running *** ( or waste transmission fluid.)

so, here is my story. I've been running on waste oil for some time now(only in the summer, as I'm having "flow" problems in the winter).
I started with waste motor oil. filtered , did the ;let it set for months; then filter it and run it when the truck was hot, start and stop on clean diesel.
years ago, on waste motor oil, I would have issues with the truck ( skipping, chugging,bucking) at times under loads at low rpms. I would have to turn off the over drive and it would get better, maybe a little throttle and its good,
i drove 2000 miles or so like that ( waste motor oil) . then i started thinking, maybe some of the oil is synthetic ,,,, maybe ( as I have read before) it doesn't burn as good. so I mixed in 3-5 gallons of clean diesel with the wmo. It ran better, less bucking , chugging under load. … ( i know, well. yah, but anyway)
i changed jobs ( mechanic) and now i can get as much waste oil as i want. so.. i started taking all the waste transmission oil as i can get . atf only, no cvt or synthecit … or very little,,, so far i have driven 3500 miles last year and about 3000 miles this year on waste aft
My filter system is so crude, and simple, most would laugh,, but it does work,,, i am working on a better system for later use.
i have a 5 gallon kerosene bucket with a home water faucet 1" from the bottom, running in to a 1 micron sock filter from e-bay into a 5 gallon bucket.
i then have a funnel with steel screen in it ( to get any big stuff that may have fallen into the bucket) to poor into the truck with.
so far it has worked great, the atf seems to burn better . i have noticed it does not chug, skip or buck under load with the atf..
EGTs are about the same .
i have installed a turbo system ( stock of a 94) and its a night and day change!
i will have to turn up the IP a bit more ( was at 1.5 turns) maybe try 2 turns or 2.5.. as i have no to little smoke on hills.
will update as things change , but with 12 hr work days and life,,, i have little free time...
and the EGTs after the turbo swap,,,, the same hill , every day, for years im at 830 egt. before was about 1250.. 1200... no matter what....

Keep us updated. I was thinking of running ATF myself. Possibly some 0/20 motor oil.

ATF and hydraulic oil is cream of the crop for waste oil. The issues you were having with motor oil was how thick it is. From what I'm reading, you weren't thinning the oil. What ever oil you run, mix in 10-20% gasoline and give that a shot. (With ATF, you may only want to go with 5% gasoline as ATF is pretty thin as it is).

Also, if you are running a stock lift pump, replace it. I use a carter stock replacement pump ($22 or so on rockauto).

I've ran thousands of gallons... all weights/types... thin the oil.

I have tried to run wmo, but could not always be sure if it was synthetic or not,,now with the ***, most is not syn,,, or maybe it is just that its thinner, that it runs better,,, less chugging, bucking or misfire under load. I have run both in the spring,summer,and fall,, ( here in N.H. ) same way to and from work, same EVERYTHING,,, for years, the *** burns better and has a "more power" feel. when I ran wmo. I would feel power drop as I switched to the rear tank (wmo). always at a red light or a big down hill , just to give the wmo time to get to the filter and IP . then I could hear and feel the power drop.
Now running ***, same roads, hills , etc, there is no "feeling" of power loss, egts stay the same as diesel. and I "think" im cleaning my fuel system( atf has cleaning agents) while im driving.
things are going good so far. its getting colder here(18*) the other day so my 100% *** times are over for now... I do mix with diesel, but soon its just not enough. and I just run on the clean diesel.
I do have a cleanable glass filter just before the facet fuel pump I have to clean every 3 or 4 weeks. but that's it.
This year I have gone 3200 free miles.

I run WATF and WMO. I mix them though. There is also turbine oil, hydraulic fluid and gas / diesel in there. I centrifuge everything multiple times until I get an acceptable amount of sludge out. Not filtering will ruin your fuel system no matter what anyone says. Even if you run it through a 1 mic. Sock. The **** you get out with the fudge is sub micron. If anyone has any questions on any of it I can help. I consistently drive 100+ miles a day on WMO. I have been doing this for a while and have thousands of miles logged. An old pic of my setup is my profile pic. Now I have 3 more 305g totes and an inline heater.

Keeping SpG / Viscosity close to diesel will make a big difference. Thinning with gas is what I recommend. Regular unleaded gas ( RUG). I highly recommend getting a centrifuge. It’ll streamline your process and save you hundreds of dollars. Once you see what you get out of your already settled filtered oil, you’ll never go back. I found mine for 500 on Craig’s list. I recommend an electric motor driven fuge. The pressure driven ones seem to have higher failure rates. I have noticed that WATF breaks crud loose in my fuel system. I first noticed when I was filtering it. It started cleaning the varnish off the inside of the centrifuge. I stopped using straight WATF because my source contaminates it with so much rain water that its a huge pain to filter. Drying takes forever.

Filter filter filter filter and filter more. It’s never too clean. You can set up a 2mic cat filter / Napa filter pretty cheap.. I just did that recently. I have part numbers for the filter and base if you need. They’re not standard filters. Napa carries them all. I managed to mount it and my coolant filter to the same peristyle that the stock filter is on.

