Krupt.com - Projects and Artwork by Tim Hon
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(2000 Ford F-350 PowerStroke Diesel 7.3Liter V8)

Purpose

About 3-4 years ago Phil found information about diesel engines running on Vegetable Oil. Later, when I upgraded from a gas engine truck, I decided to give it a shot. Around this time, veg oil as a fuel was relatively unknown to the masses. Berkeley has been pioneering this fuel for some time now, and in 2003, Berkeley became the first city in the nation to convert 100% of its 200 diesel vehicles (except fire trucks) to B100 Biodiesel.

With gas prices rising, many people are looking for alternatives. I would like to first and foremost state that Vegetable Oil is not the way to go if you are looking for a turn-key solution. If you are not a mechanic or not ready to become one, then go get a hybrid or try ethanol. Most pro-veggie people will not tell you gritty truth behind unforseen problems in implimentation and daily use of the veggie system. It's on its way, but not there yet.

Although my system has performed flawlessly, it's only because I researched for 6 solid months, built a custom design, got lucky, and I dont drive it much -- I only have 10k miles on veggie, I'll be expecting a injection pump blowout in about 20k, and you better believe I'll have a spare pump and filters ready to go at all times.

The Truck

The requirements for the new project truck were:

• Diesel

Under normal circumstances I would never buy a Ford.

I eventually heard feedback from the truck industry that Ford diesel trucks are different then Ford anything else, since Trucks were the first thing they built since June 1903. I had also heard rumors about problems with the new Chevy diesel powerplant. After checking the market, it also appears you seemingly get more for you money with a Ford.

After one hundred years of vehicle innovation, you would think they figured out how to build solid vehicles. Not so.

The vehicle you see above, being driven only 20% of its lifespan has already had 2 transmission rebuilds.

Veggie Oil Overview

First of all, VO as fuel is still experimental. 'No one should attempt to convert (or have someone else convert) unless:

1. They know how to work on their own diesel engine
2. They have few grand reserve money in case of breakdown, like blowing out your injection pump,
3. are prepared at all times to change clogged fuel filters at night on the side of the freeway, and
4. Are ready to stain clothes, driveways, and your vehicle with veggie oil.

A well known supplier of VO in the Bay Area once told me, if you're switching to V.O. because you think its cheaper. Dont do it. Because eventually it will be more expensive. Now most people won't agree with that, but it's a gamble.

Conversion Plan

Before attempting the conversion, I did about 6 months of research on the diesel engine, diesel, oil, other fuels, dozens of different conversion plans, dozens of different parts suppliers, etc. Conversion for each model vehicle could be different. Here's mine:

Below are technical details as to how the conversion will work.

The basic idea is to get your Veg Oil up to 150 degrees before feeding it into your engine. The heat process is obtained by using engine coolant to double as the V.O. heater. Some may argue this is safer then electric heat because it will never fail without you knowing about it (ie. something else will go wrong first). Electric strains your alternator, and incidentally i witnessed an electric fail on another SVO user before my eyes.

Ready to convert
I decided to move on with the decision to convert. This is a real tough decision because after buying a new truck free of problems, i could just be openning up a rat's nest and asking for more vehicle problems.

I'll be heading to Mendecino County, CA where i'll be installing the conversion with Ryan Holder and my brother Phil at a friends shop.

Conversion Complete
Without major incidents, the conversion was successful. I drove my first 100 miles on veg oil and you can barely tell the difference. Power loss is minimal, about 5 or 10%, i can still burnout from a dead stop.

The main difference you first notice is the smell. It smells like burning french fries or chicken wings.

Custom alluminum 35Gal Tank mounted flush with front of bed

Top of tank -- plumbing for coolant in/out

coil-heated fuel filter with aquablock

Mounted under cab - Inline temp guage and
hose-in-hose exit point 12" before fuel switch

6-port fuel switch - Mounted between inside frame
and forward drive shaft

V.O. Update
Feb 2006
So far we have about 6,000 miles on veg. oil and no problems. No filter changes necessary. The other day I was running on SVO on the freeway and i started to lose power, I switched back to diesel and power was restored within 30 seconds. I was just running low on SVO, almost empty and I probably must've got some bubbles in the fuel line.

V.O. Update
Aug 2006
Switched the SVO filter out. Couldn't tell if it needed it or not. Remeber to top-off the filter with oil when changing, or you'll get a permenant air bubble in your line. To fix, keep the vehicle running and open up the main diesel filter drain valve for about 30 seconds.

Coolant leaking into oil supply?
Sep 2006
I noticed some Neon Green buildup in the top of my VO tank. This could be very very bad. It could mean that coolant used to heat the VO, is leaking into the VO. Why else would there be neon green particles in there? I will be taking samples of fuel from different areas of the system and run it through a labratory test to see if: (1)There are traces of coolant in my VO, and (2) If the aqua-block filter is actually working.

Chemical Test Results
Nov 2006
Good News. I got the results back from the lab. There is no traces of Coolant anywhere in the system. BUT I did find that the aqua-block filter doesn't work. The same minute ammount of water particles in the tank was found later on down the line, after the filter. The results will be posted soon.

Leak
Jan 2007
A small leak seems to be coming from the front of the bed. This could be in the plumbing, the tank or the filter. I pulled the tank, it looks like theres a microscopic hole in the aluminum tank seam. The welder says its too dangerous to patch unless it can be removed the truck, which it cant....

Applied a liquid rubber sealent reinforced with an L-Bracket compressing the rubber, and it seems to work.