Gotta love Tdi economy

[Buller_Scott]

thanks for the info gld!

i think for the mean time i might persevere with the usual suspects in terms of fuel outlets, and keep poppin that 2 stroke in the tank.

i DO like the idea of biodiesel though. we're all fcking up the planet in some way, but if i can reduce things a little (i only buy recycled toilet paper, refuse to buy bottled water etc)....

[5pot]

If you want a place that manufactures and sells to the likes of Caltex, try Biomax in Laverton North. They manufacture here and sell a bio-dino mix at a bowser that they have on-site. It ranges from B5 to B20, depending on the season. They set their price ten cents below caltex's diesel price I think. Something like that anyway.

Be aware though, the nozzle they have at the bowser is too big for a MkV golf. I learned that the hard way. Twice.

I've got dino in my car at the moment but I ran a couple of tanks of B10 just prior to my last re-fill and the car ran fine. It still conforms to the diesel standard so, I don't see why it would be bad for your vehicle. Economy was the same for me. I'll be heading there for another tank once I've used my current tankful.

I'm curious what 100% bio would do in my car but I don't have the cash to stump up for a new motor/injectors/other fuel-related part of choice so, I'm sticking to the bio-dino mixes for now!

FYI, this company has a MkV TDI (1.9? it has no reference to the capacity of the engine so, I assume it's the 1.9) Golf that they run on the same mix that they sell at their bowser.

[kaanage]

Phil Buggee has run a Fiat Punto TDi on Biomax B20 in quite a few competitive events over the last couple of years like Targa Tasmania and the Adelaide Tarmac rally with no ill effects.

[Dave198]

I haven't read every post in this thread about economy and biodiesel and stuff, but I have a MY07 2.0 TDI and it says on the inside of the fuel flap, 'Not for Biodiesel'.
I guess there is a reason for saying that, but I am not sure why.
I am also a bit surprised how many want to run their tanks dry to see how many K's they get out of a tank.
The lower the level of fuel in the tank, the more chance there is of picking up some accumulated muck off the bottom of the tank.
As good as the filters are, a minute bit of muck in the fuel could cost you an injector, especially with CRD. Deep pockets needed there.
In my opinion, play it safe and only run down to about half a tank and then fill up again. It is still very easy to work out your lts. per 100 kms that way.
I also have a 12HT powered Landcruiser and never let that go down below quarter of a tank.
I figure that I have to fill up at some stage, and there is less likelyhood of condensation in the tank if it is kept fairly full.
cheers

[Gigitt]

I haven't read every post in this thread about economy and biodiesel and stuff, but I have a MY07 2.0 TDI and it says on the inside of the fuel flap, 'Not for Biodiesel'.
I guess there is a reason for saying that, but I am not sure why.
I am also a bit surprised how many want to run their tanks dry to see how many K's they get out of a tank.
The lower the level of fuel in the tank, the more chance there is of picking up some accumulated muck off the bottom of the tank.
As good as the filters are, a minute bit of muck in the fuel could cost you an injector, especially with CRD. Deep pockets needed there.
In my opinion, play it safe and only run down to about half a tank and then fill up again. It is still very easy to work out your lts. per 100 kms that way.
I also have a 12HT powered Landcruiser and never let that go down below quarter of a tank.
I figure that I have to fill up at some stage, and there is less likelyhood of condensation in the tank if it is kept fairly full.
cheers

Fuel is picked up from the bottom of the tank, so I don't see the logic in not using all the fuel in your tank... other than in areas where there are hot days and really cold nights and condensation can form inside the tank - then water sinks to bottom of tank... then thats what your water tap is for on the fuel filter!

[gldgti]

There's a lot of other threads about bio....

I typically use a tank a week and pretty much always take about 50L to fill it up, in a 55L tank. With such high turnover of fuel, I see no problem with running it low. Perhaps if I was using a tank every month or so I would think differently.