Ps: I have no idea what this thread is about. I didn’t read any of it ( besides skimming the first post by OP) . Good luck

Natehimself36 said:

Filter filter filter filter and filter more. It’s never too clean. You can set up a 2mic cat filter / Napa filter pretty cheap.. I just did that recently. I have part numbers for the filter and base if you need. They’re not standard filters. Napa carries them all. I managed to mount it and my coolant filter to the same peristyle that the stock filter is on.

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Are you saying the CAT filter is on your truck or part of your centrifuge system? Part numbers and maybe some pictures would be cool.

YJMike92 said:

Are you saying the CAT filter is on your truck or part of your centrifuge system? Part numbers and maybe some pictures would be cool.

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I put the cat filter on my truck after the stock filter. I’m using a Napa 2 mic right now. The cat # is 1r 0749 the filter base is NAPA 4770 . You will need some fittings to go from the 5/16 bos fittings to hose but nothing too crazy. I do have the cat filter on stand-by for later but since the Napa filter was so cheap, I bought it anyways.

CIM TEK an industrial petroleum product company makes some pretty nice huge special application 2 micron high flow filters

Thanks for the information.
I'm just beginning to research the WMO, WATF option. I've got a shop and can pick and chose what I use for fuel. I burn a lot of oil in a waste oil heater during the winter. I'm planning on using the transmission fluid and the 0/20 motor oil for fuel.

YJMike92 said:

Thanks for the information.
I'm just beginning to research the WMO, WATF option. I've got a shop and can pick and chose what I use for fuel. I burn a lot of oil in a waste oil heater during the winter. I'm planning on using the transmission fluid and the 0/20 motor oil for fuel.

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I recommend it. I really do believe that a centrifuge is essential to the operation. You can't compare it to a filter. Or you can't compare filters to a fuge I should say. Even if you get a pressure operated unit. Yes, they are a little pricy but you can find a used one and it will save you a lot of money. No doubt about it.

The other thing is this: this is not diesel. Your fuel system is designed for diesel. Your pump is designed for diesel. You have a db2 rotary pump not a Bosch type piston pump. Our db2s don't last as long as piston pumps and they don't hold up to "not diesel" like piston pumps. However, you can expect to buy yourself many many pumps brand new and many many sets of injectors with the money you save IF YOU FILTER IT. No matter how you do it, it's not diesel. Even if the sg/ viscosity is the same, even if the lubricity is better than diesel..it snotdiesel. All that said, I'll never run diesel again. The money I save is substantial and I can do any maint. Myself. Good luck. Once you get a centrifuge get an inline heater. That'll help a lot. I've been doing 150 gallon batches at 3 gallons an hour. I do this 10x. Seems like a lot of work but I only have to clean the fuge once a day and besides transferring tanks, that's it.

Natehimself36 said:

I run WATF and WMO.

Keeping SpG / Viscosity close to diesel will make a big difference. Thinning with gas is what I recommend. Regular unleaded gas ( RUG).
I highly recommend getting a centrifuge. I recommend an electric motor driven fuge.

Filter filter filter filter and filter more. It’s never too clean.

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And HEAT & more heat & more heat.
I been playing round/running WVO & WMO since '03. & as my sig says the learning curve was TREMENDOUS!!
I made heaters for my fuel tanks with 1/2" Al tubing & run my coolant thru many feet of extra heater hose to/thru my tank heaters, heat all my feed & return fuel lines, heat my fuel filters, an added 24 or 30-32 plate heat exchanger (don't remember how many plate) Anyway, my total coolant system is around 9+gal now.

Recently redid my new rear insulated F26E 38 gal fuel tank & my set-up & was planning to post pics of my heating, WMO, fuel, heating, etc set-up on my truck.

And I centrifuge my WMO several times. (don't have centrifuge set up right now, but....just wait)

Nate, where you located? I'm in Redmond. What brand fuge you have? I'd need to look at mine, don't remember what brand it is, bought it up there in Wa. yrs ago.

ttman4 said:

And HEAT & more heat & more heat.
I been playing round/running WVO & WMO since '03. & as my sig says the learning curve was TREMENDOUS!!
I made heaters for my fuel tanks with 1/2" Al tubing & run my coolant thru many feet of extra heater hose to/thru my tank heaters, heat all my feed & return fuel lines, heat my fuel filters, an added 24 or 30-32 plate heat exchanger (don't remember how many plate) Anyway, my total coolant system is around 9+gal now.

Recently redid my new rear insulated F26E 38 gal fuel tank & my set-up & was planning to post pics of my heating, WMO, fuel, heating, etc set-up on my truck.

And I centrifuge my WMO several times. (don't have centrifuge set up right now, but....just wait)

Nate, where you located? I'm in Redmond. What brand fuge you have? I'd need to look at mine, don't remember what brand it is, bought it up there in Wa. yrs ago.

