Isuzu Trooper Owners Club UK™

[Ninj]

Hi all,

A mate with a 3.1 trooper is currently installing a 2 tank system to allow him to start on diesel and switch to refined WVO when warmed.  

I don't do the sort of miles he does and I don't fancy the faff with the installation but it got me thinking again about filtering my own WVO as I have a free source of good quality oil.

Im looking at filtering down to about 5microns but just interested in experience of those who are using it in their 3.1 engines.

What sort of ratio do you mix it with diesel?
Do you cut it with petrol in the really cold weather?
How often do you replace your fuel filter?

Thanks in advance

Rich
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1992 3.1 Lotus Bighorn

[Google]

[Flarris]

[Trooper John]

[smoo]

I am running 100 % wvo . Mods are :-
Injection ( pump) timing advanced 4 deg.
Flat plate heat exchanger fitted.
Water injection to keep the piston rings  clean.
Big bore fuel tank pick up pipe and 10mm bore fuel line to engine bay.

Runs absolutely fine...........but wouldn't  attempt 100% wvo  without ALL of the above mods.

[Ninj]

Since the original post back in Nov, Ive also swapped to WVO.

Id be interested in your water injection installation smoo - not seen anything Trooper specific - cheers

Rich
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1992 3.1 Lotus Bighorn

[crazypij]

Hi,

I started the other week putting 50/50 of WVO into an un modified Bighorn (Trooper equivalent in NZ).  My local chip shop filters the oil for me through a filter that they use (they filter the oil daily to get all the fine particles out which effects the taste and change oil every 3 days).  The filter is so good that I cannot filter it any more and I put 40 litres into my tank the other week and it works fine.

We are close to mid winter here though the local temp falls to about 5 degrees and that's it.  I have no modifications though if I were on the South Island then my local garage suggested that I fit a fuel tank heater to ensure that the oil stays warm and does not crystalise in the tank.

I have no idea what I would need to add to the vehicle to do it properly and I am great at destroying things but *beep* at putting things together hence why I have not bothered.

For info I have a 1996 3.1TD Plaisir with 190,000 kms on the clock (they run cars like Cuba here-keep it going and going) and though diesel is only $1.15 a litre (54p) it is still worth a go and the chip shop only charges me 20 cents a litre (9p) so must not grumble.

I think if you look at why the diesel engine was invented for then you could say that running it on straight WVO was what it was intended for and that diesel was only discovered as a by-product of other fuels so that's why it took over from peanut oil why took time to grow and produce.

Any body know how WVO effects that glo plugs etc?

[knghtandyk]

Hi and welcome!
As I understand it, most damage is done on start up when the cold wvo is thicker and has a tendancy to gum up the piston rings and leave deposits on the injectors.
I've not heard of it damaging the glow plugs specifically before but this may be the case.
I've bought the kit to modify the glow cycle for extended pre and after glow and have found someone who'll supply extended glow plugs for the 3.1 although it will be a few weeks before I can get round to buying/fitting them.
I'll post again on here once I've done the work if anyone's interested.

[rdavisinva]

Although we are running a 2 tank system in a Land Rover 110 with a 4JB1-T 2.8 TD, we had to jump through a few hoops as follows:
2 separate tanks with separate sedimenters and filters for diesel and for WVO and 12V solenoids to switch among diesel and WVO and among 2 WVO filters.
The diesel side has a low pressure electric fuel pump.
Start on diesel and switch over to 100% WVO when the engine is warm.
Installed a heated sedimenter then a fuel pump that pumps WVO @ 12 PSI through a heat exchanger, then through another heated sedimenter to trap any water, and then installed 2 heated filters.
There is a switch that allows the driver to choose among the 2 heated filters so you only actually use 1 at a time.
If filter 1 clogs, then we switch to filter 2 and change filter 1 when at home where it can be properly disposed of.
Then run on filter 2 until it clogs and switch over to filter1, and so on.
We also installed another heat exchanger between the WVO fuel filter of choice and the IP to insure the WVO will be nice and hot.
Just before time to park (a mile or so), we switch over to straight diesel.
It sounds like most of you are OK without the WVO 12 PSI fuel pump, but the Land Rover's 2.8 TD just wouldn't run without it.
This system has been in use for 18 months with positive results = no noticable change or breakdown.
The engine does not really seem to notice any when switched back and forth, but some claim that WVO produces less power.
Robert Davis in VA

[Eastblock]

Where do you plumb in the heat exchanger? I've just acquired one since temps are starting to drop. Bloody cold this morning!

[knghtandyk]

I took a T off the 16mm line from the thermostat to the metal pipes that run along the induction manifold (the 19mm line is the return line), ran that through a heated filter and FPHE then T'd back into the line just before it enters the cabin.
This worked pretty well, with the FPHE getting nice and hot but as part of rebuilding my top end I'm testing with a run straight from the thermostat to the heaters and directly into the cabin to force all the coolant through the heaters rather than just having a hot "spur".
As I'm aiming to have the truck back up and running after next weekend (still waiting some parts) I won't know how this has gone until then, but I'll post my findings once It's done as I'm doing a couple of other bio specific mods in the process.

[rdavisinva]

[quote="Eastblock"]Where do you plumb in the heat exchanger? I've just acquired one since temps are starting to drop. Bloody cold this morning![/quote]

Plumb a T-connection that splits the coolant flow to and from the heater before the heater flow valve (on the engine side).  
By T-connection this means the the hose is split with 90 degree right and left turns.
If you mount a T-connection with the T straight with a 90 degree to one side, this is the wrong way to do it as the fluid will keep straight and ignore the 90 degree split to one side.

You didn't mention the type of heat exchanger you have, but if it is a plate exchanger, be sure and route the coolant and fuel in opposite directions.  If you mount them in the same direction, the exchanger will not transfer anywhere near as much heat...

Good Luck,
Robert Davis in VA

[The Laird]

Can I point out a problem I had?  My trooper was a petrol and before I bought it someone fitted a 2.8 diesel.
Lovely job but they forgot to turn off the fuel pump in the tank. Two days before I bought it, the injection pump was changed because it was leaking.
Three months later I had a serious leak from the front of the pump.
The seal at the front of the pump, the drive from the cam belt, cannot sustain presure from the inside of the pump.
The pump is designed to suck the fuel into the area behind this seal and presurise it in the secondary pump.
When the seal failed on mine it left a trial like a snail! And, the fuel consumption went down to 10 to the gallon!

[markymoan]

English would be good, whats doing the PTFE to the DHLA and FTST about  
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[The Laird]

PTFE = Polytetraflouroethelene.             As for the rest....Over my head!

[rdavisinva]