Truck: 1997 Powerstroke 7.3l diesel. I'm having trouble deciding between these two kits: Golden Fuel Systems WVO kit & the BioFuels Technologies Vegistroke WVO kit. The Golden Fuel Systems kit costs $3,379.84 and comes with a heated tank. The BioFuels Technologies Vegistroke kit costs $3,495 without their $825-$1,225 heated tank. The forum posts about the BioFuels Technologies Vegistroke kit also mention that my year model truck has to be converted to electronic fuel injection to work with this kit which also will make the BioFuels Technologies Vegistroke kit more costly, where as the Golden Fuel Systems kit doesn't require conversion. Can someone with experience with either or both of these kits say whether the BioFuels Technologies Vegistroke kit is worth $1000+ more than the Golden Fuel Systems kit? Thanks in advance

 

I have owned both kits. I still have some Golden fuel valves that I plan to use on a 12 valve conversion. I'm a plant drive installer, but have personally installed grease car, Vegi stroke, plant drive and soon to be Golden fuel. The Cadillac of all systems is the Vegistroke. I'm supposing that you mean you'll have to use an electric fuel pump as opposed to the mechanical fuel pump??? If I remember correctly the 97 the injector pump has a low side that serves as the lift pump if that's what your talking about, it doesn't cost $1000 to do that swap. I may be way of so correct me if that's not it. I swapped a 97 over to plant drive for a guy 2 years ago. He can't get oil, so I bought the truck form him and i'll pick it up Thursday.
I've totally dissembled a Vegistroke before. I have 100k WVO miles on mine when I sold the truck. They are the best on the market by far. I've also had the GFS valves apart. They are good, but not near as robust as the BFT system. The install for the BFT will be much cleaner as well. There's no looped hoses and brackets/wires etc. The BFT is a much cleaner install. I'll pm you my number if you'd like to call.

 

Thanks for your very informative post brobrad. I'm now leaning towards BFT. I don't know what the cost will be to switch over to an e-fuel system. From my research it's what needs to be done on an OBS 7.3 for it to be compatible with the Vegistroke kit. I may be wrong about this though. Please let me know if I am, I don't want to do anything unnecessary. The $1000 difference I was referring to was the difference in the price of the kits themselves. While both kits cost roughly $3,400, the GFS kit includes a heated fuel tank in the price, whereas BFT is asking $825-$1,225 for theirs on top of the $3,495 kit price, hence the $1,000 difference.

 

I have a GFS system on my 2000 power stroke....other than cleaning the outside of the tank, regular filter changes and a couple of gaskets, its a great set up. Charles installed mine nearly 100k ago, and it is still running smooth. I have no experience with any other systems, but can offer a testimonial on the quality of GFS....customer service is good to...

Mike In MN

 

I did look up the electric fuel pump change. It's not that big of a deal. It wouldn't be too hard to do, and it only consists of a fuel pump and regulator. Hope it all works out well. Keep us updated on what you do.

 

Kit: BFT VegiStroke V4 because of the reputation.

Seller: Dave @ VeggieGarage because of upgrades & support offered.

E-fuel conversion for OBS: Dave @ VeggieGarage

Tank: GFS trekker tank because it's black (more heat from the sun), modular & the footprint better suits the space configuration needs of my bed.

One Shot Filtration Unit: GFS because being able to filter & dewater on the road just seems awesome! I hope it works!!!

300 miles on WVO, so far so good!

 

EXCELLENT choices. I went with a different setup recommended by skyskijason. My son could'nt afford the BFT system, but now they at half price so it is by far the best deal anywhere IMHO.

 

AWESOME!! Dave's E-fuel options are super fantastic and industry-exclusive.

There is no need for heat from the sun... But, if that tank fits where you need it, good deal. Is there a heat exchanger in the tank? If so, what is it? I hope it wasn't more than a quality custom alum tank.

I have no love for anything GFS. I have removed and discarded several of their complete and total POS conversions over the years and frankly, my sleeve is soaked from providing their customers a shoulder to cry on after they wasted their money.

