People constantly email me asking if they can convert their gas-powered cars to run on vegetable oil. Unfortunately, gasoline motors don’Äôt have the option of running on veggie. Your best bet is to sell the gas guzzler and buy a diesel, or start learning more about Ethanol. Most gas cars can run on up to 15% Ethanol, which is a step in the right direction.

The diesel motor was originally designed to run on organic oils and not petroleum-based fuels. In fact, it wasn’Äôt until five years after Rudolph Diesel’Äôs death that ’ÄúDiesel’Äù fuel was invented. To think one of the first environmentalists has a fossil fuel named after him. The poor guy must be rolling over in his grave.¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý

1. ’Ä¢ Utilizes a US renewable resource.
   

2. ’Ä¢ Cleaner emissions.
   

3. ’Ä¢ Plant based fuel = closed carbon cycle = less greenhouse gases.
   

4. ’Ä¢ Added lubricity prolongs the life of fuel pumps and engine components.
   

5. ’Ä¢ Better for our foreign policy.
   

6. ’Ä¢ Helps to build up America’Äôs economy.
   

7. ’Ä¢ Smells like french fries instead of cancer.
   

8. ’Ä¢ Recycles a waste product.

¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý¬Ý GREASING UP

By saving money on rent and having my home on wheels i figured it was time to get out and see the world. I decided i’Äôd make it my goal to drive across the entire country from Oregon to Massachusetts without paying for fuel. In 2001 my first trip from west to east¬Ý didn’Äôt find me achieving my goal. I had troubles with obtaining grease in the winter, filters clogging and a whole bunch of breakdowns due mostly to having a crappy old truck. About 50% of my trip out was done on grease but i was hopeful the road back from Boston to Portland would be the one where i actually made it. My first grease filtration system was a couple of rubbermaid trash cans with a piece of plywood across the top of them. I cut a circular hole in the wood where i would feed the sock filter through till the metal ring in the top of the sock rested on the wood. I had a sump pump wired to my battery so i could move grease from one tank to the other. The first set of filter the grease went through were 50 micron and the second was a 1 micron. From there i would pump the grease down into my stock fuel tank, just like at the gas station. At the time i thought the system was pretty cool, but eventually the trash cans leaked and the tops weren’Äôt too secure so rain water could make it’Äôs way in. When i had the camper on truck I’Äôd move the trash cans into the bathroom where i had removed the shower and toilet. If i ever wanted to make it across country without paying for fuel i’Äôd have to invest in a bit of a better system.

GREASE 101: LESSONS LEARNED IN 2001

1. ’òÖ There is a difference between diesel vehicles and gas powered ones. Aside from the type of fuel you put in them, the main difference comes from the amount of compression in the combustion chamber. What this means is that as the piston rises up into the chamber it squishes all the molecules of air together to reach a certain pressure, measured in pounds per square inch. In a gas car you’Äôre looking at about 150 - 200 PSI whereas, in a diesel car the pressure is just about doubled to around 300 PSI. Picture yourself holding a regular old plastic cup upside down, let’Äôs pretend this is your ’Äúcombustion chamber.’Äù Now in your other hand you slide another plastic cup up inside of this one. If the walls of the two cups match up to each other you’Äôre going to build pressure as you push them further and further together, pending no air escapes. At 300 PSI a lot of heat is generated from the molecules squishing together in this oxygen-rich environment. In fact the situation in the combustion chamber is so volatile that if you were to spray a tiny mist of fuel in the air, it would create a tiny little explosion. This explosion is trapped in the combustion chamber with no where to go, so what happens is the piston is forced downward by the rapidly expanding air. As the piston is forced down it turns the crankshaft which creates work, so you can drive. We’Äôll get more specific in later lessons but it’Äôs important to understand this distinct difference between the diesel motor and the gasoline motor.
   

1. ’òÖ Unlike a gasoline motor, the diesel engine does not involve the use of a spark plug. Since the compression in the combustion chamber is so high, simply spraying fuel in is enough to cause an explosion. In a gasoline car the PSI is lower and so a spark plug is needed to help initiate the explosion. Under the hood of a diesel vehicle you’Äôll find no spark plugs, coil wires, distributor caps, rotors, none of that electrical crap.
   

1. ’òÖ The diesel motor was originally designed to run on organic oils and not petroleum. Rudolph Diesel was a smart guy. He was already a millionaire before he invented his famous motor. Initially he had the idea when he was watching an African community start a fire by sliding one bamboo rod inside of another. They were able to get a fire started much faster by creating an oxygen-rich environment. At first he wasn’Äôt sure why it was working, but it intrigued him and started him on the path to his greatest invention. The first fuel source he used was peanut oil. Since the diesel motor delivered a massive amount of low-end torque (good for towing, plowing, etc) he figured farmers could use this motor in their tractors and produce their own fuel from oil crops, like peanuts. His famous quote from 1901, ’ÄúThe use of plant oil as fuel may seem insignificant today, but such products can, in time, become just as important as kerosene and these coal-tar products of today.’Äù still rings true, now more then ever. Unfortunately, just a few short years after debuting his motor at the World’Äôs Fair in Paris, Rudolph’Äôs body was found floating in the English Channel. Some speculate he committed suicide while others think the oil industry was behind his untimely demise. The diesel motor was out however, and people liked it. The oil industry couldn’Äôt make it go away and couldn’Äôt make it run on gasoline so they invented a brand new product - ’ÄúDiesel Fuel’Äù. Like gasoline, diesel fuel is a petroleum product made by distilling crude oil. Diesel fuel has a slightly higher oil content than gasoline, which makes it act more like the organic oils the motor was designed to run on.
   

1. ’òÖSome materials don’Äôt work too well when it comes to vegetable oil. I ended 2001 anxious to find some better materials for handling vegetable oil. My rubbermaid trash cans as fuel tanks weren’Äôt really cutting it and my fuel filter was clogging way more then i would have liked it to. It was a cleanable Racor filter with a small steel mesh disk. After just a few hundred miles of driving the filter would clog with gunk from the grease and i would experience a significant power loss. To clean the filter i’Äôd soak it in degreaser for a while and then blow the gunk particles off with a compressed air hose. It was a pain in the neck and i was over that. Also, my braided PVC tubing i bought at the hardware store wasn’Äôt working as the best fuel line ever. The vegetable oil made the hose stiff and the ends of the hose would trumpet out, causing air leaks. My sump pump, designed for water, also bought at the hardware store stopped working. I took it apart and found that the rubber impeller wheel was pretty much trashed. The grease was too thick and the rubber didn’Äôt seem to get along with the grease. I’Äôd read that this was a problem with biodiesel but not so much with straight veggie. My experiences were telling me i’Äôd have to find better materials if i wanted to streamline my system and actually make it across the United States without paying for fuel . My standard ’Äúworm-drive’Äù hose clamps, from the auto parts store, were putting serious gouges into my fuel lines, which i wasn’Äôt that into.¬Ý ¬Ý ’Äú