Filtering Key To Veggie Oil Success

2003 - Volume #27, Issue #6, Page #22

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Tim and Shelley Smith have been burning vegetable oil instead of diesel in their 1987 Volkswagen Jetta for close to two years. They say it runs great but they've had problems with engine wear.
  They've gone through three used engines in about 60,000 miles but most of the problems were early on. Their current engine has nearly 30,000 miles with no problems. The key to success, they've found, is good filtering. "We have two different filters in the car, and prior to putting the oil in the car, we also filter it twice with restaurant-type hot oil filters," Shelley explains. "It burns clean û you can't even see the exhaust û but it smells like a barbecue. We get about 59 miles per gallon, using an additive called "Power Up" in our engine oil that is helping to prevent engine wear."
  Before the couple starts out on a trip, they warm up the engine by burning diesel for about 15 minutes. Because they have an auxiliary fuel tank and lines with a switch box installed in their car, they are able to have separate diesel and oil fuel lines and switch from one to the other. After 10 minutes on diesel, they switch to straight vegetable oil, which they get for free from restaurants in their area. Then, about 10 minutes before reaching their destination, they switch back to diesel to flush out the system.
  Canola oil works best, they say, and it has meant a cost saving of at least a few hundred dollars a month recently on fuel as they've been driving about 300 miles a day.
  "On a 2,000-mile trip to the States, we spent only $7 Canadian on diesel, and that was our entire fuel cost," Shelley says. "You do have to take precautions like very careful filtering, but we definitely feel it has potential."
  Smiths pick up the free veggie oil from four or five different restaurants.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tim and Shelley Smith, Unit 17, Suite 101, 450 Lahave St., Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada B4V 4A3 (ph 902 527-3770; email: tjssas@yahoo.ca ).

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Filtering Key To Veggie Oil Success AG WORLD 27-6-22 Tim and Shelley Smith have been burning vegetable oil instead of diesel in their 1987 Volkswagen Jetta for close to two years. They say it runs great but they've had problems with engine wear. They've gone through three used engines in about 60,000 miles but most of the problems were early on. Their current engine has nearly 30,000 miles with no problems. The key to success, they've found, is good filtering. "We have two different filters in the car, and prior to putting the oil in the car, we also filter it twice with restaurant-type hot oil filters," Shelley explains. "It burns clean û you can't even see the exhaust û but it smells like a barbecue. We get about 59 miles per gallon, using an additive called "Power Up" in our engine oil that is helping to prevent engine wear." Before the couple starts out on a trip, they warm up the engine by burning diesel for about 15 minutes. Because they have an auxiliary fuel tank and lines with a switch box installed in their car, they are able to have separate diesel and oil fuel lines and switch from one to the other. After 10 minutes on diesel, they switch to straight vegetable oil, which they get for free from restaurants in their area. Then, about 10 minutes before reaching their destination, they switch back to diesel to flush out the system. Canola oil works best, they say, and it has meant a cost saving of at least a few hundred dollars a month recently on fuel as they've been driving about 300 miles a day. "On a 2,000-mile trip to the States, we spent only $7 Canadian on diesel, and that was our entire fuel cost," Shelley says. "You do have to take precautions like very careful filtering, but we definitely feel it has potential." Smiths pick up the free veggie oil from four or five different restaurants. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tim and Shelley Smith, Unit 17, Suite 101, 450 Lahave St., Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada B4V 4A3 (ph 902 527-3770; email: tjssas@yahoo.ca ).

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