Can I change biodiesel blends without harming the engine?

Question

Can I change biodiesel blends without harming the engine?

Answer 1

Yes, you can go from 10% to 100% bio-diesel at any time as long as your diesel engine can use Ultra-low sulfur diesel . If it can't you change out a few parts (you're going to have to anyway) then you won't have any problem unless it gets below 40 degees (f) (gelling problem).

The reason you're going to have to change the parts anyway is that all diesel sold in the US will be of ultra-low sulfur kind, and some parts need sulfer as a lubracant. You can replace those parts with ones compatable with Ultra-low sulfur diesel.

Answer 2

Yes, you can change biodiesel blends without harming the engine. Diesel motors are naturally a multi-fuel motor.  You can fill the tank with petroleum diesel and when you run low on fuel you can fill the tank with biodiesel (b100) and you should not notice a change. You can also add the two (petroleum and bio diesel) in any ratio into the tank at any giving time or go back and forth with the different blends of B10, B20, etc...

The difference between bio and petro fuel will not be noticed by most diesel vehicles on the road, unless you have a highly tuned and sophisticated engine.

Some cautions to be aware of if going between the two:

1) biodiesel acts like a solvent in the tank - so if you have lots of sludge from years of using petro, keep your fuel filters changed more frequently.

2) if you live in a colder climate biodiesel can gel (cloud) at a higher temperature than petro diesel.

3) if driving an older diesel that has natural rubber hoses and parts (usually pre 1994), you should upgrade the natural rubber parts to synthetic - natural rubber is only a problem if you use blends of more than 20% biodiesel or B20.

Answer 3

I run wvo diesel blends cheaper than bio.