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Finally


(Wilbert's first blog entry) After much searching and much discussion, we've found the perfect truck for our WVO (waste vegetable oil) or SVO (straight vegetable oil) conversion. As Denise has told you all in a past blog entry, my search was getting pretty specific. 1994-1998 Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel truck, standard transmission, 4 wheel drive in a specific price range. So what you're looking at above is just that. Unfortunately this truck has been sitting about a block away from our house for the last two and a half weeks with a price tag that was too much for this Dutch boy. Every time I would drive by it would stare at me with, what our school custodian calls, "puppy eyes". After offering to drive 4 hours to purchase a newer diesel truck with less miles, for less money and trade straight up for what is seen above, the kind dealers in our hometown dropped their price.


Maybe by now you have a few questions.

Where did you come up with the idea for running a vehicle on waste vegetable oil?

  • my college roommate Andrew Kroeze who asked me about converting my previous diesel vehicle a 1992 VW golf. He converted a VW rabbit to run off of vegetable oil. After seeing it I said to myself "Self, that is amazing! I've got to do that someday."
How does it work?
  • The short answer. . .Diesel engines work by compressing air in their cylinders and then injecting atomized fuel into the cylinder when the air is most compressed. Vegetable oil burns similarly to Diesel so it can be used as a substitute when it is brought to a good temperature. Rudolf Diesel, even thought about vegetable oil as a fuel source while inventing the diesel engine. For more information check this out.
Why this truck?
  • It has the a Bosch P7100 Fuel injector pump which is a mechanical pump that is very "beefy" some people even call it "bulletproof". Pre 1994 the Dodge Cummins used a rotary style fuel injector then in 1994 Cummins switched to a very reliable inline fuel injector pump the P7100. In 1998.5 Cummins switched to an electronically controlled vp44 fuel injector pump which was not quite as reliable and needs constant and consistent fuel pressure to stay running.
Now comes the fun part of making the conversion a reality and there are a number of kits online to make this happen. Stay tuned and I'll keep you updated.



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