I am looking to buying another diesel (had a 98' Dodge w/ lots of problems so I bought a Tundra) once I sell my truck. I am going to be be installing a SVO (straight veg oil) conversion. There are a lot of converted powerstrokes cause there are a lot of kits for them. But I really don't want a Ford, I have been driving my cousins 05' GMC DM (not converted)and I love it. And Dodge is out of the question.

So my question is how many of you are running SVO, and what it the best generation DM for the conversion? What are the main differences? I am looking at getting an 03' Chevy, which is a 1st gen right?. I am going to start looking for my answers, just thought i would put it out there. Thanks in advance.

moving to Fluids

Any Dmax should be as good as another for a veggie conversion, perhaps the only things to consider are warranty and injectors. GM may not warranty the engine if it runs on veggie. I believe they allow B20 max now? Maybe B5.

With the injectors, should you run into a problem, the LLY and LBZ trucks are much simplier to replace them.

...GM may not warranty the engine if it runs on veggie...


GM will not honor the warranty if it is running on veggie-you can bet on that one. If you do a proper conversion, it would be awfully hard to get it back to stock without them knowing. If you used electric heaters rather than coolant heat it'd be easier, but unless you had an easy dealer to deal with, you'd be in trouble.

Can the SVO handle the HPCR system, and vise versa?

I am just reserved about running things through there that weren't meant to be. Now a mechanical, "low pressure" system (like the old 6.2s or mech. Dodge Cummins), I'd probably be all about it.


This will be interesting to hear.


C-ya

Any Dmax should be as good as another for a veggie conversion, perhaps the only things to consider are warranty and injectors. GM may not warranty the engine if it runs on veggie. I believe they allow B20 max now? Maybe B5.

B5 and B20 are one thing. SVO is another...

In the Duramax, I wouldn't worry too much about biodiesel. B5, B20, B50... Who cares? Run the stuff!

I think you could run SVO, but I don't think I would. Those high pressure injection systems are sensitive, and, particularly with a heater in the system, I think you would be asking for trouble. Without the heater I don't think you would run into to many problems, but you wouldn't be able to run on veggie except for when it is warm out.

My opinion on the HPCR system and veg. oil is it isn't a good idea. I know of at least a couple guys doing it with (so far) no major problems, though. My biggest fear is with running hot oil through the EDU. Since it is designed to be cooled by fuel flowing through it, running hot oil (oil has to be hot for viscosity purposes no matter what the temperature is outside) puts it way outside its design parameters. I also worry about injector atomization performance with the higher viscosity oil. Bad spray patterns could lead to all kinds of problems in the long run.

So bottom line it comes down to your risk tolerance. A system can be designed such that the engine will run perfectly fine on WVO, but are you willing to risk the consequences if something goes wrong?

I agree Hab. In those trucks, I think I would run BIO.

I would be running a Frybrid setup (http://www.frybrid.com/test.htm), so it will be heated mulitiple times and started off of B20 or B100 from diesel tank. Also i will be getting a higher milage truck (fundsalow syndrome) so I will not be worried about warranty, I know it's not covered. I guess my question is, what are the main differences between gen 1, 2 & 3? Has one had more problems, recalls, bad parts etc. Did they change injector pump or injectors? Just courious cause the gen's were changed so quickly. Thanks

I wonder what its max temp is? Why does it get so hot that it actually need the fuel supply to cool it? Probably a good question for Bosch huh? It could go through the final heat exchanger after the EDU. SO temp would be moderate.

As McRat said the post LB7 injectors are easier to get to for replacing,as for SVO/WVO conversions there are other web sites that may offer more help,try a search

The EDU has a cooler eh? Don't they usually put coolers on the return line? Would I be able to bypass it, or make it not cool, would that be a large feat? That would be a problem. Do all gen's have that? This is why I am asking you guys, cause I haven't seen any newer model DM's coverted. So I need to find out why.

The EDU doesn't so much have a cooler, it is the cooler (that made more sense when I thought it than it did when I typed it, but I don't know how else to say it). Fuel flows through it to cool it. I don't know enough about the plumbing of it to say whether or not you could bypass it. But if you bypassed it, you'd likely still need to be pumping diesel through it to cool it anyway. That could be done easily enough, but it's only possible if you can bypass it.

When you speak of warranties, remember the injectors are covered out to 200,000 miles (as long as the dealership doesn't find a modded fuel system). So likely whatever you buy will still be covered by that warranty.

