6.5 and home-brewed biodiesel

[CheaperJeeper]

Hi all, first post in the forum.

I'm looking at buying a 99 Suburban and wanted to get some feedback on how the 6.5 - with its optic timing sensor - does with home brewed bio.

A buddy of mine uses a BioPro 190 to make bio for both of us. The fuel is a bit on the dark side - probably mainly due to being made from waste oil I'd say it is about the color of weak tea or unpasturized apple juice. Seems to do just fine in my old 86 F250 and my 84 300CD turbo. But they are both fully mechanical injection and the 6.5 is a bit of a different animal.

From what I've heard/read the optical timing sensor on the 6.5 doesn't do too well with darker fuels. Am I going to be able to run this home-brew at mixtures of 50/50 - 100%? Is there any way to modify the sensor or tweak its signal to compensate for the darker fuel?

So, school a potential 6.5 newbie on the alternative fuel tolerance of the IP on the 6.5...

 

[NVW]

Welcome to TTS.

I can't give any opinion on bio but there are members here who use it with the DS4 pump. Mech inj would be more friendly to bio.

I however use off road diesel with no problems.

 

[CheaperJeeper]

Welcome to TTS.

I can't give any opinion on bio but there are members here who use it with the DS4 pump. Mech inj would be more friendly to bio.

I however use off road diesel with no problems.

Well, straight ORD is pretty close to being as dark as the bio I've been running - just red instead of brown.
So that is still somewhat useful info.

I'm kinda' surprised that there have been well over 50 views of this thread and only 1 reply...

 

[jrsavoie]

Depends on what you are investing in the Suburban. If it's cheap enough to convert to a mechanical pump if problems arise then you're still good.

 

[CheaperJeeper]

Depends on what you are investing in the Suburban. If it's cheap enough to convert to a mechanical pump if problems arise then you're still good.

Seller is asking $5500, but I think I can get him down below $5k - maybe even as low as $4500...

What all is involved in converting to the manual pump? How much does it cost (doing the work myself)? Will they still pass emissions after conversion?

 

[tyler111991]

i dont know much about bio fuel, but having a mechanical injection pump i can tell you that its picky on fuel quality. I have gotten diesel at small gas stations and the truck sputtered and ran like crap, but it does fine when i use fuel from bigger stations. i dont know if the smaller ones had water in them or what but my motor definently didnt like it

 

[jrsavoie]

That wouldn't be a bio-fuel issue. More likely a water issue. When I was traveling around I always tried to go to stations that sold a fair quantity of diesel.
When I did buy from stations that didn't move much diesel I had the same problems. I don't think it had anything to do with the mechanical pump. That kind of diesel would make any vehicle run crappy

 

[Acesneights1]

Seller is asking $5500, but I think I can get him down below $5k - maybe even as low as $4500...

What all is involved in converting to the manual pump? How much does it cost (doing the work myself)? Will they still pass emissions after conversion?

The IP conversion itself is pretty easy but you will need a standalone controller($$) for the transmission and if you had Cruise control, say goodbye.

 

[Chefboy]

I've been running my own homemade Waste Vegetable Oil in my '95 Suburban without any major changes thus far, but I haven't used more than 10 gallons of WVO mixed with Diesel (and DieselKleen) in my 44 gallon tank. I'm still experimenting, and am working on some additional modifications. One thing I have noticed is higher operating temps when I use more WVO, so I'm getting ready to upgrade my cooling system and exhaust to remedy that issue. I'm also going to upgrade my fuel filter/manager with a unit that is designed to be used with WVO, and switch my fuel hoses over to Viton hoses. Once that is complete, then I will be able to experiment with higher levels of WVO, but I'm also a little concerned about the optical sensor. Is there a way to override it?