W80: keeping it mixed

JPhauler87

Full Access Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Posts
146
Reaction score
10
Location
CT
Having an issue with my centrifuge right now. I have a lot of stale gas in this mix to help thin it out, but I am not getting the normal "harmonics" when its up and running at 90psi. Jets and post are clean and appear to move oil as much oil as needed. The bowl is not deformed. If I run it up to 120psi it starts to sound like that I'm used to. Is it possible its thin enough to require that kind of pressure to get up to speed?
 

JPhauler87

Full Access Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Posts
146
Reaction score
10
Location
CT
Unthreaded center post, jolted pump, gave a big *******. Reassemble, good now.
 

Josh Carmack

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2013
Posts
368
Reaction score
2
Location
Ripley, TN
I put an intake screen on my pump after having to do the same thing multiple times. Some pesky birds were building a nest right over top of the mixing drum. They have since been dispatched.
 

JPhauler87

Full Access Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Posts
146
Reaction score
10
Location
CT
Batch of fuel I just finished ended up thicker than I wanted. Looked at weather after topping off the Mercedes tank and Wednesday night is supposed to get down to -2*F! Dammit. Going to add another 10% stale gas and hope for the best. I noticed even in the 20s today fuel pressure is down so need to thin it out regardless. This batch is probably 20% stale gas, 50% wmo, 30% veg. Not much of an increase in white smoke/nasty smell over 50% veg 30% wmo blend I was running previously.
 

JPhauler87

Full Access Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Posts
146
Reaction score
10
Location
CT
10% more stale gas didn't seem to make much difference. I felt the suction hose and filter, both very cold. I'd never checked before and this surprised me, I remember Josh once said he plays hot potato with his filters when changing them on a hot engine so I always assumed mine was the same. I have a feeling the lift pump can move it fine but doesn't like pushing it through the cold filter. So, I replaced the rubber hose between the lift pump and filter with a much longer hose and looped it around the valve cover, wedging it between the cover and intake where I could in hopes of some heat transfer. Fuel pressure under load appears to have doubled. Hose still feels cold right before it goes into the filter at idle, not sure if that is due to less heat at idle or just a minimal increase in heat across the board. Wondering if I can optimize my routing and maybe add some insulation to the hose and filter.
 
Last edited:

JPhauler87

Full Access Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Posts
146
Reaction score
10
Location
CT
Added the Dodge ATF coolant heat exchanger to the mix and removed my long fuel line that routes around the valve cover. Working nicely at heating the fuel, fuel filter is almost hot to the touch now. Despite that, it has not appeared to do much in the way of helping fuel pressure or driveability. It has been in the teens all week here and it is sluggish. Today is in the mid twenties and the difference was noticeable, much smoother and normal power. At this point, I am thinking the sluggishness must be from:

-The lift pump struggling to move thicker fuel (though the fuel pressures I'm seeing don't reflect this)
-The injection pump's inability to move colder fuel to injectors and thus not much drop in fuel pressure (though that doesn't make sense either because the line going to the pump is warm to the touch)
-Cold air intake temps. I removed the hose going to the cowel under the hood so the intake is inside the engine bay. Didn't notice much difference when it was 15* the other night.

It's not undriveable in these temps, but almost feels power wise comparable to NA 5 cyl. (Yes the turbo is working)

This thing's cold start ability on my blend has really impressed me. Plugged in over night, it started on the second glow plug cycle at -4 yesterday morning. The night before that when I left work, it struggled a little at 14* without being plugged in but eventually started after 3 or 4 glow plug cycles.
 

JPhauler87

Full Access Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Posts
146
Reaction score
10
Location
CT
Finally warming up and this thing is liking it. Have run about 330 gallons of my blend through it. Have probably close to 500gal on hand ready to process.
 

Brad S.

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2010
Posts
1,603
Reaction score
2
Location
NW IA
Refresh my memory, which vehicle are you running this in???
I went back and read some of this thread, are you watching your GP's for any sign of buildup..??
I'm very close to putting my pickup back on the road, soon after I'll be running wmo again as well..
Glad to hear its warming in your part of the country.
 

JPhauler87

Full Access Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Posts
146
Reaction score
10
Location
CT
Running this in a 1985 300TD somewhere north of 335k on it. I have not been monitoring the glowplugs at all really unless they fail, which I've had three do. One was kinda nasty, rest looked ok.

Note though that I have been running about 1/3 ea of wvo, motor oil and stale gas. The gas and wvo really seem to keep the smoke, coking and smell away. Was getting a lot of all three of those things in W80. Much happier now and have managed to get about 500gal of wvo for $300.

Got in an accident on Friday though :( looked in my mirror to change lanes and lady in front of me had stopped. I locked up both front tires but still just hit her. Knocked the headlight bezel and rad support back almost an inch. Thought I was going to drive away until the radiator blew. Fortunately, the guy I got it from gave me a spare radiator. The alternator has been a little squeaky and I have easy access to it right now so taking care of that. Got creative with a bottle jack and got measurements within 1/8" side to side. Should have it back together tomorrow.

Could have been a lot worse. Barely any damage to the lady's Fusion.

You must be registered for see images


You must be registered for see images
 

AcIdBuRn02ZTS

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2012
Posts
1,052
Reaction score
89
Location
Indiana
I'm really surprised that ol' benz didn't kill that fusion... just saying.

Looks like its back together for the most part though... glad no one was hurt.
 

JPhauler87

Full Access Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Posts
146
Reaction score
10
Location
CT
Mine was diving so hard my bumper went under hers. Bet it would have turned out a lot different if that hadn't happened.
 

Brad S.

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2010
Posts
1,603
Reaction score
2
Location
NW IA
With your wvo, wmo, gas mix, have you had any filter plugging problems, on the car??
Just thinking many have said that wvo & wmo mix can give problems??
But it looks like mixing wvo & wmo filtering/processing it, then use it in a vehicle works better....???
Sorry to read about the accident.
 

JPhauler87

Full Access Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Posts
146
Reaction score
10
Location
CT
Back together and running fine. Drove to work today. Couple more little things and I bet you'll barely be able to tell anything happened. Or at least it won't look any worse than the rest of the car haha

I have not plugged a single filter on the car. The blend gets fuged together and pumped through a 1um water filter (which I know is not anywhere near 1um in reality) before it goes in the car. That's it. I fuge a lot, usually 36-48hrs in 12hr passes. Sludge in the bowl is still present after the final pass but usually around 1/4 of what I get on the first 12hr pass.

I have noticed something weird with the blend though. I get as much black sludge from 13 gallons of wmo in a 40+ gallon batch of fuel as I did when I was processing 40+ gallon batches of W80 wmo. Maybe even a little more. Point being, the veg seems to make the sludge readily separate from the wmo. It is the same black sludge either way, not any kind of polymerization I've read people saying the two can form. My blend is unheated until it gets to the car.

I would hesitate to blend wmo and wvo in the vehicle's tank. Though I can't say anything I've seen in my blending barrel would suggest a poor result would come from that.
 

Brad S.

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2010
Posts
1,603
Reaction score
2
Location
NW IA
I have noticed something weird with the blend though. I get as much black sludge from 13 gallons of wmo in a 40+ gallon batch of fuel as I did when I was processing 40+ gallon batches of W80 wmo. Maybe even a little more. Point being, the veg seems to make the sludge readily separate from the wmo.

Thats interesting, I think bbjordan had similar results with wvo & wmo.
I'm gonna try to put some wvo in my routine.
 
Top