor oil, and even if you weren't running it on straight vegetable oil or used motor oil using those to supplement the available diesel fuel. ( I currently dispose of my used motor oil by mixing it with diesel and burning it in my tractor).
Mrjingleswilly · 51-55, M
@robb65 I had no idea you could reuse engine oil. You live and learn.
robb65 · 56-60, M
@Mrjingleswilly It's gonna smoke. Older more primitive diesels used a mechanical injection pump that operated at lower injection pressure than modern, electronically controlled diesels. I don't know what would happen if you tried it on a newer engine but it might not be good. I probably mix up to about15-20% motor in with my fuel when I have it. There were some older "multi-fuel" military engines that would burn just about anything and burning straight motor oil would work if you had it. From what I understand they weren't particularly efficient and the military moved away from those.
The first I heard about burning used motor oil was from a mechanic who worked for a local logging company, Made lots of sense if you had a fleet of trucks and logging equipment with diesel engines.
The first I heard about burning used motor oil was from a mechanic who worked for a local logging company, Made lots of sense if you had a fleet of trucks and logging equipment with diesel engines.
Mrjingleswilly · 51-55, M
@robb65 EU cat 4 and 5 don’t accept biofuels as far as I know.
robb65 · 56-60, M
@Mrjingleswilly I kinda suspected that could be the case with newer engines. Like I said, if I was going to buy a diesel truck my preference would be something old enough not to have that problem..
robb65 · 56-60, M
@Mrjingleswilly Years ago I worked for a man for a short period of time who had a diesel Cadillac. He also had a big tank of off road fuel (which doesn't have a road tax) for his tractors. I saw him one morning out there topping up his car before going out of town. Odds of getting caught with a car were probably slim but I have heard of people with 3/4-1 ton trucks getting pulled over and checked.