I have a 1986 F250 with a 7.3L Diesel engine in it (must of been changed out at some point, its a 7.3, not 6.9).

Im thinking about making a homemade kit for using straight WVO as fuel. Use Diesel from the aux tank to start and heat the engine up, and use a line from the heater hoses, wrapped around the fuel line (both ways) to the fuel tank and back, then to the exit of the heater core lines. Possably use copper tubes around the exaust at some places to help "superheat" the water, and copper within the tank itself (while rubber next to the fuel line itself, and all wrapped in some type of insulation material, all the way to the fuel filter).

Some questions about this idea.

Does the water free flow directly from the water pump to the water heaters core?

Would there be enough pressure from the water pump(to heaterhose) to push water thru the smaller line all they way thru the loop, to and from the fuel tank?

Rubber hoses next to the fuel line, wrapped in insulation, wouldnt melt at 160 - 190 degree F range(possably higher, if the exhaust heat pushes it higher)?

Wrapping copper tubes (to pick up heat) around exhaust would overheat, melt the copper, and/or melt the rubber at the connections?

Take note that the WVO will be filtered down to 5 microns(wire then 20 microns then 5 microns), which should be plenty to get most of the particles out.

This truck is an older, non turbo model. The fuel filter is mechanical, and located on the passanger side of the engine, up front. I do beleave it a dual filter, does water and particles allready, not sure how it would work with heated WVO.

Another problem I would worry about is return fuel, is there a return fuel line in this truck, and would that put diesel into the veg or visa/versa when im changing tanks with the switch inside?

Key words: Filtered and Heated, both have to happen. There is alot of info about other engines, but not much about mine (older, non tubo, non powerstroke, 7.3 international Diesel) when it comes to straight veg.

 

Check out Goldenfuelsystems.com
Also, they have "3b" hose that is a rubber fuel line in between two coolant hoses.

 

I have a 93 7.3 IDI w/ factory turbo. I plan to do a vegetable conversion later in the year. I've taken part in other conversions, this is what I know. The engine makes enough pressure to pump coolant to the tank & back, Exhaust temperature will not melt copper tubing. I'm not sure how the return lines on your truck are set up(not knowing the year of your engine) Mine return some fuel to the filter housing & some back towards the fuel tanks. you could pull the return to tank(s) line & put it into a 5 gallon pail, see how much fuel returns @ a running rpm (2000 or so?) It seems to me that if its a negligible amount of fuel, it doesnt matter which tank it returns to. I would suggest putting an auxillary filter either just after the grease tank or in the engine bay. Both davco & raycor make heated filter units that you can affix to your truck (davco even has one with a glowplug in the fuel bowl that you can tap onto your current glowplug electrical system) also both companys make fuel filters specifically for grease that will fit the factory housing, I highly suggest using these as grease has a tendancy to clog diesel fuel filters easily. I hope I've offered some usefull info. keep me posted on how things go.

 

Mine is running great on wvo . Sounds like you have a pretty good setup in mind .

 

Which company are you thinking of using?
GoldenFuelSystems - they have a Nomad system - I am strongly considering this one.