California or Bust! Long odds and good times!
 

Well,
I bought my 1990 F250 diesel banger for one purpose originally...to run on WVO all the way to LA or somewhere in Cali/AZ to find work and a new life.

I joined this forum with some questions bout diesels and wvo stuff and I think I'm ready to head out!

A shade-tree gasser mechanic, but I can work my way around most anything.

I now know what's both wrong and right with my truck.

Will the Blue Brick make it to LA?
Who knows but it's going, with 3 55-gallon barrels chock full of the Honey juice!

No mods to my truck yet- but I already know it will run on WVO no problem because it's been doing it for the last 4,000 miles or so since I got it, hee-hee!

I opened this thread so you members could have fun laying your odds of it's success...or failure...

And if any problems arise along the way I hope to get your help!

Murphy's Law Catastophic Outcome Plan is to sell it off or scrap her if she dies along the way so I have already planned for the worst...i.e, dead on the road somewhere in New Mexico...lol

I think she'll make it with flying colors!

What say you?!

And the $65 a year AAA action is mandatory!

check ur fuel line wvo can eat up old fuel lines other them that u sound in good shape im in cali to wish i was in a small town called caruthers good luck and got speed brother

thanks
yeah, I just cleaned the front tank out, fixed broken pickup tube and replaced line and return line.
it runs alot better on WVO anyway:)

I'll bet on your success.
Don't know much about WVO but I can suggest a few things that should help assure a successful trip.
1) Check/add/adjust your coolant SCA level, you don't want any cavitation issues.
2) Fresh fuel filter.
3) Change out your CDR valve. Looks like a sideways tuna can right behind intake under the air cleaner. 2 bolts and a wiggle and pull. Often neglected, if its not functioning properly can cost you head gaskets in extreme conditions. Search CDR on here for more info. You probably have to get it thru IH and its a little pricey at near 90 bucks.

Good luck and post your progress.

yeah, that's some things I have yet to do is add the SCA coolant and do the CDR...

I think I'm gonna add a stroke oil filter and maybe fill it up with some Amsoil synthetic before I go too.

It's a service truck too so I have all those cabinets for my tools and stuff...

I did a similar trip with a ragged-out 1988 Isuzu P'up 2.3L pulling a 3,500+ trailer that was bigger than the truck...it was rated for 2,000lbs and the truck made it all the way to Tucson and back to Va though it ate the clutch eventually:)

I won't have a trailer so no extra weight...

My whole family thinks I've lost it but what the hell, right?!

A few more hints on the CDR.....

1) I found it easier to move the glow plug controller (right behind it on my 93) out of the way. 2 small bolts hold it down.
2) The bottom tube that the CDR connects to is a @#%$^&&%$$# to get the CDR out of. I CAREFULLY used a prybar against the intake manifold and it did come out. The tube is made of brittle plastic and you really dont want to break it.
3) There is supposed to be an o-ring where the CDR slips into the back of the manifold. It was not present when I removed mine (disintegrated?). The replacement from IH does not include the o-ring but I had one that fit perfectly...just a heads up.
4) Its a good time to vacuum out the debris that collects on the valley pan under the intake manifold before you pull the CDR. I'm guessing you dont want anything falling down into wherever while the CDR is removed. Mine was full of large decayed bugs and leaves.

oops 1 more.
Theres one of those million dollar factory tension clamps holding the plastic tube to the base of the CDR. I gave up on trying to get the clamp off first, to me it was impossible. The new CDR slipped into the tube just fine with the clamp left in place, the two bolts on the intake hold everything in place just right.

skip the amsoil and just use regular motor oil.
that stuff is a waste of money.

Good luck and have a safe trip.

Chet

I'm probably leaving next week and am having issues getting enough WVO...but I can get alot of Waste Motor Oil...these two don't mix well so I will have to get drastic with the RUG and additives to make it work...eek

My plan is to start/stop on diesel....after warm I will switch to WVO in front tank...
After I exhaust WVO supply I will fill front tank with 100% diesel and fill back tank with WMO...this way neither tank is terribly corrupted by the WVO/WMO mix...hopefully.

I also plan to have two extra fuel filters:)

I had mentioned in earlier posts that when I first got truck as an experiment I filled the front tank with a mix of :
lamp oil
heating oil
2 gallons of waste motor oil
a gallon of type-f ATF
10 gallons of WVO
some diesel
and diesel kleen additive
and some RUG (gas)

and it ran like a dragster!
but I found out wvo/wmo don't mix well so will have to deal with that...?!

anyway- the ragged-out ol' Ford will be leaving dock soon on whatever it will eat!

Hey Linus, good luck. Wish I still had the nutz to do something like that.

I have this pic in my head of a mad scientist stuffing celery stalks and carrots into the fuel tank then topping it off by taking a leak in it and the truck starts just fine.

Keep us posted.

Thanks bro!

Necessity is what drives me:)
I need $$ somehow and AZ/California has alot more jobs than central Virginia!
Won't even think about moving back to Northern Va, hell no!

Plus, if I'm going to be impoverished I'd rather be by the beach and the babes than in the woods any day!

Problem is going to be trying to keep the wvo/wmo from mixing as much as possible!

If I burn up my WVO first, then start running on oil later, in a different tank, corruption hopefully will be minimal...

after the wvo runs out I will run on pure diesel for as long as possible to purge system as best I can...

fingers crossed, lol!

when you get down to cali, put theol girl to work and do some scrap runs!

I don't think you will run into much traffic on your way INTO CA. Most people looking for work are leaving CA and moving to a state that supports free enterprise. I'm not trying to dissuade you from moving but at least take into consideration that CA has issues right now. I hope you are extremely liberal or you may find yourself slapping hippies on a daily basis.
Here is a state-by-state breakdown of unemployment: List of U.S. states by unemployment rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The truck may make it. It doesn't sound like you have crossed all your Ts and dotted all your Is, though. If you still haven't got SCAs in the truck, I imagine there are more things that need to be done. It could still make it just fine, though. I drove a trailer to from TX to MA and back last October and I didn't have any issues. I did, however, spend almost a year working on my truck to get everything set and ready to go.

Look at those stats linked above and remember that the small changes showing drops in the unemployment rates are due to folks no longer eligible for unemployment benefits. It does not indicate they all got jobs.

Not being negative...just be informed.

What have you been doing for a living? Any particular skillsets or education/degrees that might give you an edge?