This DOES NOT WORK!!!!!! You CAN NOT dewater WVO with a filter or filters. You will have problems if you try. SEND IT BACK and I will help you build something just like it for 1/4 the price of that thing. If you screwed up and already used that overpriced and over-promised pig in a poke, then just be sure you test the oil you are going to filter for water before using it.

 

The GFS tank came equipped with an aluminum heat exchanger that is so far working great. That said, it's now 80 degrees in December; so needless to say the heat exchanger has not been thoroughly stress tested.

I would have to agree that the BFT kit is superior to the GFS kit. That said, Charles -GFS founder- is outstanding at customer service. He quickly ships out his products. He promptly answers his company email. He will freely chat with you for hours about WVO. All of my experiences with Charles & GFS have been positive and all the parts that he has sent me so far have been high quality.

Will you please expand on this. I am open to the opinions of those with more experience as I am relatively new to the WVO world.
As I understand it, the Racor filter elements are treated with an aquaphobic coating which repels water.

I agree that this is a given; everyone should always test their WVO for water content before putting it in their engine.

 

Those filters are designed to separate free water from diesel fuel. They can not and will not 'remove water' from WVO. Completely different physics. MANY people have been misled into thinking they could dumpster dive and drive and had miserable (and expensive) road trips. If the oil passes HPT, Sandy Brae or similar for water, you don't need that expensive filter to remove particulates. Any cellulose (paper) element filter will plug up QUICKLY if you try to pump water/oil emulsion through it.

Take some diesel and water and shake it up in a bottle. Do the same with WVO and water. The difference is very obvious.

I'm glad you've had a positive experience with Charles. I too spend a few hours per week talking to people about veggie and PSD stuff... His conversion for PSD's sucks and I've seen a few of his installs. I am not impressed.

Is his in-tank HE still just a transmission cooler hanging in the tank with rubber hoses? That will fail and put coolant in your fuel eventually.

Heating the whole tank is a dumb idea anyway. We just need to heat the fuel we are removing from the tank and warm the fuel in the tank enough so it can flow to the pick-up. But, GFS and everyone else on the market still try to heat the whole tank. It is very inefficient design that also potentially adds moisture to the tank as the hot oil cools and draws in humid air overnight.

The Hot Shot is just a pump, filter and a box. Build the same thing yourself for a lot less. Does it still come with heater hoses?

I hate to be so offensive, but I have literally removed and discarded several GFS systems from PSD's over the years and I also know a few people who wasted their money on the hot shot.

 

Listen to this guy, he knows a thing or 2.

 

here's a way to think about this: In the veg oil, there will be tiny food particles, smaller than the filter micron size can remove. In those tiny food particles, there will be water. The Racor filter cannot stop that water. Heating, settling and filtering can remove a lot of that water. Or centrifuging.
Now, chemistry and physics play a part in this and I am way oversimplifying. My chem major son may be able to shed some light.

 

Jason, thank you for all your insight. I appreciate your experience & input on this matter. I really do want to do this the right way. So your posts are invaluable.

The filters are housed in a water separation unit that has a built in centrifuge:
SOURCE: Racor Marine Fuel Filter/Water Separator


One $10 filter lasts roughly 60 gallons. Even with diesel prices the way they are right now, that's a bargain.



Interesting; what design do you prefer and why?

Thanks.

 

Huh? That's not good AT ALL. I filter thousands of gallons with the same $10 filter.

 

To be honest, I haven't used the One Shot Filtration Unit yet, so I can't confirm those numbers. I'm just going by what Charles has put out there concerning sucking very dirty oil out of a WVO dumpster and only using this filter (along with the suction pre-filter) before it goes into the tank to be further filtered by the on-board truck WVO filters while on the road. So supposing this is a worst case scenario, $0.17/gal is not bad, IMO. I've actually filtered lots of WVO already with stainless steel mesh filters that should last a very very long time: https://utahbiodieselsupply.com/
What kind of condition is the WVO in that you're getting?
What's your settling / centrifuging process, if any?
And which micron Aquabloc filters are you using?
Thanks in advance.