Diesel Trucks running on WMO

Last fall a guy started a topic that he was running his diesel truck on 100% waste motor oil. Well everyone jumped all over the guy. They had told him that he would ruin his engine clog up the injectors and seize the pump and that he had to be crazy and desparate to do this. Well that was on another forum I visit it's oilburners.net . I have spent most of my time here but popped back there the other day and found a new thread,it seems now that diesel is close to five bucks a gallon there are a lot of crazy and deparate diesel truck owners because alot of them are doing it.Some of these trucks are fairly new late model stuff. I think I am going to experiment with my diesel truck Seems with the warmer weather there are less problems because the mixture is thinner. Most diesel truck have 2 tanks they start and shut down running off diesel and switch to wmo while driving, less problems this way. The trucks are pickups not bigrigs. Well I am going to take a nice long hot shower so I have to fire up the oil burner, rigth after I dump 5 gals of WMO in my tank. http://oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=23213

i use to do commercial overhead doors. the one company was an oil change place. they had like 45 stores and each had atleast 4 or more doors and openers. was one of the best accounts in Cleveland. they were changing over to used oil burners to heat there stores. they pretty much had an endless supply. they use to have to pay somebody to pick up the used oil and get rid of it. that could be a good source of oil. some states you can't do it , like ohio. some how they get around it , maybe because they already own it and have it. i would be temped to atleat mix the 2 together. i would filter the used oil first. one thing is when they change a gas filter , the gas gets in the oil. theres not alot , but some. maybe it just help with the octane.

Hi japar,, BE CAREFULL,, my side business is diesel repair, hot-rodding diesels, Custom automatic towing/hotrod transmissions. All on Dodge pickups..

IF you have a '98 and earlier Dodge Cummins pickup with the P7100 mechanical injection pump,, you probably will have zero problems.. IF you have a '98.5 through '02 truck,, put $2000 in the bank,, you will need it for purchasing a new injection pump.. unless you keep the waste oil percentage down below 10% or so.. If you have a '03 and later, set aside about $2400 for new injectors.. the pump will probably survive, but the electricly opperated injectors don't like any 'odd' fuels..

If you have a Ford or Chevy,, the later trucks are Common Rail injection systems.. keep the waste oil percentages low.. personally I'd not go above 20%.. the amount of savings is too small to off set buying and replacing even ONE injector... it's a small war to swap injectors... and if an injector is leaking, or sticking open,, it can melt down a piston.. then we are talking some serious cash...

I have an all- mechanical injection '97 truck,, I'm thinking of putting it on the road and burn about 30-50% waste and ATF, But buying an injection pump, or injector, even only one injector negates all the savings...

Best of luck..

multiple filters are required,, injection systems cannot tollerate any dirt or grit.. or again,, you will be buying injecion pumps. $$$

Make sure you figure out a way to swap tanks with NO AIR in the lines... diesel injection pumps get real 'mad' when fed only air..They don't pump air very well at all,, and you will be on the side of the road..

Let us know how it works out..

Greg L

Thanks for the great info Greg. I think I am in luck. I have 5 diesel trucks all idi Fords , 2 1994 with the factory turbos 2 7.3 NA and a 83 6.9 turbo. I have extra engines , pumps ect plus I have a Rotunda injection tester. I always stuck with the idi Fords because my first diesel was the 83. I was thinking of getter a powerstroke but nothing will interchange and the parts for the idi are cheap. So I don't have the power of the newer trucks or Cummins but if somthing goes down chances are I have the parts and knowleage to repaire it. Just going to start premixing a 50-50 mix lets say 2 gals of each filter the snot out of it the pour that in the tank and top it of. So I will start with 2 gal wmo 13 gals diesel. For some reason the most I can put in each tanks is around 15 gals. Then slowly incease my %. Next I have to figure how to get my diesel to run on coal lol.

My solution to $5 diesel is leave it parked.

With your replacement parts supplies, injector tester, and mechanical background, you are in luck,, just like you said,, filter the waste oil several times,, I think you will have no problems in the warm weather.

Greg L

If this works real well,, I'd like to see how you filter the oil. I'll get my '97 on the road and run it on 50% waste oil.

Greg,

I don't have the balls to run WMO in my truck but I am in the process of making Biodiesel. It seems to be a huge debate on exactly what percentage can be ran in the Common Rails without a problem. One guy on diesel truck resource claims to have been running B100 for the last 2 years with zero problems, Other say B30 should be the max... Any thoughts on this??? The last thing I want to do is screw up the engine by trying to save a few bucks...

ktm rider wrote:Greg,

I don't have the balls to run WMO in my truck but I am in the process of making Biodiesel. It seems to be a huge debate on exactly what percentage can be ran in the Common Rails without a problem. One guy on diesel truck resource claims to have been running B100 for the last 2 years with zero problems, Other say B30 should be the max... Any thoughts on this??? The last thing I want to do is screw up the engine by trying to save a few bucks...

It really depends on the engine, injectors and pumps. Some older diesels can run WMO cut slightly with Kero with no trouble and some will die a quick death from it. Some have trouble with bio. I would look at the forums devoted to this stuff for info directly relating to what you have for an engine, its easy to jack yourself up if you make the wrong mistake.

With bio, plan on changing filters right after you start and frequently for about 5,000 miles. It tends to have a cleansing effect on the entire fuel system and you don't want to drag a bunch of diesel sediment into your pumps and injectors.

Greg, I have a 92 Dodge with a Bosch VE distributer type injector pump. any tips for tweaking an little better performance and /or economy??? In your opinion based on your aforementioned "hobby" would this setup be a good candidate for conversion to WVO.
Thanks for the input.
Bob

I used to help this guy saw logs when I was a young man in his 20's. A couple friends and I would show up at his barn and we'd change our oil. He would take the oil, run it thru a centrifuge and feed a diesel generator with it. He'd start the diesel on fuel oil first then switch to 100% waste motor oil. All the machines were 3-phase electric motor driven. We'd saw a bunch, then plane a bunch, then edge a bunch. Seems like that little bit of motor oil went the whole day. Do they use these centrifuges or are they obsolete. This guy Weed had a pretty good setup and did quite a business in the New Paltz area of N.Y. Scott

For all of your oil burners out there, has anyone tried burning a WMO/fuel oil mix in their home boiler/furnace? I have access to lots of used motor oil and ATF, it would be nice if I could blend it with fuel oil and reduce my heating costs even more. I have a no-name hot water boiler with a Riello burner.

I burned waste oil in my shop last year in an old hot air oil furnace. I put two filters in line but still had problems plugging the little filter screwed to the back of the nozzle. Now the pump doesn't work though it might not be related to the used oil. The savings are not worth the problems to me.