anyone out there running a waste veg. oil (wvo) system on their rigs? I've read that the duramax engines can run straight wvo with only the addition of a secondary tank. I did a search for wvo but didn't come back with much and would love to hear if anyone else had used this as a fuel system.
thanks

I am running SVO in my Duramax without the need of a secondary tank. SVO all the time.....

Are you using a heat exchanger system of some sort? I'd read that the reason for the dual tank system was to allow the coolant system to heat up the SVO/WVO enough to thin it out. Have you seen any issues with injectors, fuel filters etc?
Thanks again

i went with the second tank option i can tell when the VO is to cold the truck will have a hard time starting so i use my diesel tank to turn it on and let it warm up and then switch when i get where i am going i switch back to diesel and turn it off with diesel in the rails it starts much easier this way and this way if you did get a clogged filter you could switch and still get to were you need to go

try to pm lennart on this forum, he runs on vegetable oil only with his tuned LLY!

I posted this over in fuel systems, but engines may be a better place. I am looking for info from anyone who is running a dual tank system that uses vegetable oil (wvo or new) in their rigs... thanks in advance

I merged & moved it here, this is the best place.

Go to GreaseCar.com and thier is all kinds of info on thier 2 tank conversion systems. I have 20K flawless miles on WVO.

I converted my Duramax to SVO by adding:
1) Second small (6gal) tank for diesel, original is now used for oil
2) 2 each 3-way valves from Greasecar to be able to switch between the tanks
3) Small flat plate heat exchanger in engine compartment
4) Separate filter (2microns) just for oil, electrically heated by two glow plugs. Original filter (also 2microns) is used for diesel only.
5) CAT rough filter/water separator just outside of main oil tank
6) Fuel pump (Kragen at ~$60) after the CAT filter to help push the cold dense oil through the filter to original pump.

It runs great, except when sitting in idle in the intersection, it smokes greyish/whitish smoke. When I finally accelerate it is a big heavy cloud coming out. This bothers me and I am looking for info how to fix this. When cruising on freeway no problem, no smoke at all. I noticed that some big rigs expell these clouds upon acceleration as well, but Duaramax is no big rig.

Any ideas are welcome. I suspect some tuning might help.

Thanks, George

I've been looking into this. You can fit an aux. 17 gallon tank in front of the factory one and still leave enough room for the fuel cooler to do it's thing. I was going to add a pair of motorcycle fans on an adjustable power switch to it to help it cool better anyway. With the other tank I'm sure it won't be getting as much air as before.

George,

try to take the truck out of gear when idleing at an intersection.....it shoud get better that way.
To fix this adjustments in the fueling need to be made, which EFILive is capable of.
Mine does that as well but only when the engine is still cold (below 60°C).


I converted my Duramax to SVO by adding:
1) Second small (6gal) tank for diesel, original is now used for oil
2) 2 each 3-way valves from Greasecar to be able to switch between the tanks
3) Small flat plate heat exchanger in engine compartment
4) Separate filter (2microns) just for oil, electrically heated by two glow plugs. Original filter (also 2microns) is used for diesel only.
5) CAT rough filter/water separator just outside of main oil tank
6) Fuel pump (Kragen at ~$60) after the CAT filter to help push the cold dense oil through the filter to original pump.

It runs great, except when sitting in idle in the intersection, it smokes greyish/whitish smoke. When I finally accelerate it is a big heavy cloud coming out. This bothers me and I am looking for info how to fix this. When cruising on freeway no problem, no smoke at all. I noticed that some big rigs expell these clouds upon acceleration as well, but Duaramax is no big rig.

Any ideas are welcome. I suspect some tuning might help.

Thanks, George

where are you purchasing the svo and how much have you been paying

where are you purchasing the svo and how much have you been paying

Are you asking me? I am in Germany ! We always have enough here at work.

where are you purchasing the svo and how much have you been paying
It takes time to find a free source, try asian restaurants, talk to the owner. If you are lucky and they do not have commercial recycling, they'll be happy to give it to you for free as long, as you will pick WVO from them regularly. Search the web for hints, you can try Craiglist in your area (if it is available there). The other day I saw an ad on eBay, someone in Wisconsin was offering a steady supply. I know that NY state people already have to pay for it due to high demand. I guess I am lucky to get it here for free so far. Good luck.

George,

try to take the truck out of gear when idleing at an intersection.....it shoud get better that way.
To fix this adjustments in the fueling need to be made, which EFILive is capable of.
Mine does that as well but only when the engine is still cold (below 60°C).

Viele Dank Lennart,

I am already running in idle without gear, but it still smokes. I am preheating the engine to about 75°C before I start in the morning. If I buy EFILive, do you know does anyone already have a mapping (tuning) for SVO or WVO? I am still trying to learn all this stuff so I don't think I'll be able to do it from scratch. Are you using your Suncoast for that purpose?

I've had great success in significantly reducing smoke at idle using the following changes:

1. Increase Main Injection Pulse width by 25%
2. Increase Pilot injection Pulse width by 10%
3. Increase idle RPM to 1200
4. Increase main injection timining by 10%
5. Increase WVO input temps to 220F
6. Increase Fuel Rail temps to 170F

With the above changes, there is little smoke after idling for over 20 minutes.

Viele Dank Lennart,

I am already running in idle without gear, but it still smokes. I am preheating the engine to about 75°C before I start in the morning. If I buy EFILive, do you know does anyone already have a mapping (tuning) for SVO or WVO? I am still trying to learn all this stuff so I don't think I'll be able to do it from scratch. Are you using your Suncoast for that purpose?

I have been building tunes with EFILive to run on SVO for about a year now.
As JojoJaro stated you need to adjust the main timing as well as pulse width. Since I start on cold SVO my changes are a little more complex as the tuning needs to compensate for the change in viscosity as the engine (and fuel) warms up.

I spent most of my time playing with the pilot injection as there is only a narrow path where the engine will not be noisy. The main pulse should not be affected as the engine will raise it to a level where it holds idle.

I've had great success in significantly reducing smoke at idle using the following changes:

1. Increase Main Injection Pulse width by 25%
2. Increase Pilot injection Pulse width by 10%
3. Increase idle RPM to 1200
4. Increase main injection timining by 10%
5. Increase WVO input temps to 220F
6. Increase Fuel Rail temps to 170F

With the above changes, there is little smoke after idling for over 20 minutes.


Thanks a lot to both Lennart and Jojo Jaro.

My preheating of WVO consists of flat plate heat exchanger heated by coolant then two glow plugs in filter mounting bracket set to 190°F by thermostatic switch. Which tuning device you'd recommend to purchase?

Regards, George

Which tuning device you'd recommend to purchase?

Regards, George

I bought EFILive, but after using it, I am beginning to think HPTuners might be a better tool for WVO Tuning, although this is pure speculation on my part since I have not seen or used HPTuners.

I guess it depends on what ECM you have. Since I am working with the Delphi ECM (01-05) it gives me plenty tables to play with using EFILive.
The Bosch ECM of the 06+ trucks is completely different and I have no experience tuning those for SVO.