I know this belongs in that other forum but some of those guys scare me. You all know THIS engine so.....

Since starting to burn B100 I've noticed a different starting habit on cold mornings. It's not gelled or anything but different. Also I recently put on a TW 4 position chip and it does it in any setting. Even stock.

Before it has always just cranked right up. Light white or gray smoke if it's below freezing but nothing abnormal. NOW, it cranks a few seconds. 3-5 maybe. SOmetimes a few more. It feels like it romps once to life . I get a big puff of white smoke followed by a big puff of black then it romps to life. It's only on cold mornings like below 40 degrees. Anything much above that and it's just like before. I had the MLE1 stock tune put on it and it makes no difference in starting vs. leaving it in econo or tow.

I just puled all my VC connectors and ohmed all the glow plugs from vc to plug, ohmed the engine harness back to the GPR and tested the GPR. It's all fine and I tested it before I started it this morning outside. It's 30 degrees out right now.

I'm thinking, with the puff of white then black smoke it's either tuning or I have a drippy injector. Or it may just be normal for these tunes and the fact that I'm running B100. I have tested the fuel. I did the ASTM test and it passes perfectly. It meets all current govt standards for quality that I can determine here. I always pull a sample from my big tank when I fill it also and test for water and sediment. Nothing ever found.

So what do you all think?

Oh and one other thing that bugged me last week. Driving back home from San Antonio on bumpy as hell backroads at 65 mph my engine kept hickuping. That's the best way I can describe it. Just a quick half second loss of power feel then back to normal. Nearly every time I hit a bump. It did it in all chip positions other than stock. Stock seemed fine. So I thought the chip was loose and I pulled it at our next stop and that sucker was tight. Connector looked clean. Any thoughts before I call Tony?

 

I had a 2004 6.0 Intl do that exact thing. It turned out one (or more, can't remember) of the injector wiring harnesses were cracked/shorting.

As far as cold starting on B100, it should be more difficult. The flash point of B100 is almost twice as high as regular diesel. Meaning, the engine (or fuel) has to be warmer for compression ignition. I've never run it, but that's what all the books say. I think you can buy pre-heaters for your fuel lines to help on cold mornings. Obviously, once ignition has been achieved, the block is warm enough for compression ignition, hence the romp to high idle.

 

I will second that. Ran the first tank of B20 through my truck here the other day and it did indeed smoke more on cold start up. I started it with an outdoor temp in the low 30's and it puffed white smoke for about the first three of four minutes it was running. Burning Dino, it usually smokes for 10-20 seconds then cleans up pretty nice, but the Bio is a bit different story. I like the stuff though. Probably gonna get it again next tank. The prices of Dino have gone up enough here that the Bio is now about $.10 cheaper per gallon and with the way it cleans things up and how much quieter the engine runs, I see not reason not to get it again. Seems to have slightly less power though. Guess we will see what the mileage numbers look like.

 

My mileage went down a bit to about 17 or 18 recently since I started with B100. It stayed about 20 with B50. It is tons quieter now though and I'm only paying 3 bucks per gallon so who cares. The power loss so far isn't even an issue since I put the tw chip on. It's still got a whole lot more than it used to have before the chip and biodiesel!

I may have just found a problem while checking the last two glow plugs but I don't know. It wasn't loose. The clip had broken off the connector going into the left front VC connector. I just finished putting a new connector body on it and will watch it for a while. All of the pins seemed tight and none were burned. I'm not in the mood to pull valve covers today and check under them further. Especially since the ohm tests were good. My MIL is coming into the airport in a couple hours and I got the honor of picking her up and taking her to the hotel. Last time I got in a car with her it only took about 5 seconds before a HUGE fight broke out. She made a crack about the way I smelled. I had just got done going for a jog in sunny las vegas and she showed up with no warning whatsoever to take us to lunch. I hate that woman! I'm half tempted to go clean out the chicken coop and horse stalls and shovel it all into the back of my truck right now. That will give her something to smell!!!!!

 

I would like to know how much of a power loss you guys think you are having. I don't want to lose any to speak of, as I'm real happy the way it pulls my trailer now, don't want to sacrifice any I guess.

 

Darin, I have no personal experience with Bio, but this document compares the BTU's of standard No.2, B20 and full bio. May help you

http://www.biodiesel.org/pdf_files/f...al_Oct2005.pdf

More info

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ageng/machine/ae1240.pdf

Don't know if any of that will be helpful, couple I had bookmarked

 

If you're meeting ASTM standards, then I don't think you have to worry about fuel quality.