Do a search around about biodiesel and you will see than every VAG car after about 2003 has that written inside the fuel cap (if its a TDI) and it has nothing to do with the car's ability to be fuelled by biodiesel - rather it has to do with the operators ability to fill it with high quality compression ignition fuel. I'm an old hand with bio so I know the risks

I haven't read every post in this thread about economy and biodiesel and stuff, but I have a MY07 2.0 TDI and it says on the inside of the fuel flap, 'Not for Biodiesel'.
I guess there is a reason for saying that, but I am not sure why.
I am also a bit surprised how many want to run their tanks dry to see how many K's they get out of a tank.
The lower the level of fuel in the tank, the more chance there is of picking up some accumulated muck off the bottom of the tank.
As good as the filters are, a minute bit of muck in the fuel could cost you an injector, especially with CRD. Deep pockets needed there.
In my opinion, play it safe and only run down to about half a tank and then fill up again. It is still very easy to work out your lts. per 100 kms that way.
I also have a 12HT powered Landcruiser and never let that go down below quarter of a tank.
I figure that I have to fill up at some stage, and there is less likelyhood of condensation in the tank if it is kept fairly full.
cheers

[Dave198]

gldgti, I am not sure what you mean about "it has to do with the operators ability to fill it with high quality compression ignition fuel".
Does that mean that I am a goose if I don't know what is high quality fuel?
Quoting from page 46 in my Tips & Maintainance manual. " Your vehicle is notsuitable for use with RME (biodiesel) and must not be filled up or be driven with RME fuels. If you use RME fuels your fuel system could be damaged."

I did not join this forum to have a go at anybody, I joined it to learn a bit about my newly acquired TDI.
I have been around diesels for about 40 years and I have seen recently someone who has a damaged fuel system due to a bad bit of fuel.
They had to sell their vehicle because they could not afford the $10K plus repair bill.
I haven't got that amount of money either to spend on repairing the fuel system. If the book says my engine is not suitable for Bio, that's good enough for me.
cheers

[kaanage]

gldgti is saying that VW are applying a blanket restriction because they don't trust people not to use dodgy home brewed biodiesel and want to avoid ANY warranty arguements that could be caused by this.

I'm not saying that all home made biodiesel is dodgy but there are no regulations on making the stuff so an idiot could just pour in oil collected from back of the local fish and chip shop, have the car run for a short while and then try and make a warranty claim when it all went pear shaped.

[kaanage]

Got 3.7 l/100km (trip computer avg) on the 15k run home from work today. Allowing for the 7.5% optimism of the trip computer vs measured mileage, that's less than 4 l/100km on a route that isn't dead flat

[gldgti]

gldgti, I am not sure what you mean about "it has to do with the operators ability to fill it with high quality compression ignition fuel".
Does that mean that I am a goose if I don't know what is high quality fuel?
Quoting from page 46 in my Tips & Maintainance manual. " Your vehicle is notsuitable for use with RME (biodiesel) and must not be filled up or be driven with RME fuels. If you use RME fuels your fuel system could be damaged."

I did not join this forum to have a go at anybody, I joined it to learn a bit about my newly acquired TDI.
I have been around diesels for about 40 years and I have seen recently someone who has a damaged fuel system due to a bad bit of fuel.
They had to sell their vehicle because they could not afford the $10K plus repair bill.
I haven't got that amount of money either to spend on repairing the fuel system. If the book says my engine is not suitable for Bio, that's good enough for me.
cheers

I wasnt having a stab at all - I was trying to say what kaanage was referring to - VW can't guarantee (in many countries) that if you fill up with biodiesel it will conform to a standard - as such they have to say not to use it.

If you know your fuel source and you know its good, then there's no reason a PD engine can't run perfectly well on it - but thats a risk to take, for sure.
Personally, I know the risks, I know the fuel, and if anything should go wrong I know I can fix it for the cost of parts, and I'm willing to take that risk in my position - but I never said anyone else has to or should.

I read that part of my user manual too - i read all my manuals.... I'm "that guy":