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There's a huge learning curve. I don't worry about heat too much with wmo. I don't touch vegi oil though. My thoughts are, if I switch to diesel before shutdown and back to wmo after the trucks warm, it'll be fine. Between the two filters and IP I would think it gets plenty hot. It would be cool to test fuel temp at injectors though. Even when I don't switch to diesel for shutdown / startup it doesn't seem to mind. I do get it really close to diesel though with gasoline / diesel thinning. X

I am over by Dallas. Like 45 minutes west of salem. I use an ultimate force fuge by PA biodiesel. It has the 3450 motor and the cone in the bowl. I made an inline heater with some iron and a water heater element and a dial. I keep it at like 120- 150 until I add gas and then I lower it to 100-90. Usually I think it at run 5 or so. I try not to boil out all the gas lol.

Well Nate, I cked & I have a Simple Centrifuge out of Morton, Wa. I bought back in '08-'10. (Not set up right now, waiting till I get my shop built.) Got about 1500gal WMO already fuged I'm currently using, & as you say, cut w/RUG.
Used to be able to get WVO & have near 1200 gal of that filtered & ready to go. Just redid part of my system on my truck & trying to decide if I'm going to run anymore of the WVO.

On my centrifuge set-up I gravity fed WMO into a Lowes 3-4-5gal hotwater heater, (don't remember what size) thru another filter, then to/thru the fuge. But I never cut anything till I ready to put into truck.
I got a waste oil heater I plan on installing in my new shop soon as I get that thing built!!

And nhwrench & ACidBurn, ATF & hyd oil is cream of the crop. I'll walk uphill both ways to get that stuff before I go get WMO.

Natehimself36 said:

I recommend it. I really do believe that a centrifuge is essential to the operation. You can't compare it to a filter. Or you can't compare filters to a fuge I should say. Even if you get a pressure operated unit. Yes, they are a little pricy but you can find a used one and it will save you a lot of money. No doubt about it.

The other thing is this: this is not diesel. Your fuel system is designed for diesel. Your pump is designed for diesel. You have a db2 rotary pump not a Bosch type piston pump. Our db2s don't last as long as piston pumps and they don't hold up to "not diesel" like piston pumps. However, you can expect to buy yourself many many pumps brand new and many many sets of injectors with the money you save IF YOU FILTER IT. No matter how you do it, it's not diesel. Even if the sg/ viscosity is the same, even if the lubricity is better than diesel..it snotdiesel. All that said, I'll never run diesel again. The money I save is substantial and I can do any maint. Myself. Good luck. Once you get a centrifuge get an inline heater. That'll help a lot. I've been doing 150 gallon batches at 3 gallons an hour. I do this 10x. Seems like a lot of work but I only have to clean the fuge once a day and besides transferring tanks, that's it.

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I officially started my alternative fuel adventure. Drained a gallon of CVT fluid, a quart of Honda Dual pump fluid (DPF), and five quarts of 0/20 motor oil into the clean dedicated container. Ordered the Ultimate Force Centrifuge from PA Biodiesel today. I will be planning how I will set everything up. I have an ample supply of
55-gallon drums so they will be my storage container of choice.

Subscribed to learn. Thanks guys!

ttman4 said:

Well Nate, I cked & I have a Simple Centrifuge out of Morton, Wa. I bought back in '08-'10. (Not set up right now, waiting till I get my shop built.) Got about 1500gal WMO already fuged I'm currently using, & as you say, cut w/RUG.
Used to be able to get WVO & have near 1200 gal of that filtered & ready to go. Just redid part of my system on my truck & trying to decide if I'm going to run anymore of the WVO.

On my centrifuge set-up I gravity fed WMO into a Lowes 3-4-5gal hotwater heater, (don't remember what size) thru another filter, then to/thru the fuge. But I never cut anything till I ready to put into truck.
I got a waste oil heater I plan on installing in my new shop soon as I get that thing built!!

And nhwrench & ACidBurn, ATF & hyd oil is cream of the crop. I'll walk uphill both ways to get that stuff before I go get WMO.

Click to expand...

I think a friend of mine has that same kind of centrifuge. Any centrifuge is an amazing piece of equipment in my opinion. Currently i have been sourcing all my fuel from airports. It’s been an interesting experience. The oil is a lot cleaner from the get go but it has a crazy amount of lead in it as a byproduct of combustion in the piston driven engines. They use leaded gas in those still. Preferably i would be only getting waste fuel ( jet a / kero) and turbine oil but i cant have everything lol. Earlier i had posted that i had a 2 micron filter plumbed in. I got a little ahead of myself there. I had it all installed And i was plumbing it at that time BUT I had the wrong fittings. It’s been a huge PITA to get the correct fitting to go from the truck to the filter. I think its a -5 ORB fitting but I don’t know. It’s ridiculous. Ive been all over trying to find the correct size. I know its 1/2 x 20 threads. Crazy thing.