 

I'm not really worried about quality, I just test it based on past experience with fuel from different sources. That's the big reason I carry that big farm tank with a pump and filter in my bed. Been burned too many times already.

For the power loss I didn't notice a thing running up to B80 for some reason. With the B100 the biggest difference is until the engine warms up. It's a noticeable power difference then. It's hard to explain just how much. Once the thermostat is open though it's still awesome! Even in stock mode it will pull like never before. Heat is the big thing with bio I think.
Thanks for posting those links. I'll go check them out now.

 

Dizzyfingers had it right. It has to do with flashpoint. Once the engine is hot enough, it no longer matters as everything is plenty hot for ignition, but when it's cold, it'll take longer. As for loss of power, I always get a little less kick out of B100. Make sure you check the fpr screen and at may help to change fuel filters even if it doesn't look bad. One more thing. B100 has great lubricity, but it's also a considerably thicker liquid. When cool, it won't flow through the fuel filter (even a clean one) as well as petro fuel. That would also cut down on cold start/running performance.

 

I just checked the filter again yesterday and cleaned the FPR. It was early in the morning and the fuel in there was pretty thick. Almost the consistency of light machine oil. The screen only had a tiny bit of fuzz on it from something. Probably the fuel filter. I haven't noticed anything at all out of ordinary with the fuel filter yet. I am using baldwin fuel filters and this one is about 3 weeks old. All of my fuel gets filtered before going in the truck so that must really be helping. I do wish I could find the specs on that baldwin filter though. I have no idea how many micron it is.

This morning when I started it it was about the same but didn't romp hard like it has been. I took apart all of the engine harness connectors that go to the valve covers yesterday and I tightened the glow plug pins. I was bored. You guys are right though I'm sure. It's just harder to light when cold.

One big change I noticed today was it was a LOT quieter. When I was working on those connectors yesterday I put my hand on the clamp at the turbo outlet and it was turning. That darn thing was falling off loose. I forgot to tighten it right away and when I went to start it with the hood open I saw a big puff of white smoke come from it and said oops. I knew I forgot something. It's a lot quieter with that thing tight.

 

I love how much quieter she runs on bio. This was mentioned on a different thread just a couple days ago about the fuel bowl heater. It's there to heat the fuel so it will go through the filter better/ actually make the filter function to a lower micron level.

 

I just filled up with B20 recently but have only run about 40 miles on it. I did notice a smoother "buffer" when turning off the cruise control. With straight dino I would get a bit of a "clunk" when turning off the cruise control via the steering wheel switch. My manual trans seemed a bit more forgiving while shifting in or out of gears as well (I am Attributing this to the lower power which biodiesel provides). Maybe it's just in my head but I am super sensitive to mechanical changes whether by sound or feel. I repaired quite a lot of bindery equipment in the past and that machinery has it's own rhythm just like our PSD's has their's. I would like to up the flavor to B50 or B100 but have not found a source. I checked biodiesel for New Mexico and have only found B20 retailers. I suppose I should check the producers next. It will be scorching hot here in Santa Fe county very soon so B100 will not be a problem.

PS: It seems that at least B20 should bring us back to pre-ULSD times in which our engines are intended to run - Lubricicity of biodiesel versus the lubricicity of higher sulfur.

 

To give a bit of a different reference, I run straight vegi oil. Like all of you, when running dino my truck starts immediately when cold. When running straight vegi, it has to crack for 3 to 5 seconds before starting and than will pulsate until I press the throttle to smooth it and it will blow white smoke until warmed up. The horse power and mileage is less, but I get the vegi for free, so I live with it. Dino is $4.699 here now and going up. And tuning for high performance brings a lot of the horse power back. I've built and installed a couple of pre-heaters to thin the vegi before it gets to the engine. I don't have the cold weather like you guys have there, so I can get away with leaving straight vegi in one of my tanks.

The white smoke your getting, especially with the cold weather, sound normal for the bio.

 

Do you have any suggestions for getting cheap veggie oil? where to find it in bulk and all that? I wanted to get prepared to start making my own bio diesel in case this place ever goes under.

 

The best idea I've heard most recently is to set up a contract with a local restaurant. You'll just have to filter the WVO. I'm not sure of the whole process but there is tons of information available.