[Biodiesel In Utah] Biodiesel gelling issues

[Graydon Blair]

Correct, Correct, and...correct.

Biodiesel does increase the gelling of the fuel. During Utah Winters I recommend not going much higher than a B20 blend during the dead of winter to avoid gelling issues. Especially in the newer diesels and especially in Fords.

Fords have notoriously been finicky about Biodiesel. I've heard of more Ford fuel filters plug up than any other make out there. It has to do with the weave used in the fuel filter. It's more prone to promoting gelling than others out there.

He's right, they do recommend (and so do I) changing the fuel filters more often. However, I don't know that I'd buy a FORD one though. $165.00 seems awefully steep for a fuel filter (sounds like a great way for dealerships to make some money). He may want to check around to see if he can get em cheaper (I paid all of $20.00 for one for my old Isuzu Pickup Diesel).

The drop in power is well documented on Dyno's however, unless you're pulling boats on trailers up Parley's every day you will have a hard time noticing the difference. Fuel mileage doesn't suffer much either.

I've written a great article on running biodiesel in vehicles. I even address the issues with Cold Weather too.

More info here:
http://www.utahbiodieselsupply.com/usingbiodiesel.php

-Graydon

sdbandis at sorensonmedical.com wrote: 
OK, all you biodiesel users. My friend has done some searching for
information on using biodiesel in his 2005 F350 Powerstroke diesel.  His
concerns and comments follow.  Is there anyone that has more information
to help us understand how to overcome these issues?


Friend's comments:

I looked through all this information and found two problems with
Bio-diesel.

1) Bio diesel tends to gel more than petroleum based fuels when it gets
cold. They recommend that you do a 50-50 mix if you live in a cold state
such as Utah. This means you only get the benefits of B-D about 75% of
the year.
2) Bio diesel runs so clean that it actually cleans your system out.
Butterfield Ford says if you run B-D that you must replace your oil
filters every 7 thousand miles instead of every 15 thousand. These
filters are about $165.00 in my truck. B-D gas has been linked to some
of the injector problems that Ford is having with the new 6.0 liter.
This is because the filter clogs and injectors are getting starved for
fuel.

I did hit the Sinclair station on the belt rout over the weekend. They
had some B-D and it was only 2.29 per/gallon instead of 3.59 per/gallon.
It was a great savings and seemed to run really nice in the truck! I
still don't know what I think about it all. They also say you can expect
a 7 - 10 percent drop in power.
 

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