I really think if you are seriously wanting to use oil as fuel, you are better off in the long run buying a good biodiesel reactor setup and going that route. Messing with these HPCR systems is certainly a high-risk operation in my opinion.

Another caveat that I should throw in at this point is you need to find good oil sources before spending any money on a biodiesel or WVO system. With the recent spike in oil prices bringing a spike in biodiesel demand, WVO is becoming a lot more difficult to come by. It is becoming quite a valuable commodity, and I don't see that reversing course any time soon.

I really think if you are seriously wanting to use oil as fuel, you are better off in the long run buying a good biodiesel reactor setup and going that route. Messing with these HPCR systems is certainly a high-risk operation in my opinion.

Another caveat that I should throw in at this point is you need to find good oil sources before spending any money on a biodiesel or WVO system. With the recent spike in oil prices bringing a spike in biodiesel demand, WVO is becoming a lot more difficult to come by. It is becoming quite a valuable commodity, and I don't see that reversing course any time soon.
Between the warranty issue, the conversion cost breakeven point appearing to be as distant as it seems and the excellent point brought up by habanero regarding possible (likely) future availibility of WVO, certainly gives pause for thought. The warranty issue alone is quite a large factor.
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Another caveat that I should throw in at this point is you need to find good oil sources before spending any money on a biodiesel or WVO system. With the recent spike in oil prices bringing a spike in biodiesel demand, WVO is becoming a lot more difficult to come by. It is becoming quite a valuable commodity, and I don't see that reversing course any time soon.

I hope everyone is listening to this advice.

The EDU doesn't so much have a cooler, it is the cooler (that made more sense when I thought it than it did when I typed it, but I don't know how else to say it). Fuel flows through it to cool it. I don't know enough about the plumbing of it to say whether or not you could bypass it. But if you bypassed it, you'd likely still need to be pumping diesel through it to cool it anyway. That could be done easily enough, but it's only possible if you can bypass it.

When you speak of warranties, remember the injectors are covered out to 200,000 miles (as long as the dealership doesn't find a modded fuel system). So likely whatever you buy will still be covered by that warranty.

I really think if you are seriously wanting to use oil as fuel, you are better off in the long run buying a good biodiesel reactor setup and going that route. Messing with these HPCR systems is certainly a high-risk operation in my opinion.

Another caveat that I should throw in at this point is you need to find good oil sources before spending any money on a biodiesel or WVO system. With the recent spike in oil prices bringing a spike in biodiesel demand, WVO is becoming a lot more difficult to come by. It is becoming quite a valuable commodity, and I don't see that reversing course any time soon.

Hab, I edited my post after I went and looked at the EDU steup, and read your post over again. You were clear. I think you could run warmed oil through it and then put the final heat exchanger (relocate PS battery) after it to give it the temp jump before the pump. Thanks for pointing that out. There is one company that says they do it but don't offer it yet.

Nice to know about the warranty, but that would have to be chalked up as a loss, as i don't think ANY dealer would work with it.

As far as making it (B100). It will be a possibility as long as i am in one spot. I am always traveling around, so I like the freedom of SVO. I am looking into finding new oil for at or less than the price of #2, and it is a renewable resource. So I feel its worth it. I will fill with B20 or B100 in my diesel tank whenever possible. And yes I have a few resturants lined up. You are completly right though, its going to be harder and harded to find. But there is a lot of used oil going to rendering places still.

Just Do IT!:grd:

You can reroute the fuel flow so the EDU has "cool" oil feeding it.

It goes: Tank, Filter, EDU, CP3 (high pressure pump), injectors, return, cooler, tank. IIRC.

Another problem is that you might have to get EFILive and edit one of the tables in the engine computer. If the veggie gets above ~240 deg, the engine will reduce the fuel rail pressure from 23,000 to 10,000 PSI, and your performance will go in the toilet. Perhaps 1/3rd loss of HP.

Thanks for the info Casper. I don't think it will be much more than 100 deg by the time it reaches the EDU. So I was thinking it would go like you were saying for the veg line except, the filter would be a seprate heated one and minus the cooler. There would have to be a T or valve between the OEM filter and the CP3. Right?

I would be afraid to use a vegtable oil set up on a modern diesel engine personally.

But if you had about $2500 and wanted to try it out real bad this place sells complete systems for each make.

Here is a link for you goveg!

http://www.greasel.com/Chevy-GMC.html