Is it worth the money you save?
That's what everyone wants to know. Bio diesel is very excellent for a strong economy its cheaper, even tho it costs more to produce it than petrolium. It uses our resources available in the area, it helps our farming community, it lessens our requirement of foren oil. Those are some of the advantages of using bio diesel.
But you truckers i am sure you have had some other experiences with it. just imagine most of you only own one or a couple trucks.
Me and my crew have to maintain hundreds of our own customers and millions that drive threw the heart of America and break down. My experiences with bio diesel is a different than yours because i have to fix them if they break and bio diesel is not one of my favorites. So i am going to give you truckers a money saving tip to save me a road service call so i can stay in the shop and do major repairs and not have to work along the side of very dangerous highways.
Fuel filters if you truckers are going to run bio diesel carry at least 2 extra filters and a couple bottles of algae preventive treatment! I know you truckers are thinking i don't really want to get fuel everywhere on you and you don't have any accessible fuel to fill the filters anyway right. Well here's the trick you don't need any fuel to fill the filters. Sounds crazy right? That's what the algae additive is for. Bear with me for a second and i will explain. There are so many types of bio diesel from soy diesel to what i call fat diesel and there are many types in between. Your probably wondering which one are you running right! Unless you have a fuel pump at home and they are delivering it right to your house it could b any of them and if you are doing that than i bet you have had some very bad experiences with it!
Bio diesel has been starting a new type of mold that grows on the walls of your fuel tank! If you keep it agitated and kept cold it is kept to a minimum. That's why the fuel stations have no problem with it only the truckers! I have dad to get trucks running that became so plugged up by this that there was a chunk of mold 2 foot long and 4 inches thick growing in a tank after sitting for only 2 summer months! This mold does not grow in all tanks and sometimes you only have a small concentration of it and you never know it and it cleans itself up and disappears and other times it grows vigorously until you start having problems its like a fuel flu virus. and has to be treated like a cold and put on medication and you have to drive it through it tell it clear es up.
Winter time that's the other concern right. my suggestion from my experiences with winter bio is DON'T DO IT!!! If its going to get below 40 during the next week anywhere that you are traveling don't use bio run it out of the system and carry extra filters maybe 3 or 4 and a case of additive just in case! Here's some very important reasons why.
Number one if you have been running it all summer you may have some buildup in your tank and the first time your fuel temp in your tank goes below freezing like when you fuel up it will kill all that stuff in your tank and start breaking up and plugging filters some trucks worse than others.
Number 2 reason is that most all types of bio diesel will separate when below 30 deg it turns to a white fatty or grey cream in the bottom of your tank ! That's why you don't want it in a above ground storage tank at home.
And number 3 It can get dang cold in that truck waiting for a service truck to get there! Especial if it happens at night in the middle of no where !
I have went to farmers and truckers homes and got a trucks and tractors running that was gummed up with this bio diesel and they tell me about how they had extra after fall harvest of a high concentrated non road bio fuel and i will take them to their storage tank to ck it. Turn the nozzle on and circulate the fuel and it has just come out fat no fuel! I show them how to agitate it with air and their pump so when they decide to use it it when it warms up it wont gum up the whole fuel system and they will be calling me out again.
So if you truckers are going to be running bio diesel here's a few tips to remember.
1 carry a couple extra fuel filters and a filter wrench just in case. It never hurts to Carry more than one I have been on and have sent other mechanics to fetch a truck and it only needed filters. And just because you may have just changed it don't mean its not plugged again. I have known truckers that have had to change them daily tel it clears up. not that they wanted to but can you imagine how many hundred dollars this will save you if this happens to you truckers in 1 to 4 weeks of treating this issue. believe me aft about the second one in a week you are probably getting crabby!
2 carry enough additive to fill the filters. this wont hurt a thing i have filled hundreds like this on the road. This is how you also ungel a jelled up fuel system in the winter but i will do that tip later this fall.The last thing you want all over you on the road in your truck is that stinking fuel on your hands right. So you fill the filters with additive to the top. Your engine wont even studder by the time it gets to the injectors it is very diluted and will probably help clean them up. give them a better spray pattern and better atomization.
3 If its going to get cold GET IT OUT! Especially If you truckers are going to drive north in the winter don't even think about it that's always a road service call then a tow bill then a repair bill cha ching cha ching that card gets hot after so many times used in one day OUCH!
4 if your storing it at home circulate real good and check it before you use it.
If you truckers follow these tips you wont have any problems or road service calls from using bio diesel. This little tip could save you hundreds maybe thousands If you would happen to get a mold issue from bio diesel
This i can guarantee from my 16 years of diesel mechanic repairs
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1 comment:
That's really interesting that there's a bio diesel out there. My cousin is a trucker, and does what he can to keep his engine in prime condition. I'm going to send him this article. He's going to a diesel mechanic soon, and this could help him if he's having engine issues. (That is if he's using bio diesel.) http://www.centextruckrepair.com/
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