I heard diesel engines can run on vegetable oil and was wondering if you needed a little more fuel to get to the next station could you just dump a bottle of Crisco in your tank without causing damage?

 

Yes you could

 

Well that depends on a lot of things. First, what truck do you have. On a pre-powerstroke diesel, a bottle of canola would get to the next station, if its above about 80 degrees outside. However, any kind of hydrogenated oil will solidify. You need non-hydrogenated oil, and don't run too much b/c you can burn up an injection pump quickly if you don't heat it.

 

What about a 6.0 powerstroke, and what is b/c?

 

A 6.0 might run on it, if its extremely hot, but I would not risk it. 6.0 powerstrokes have electronic oil pressure controlled injectors, and since veggie oil is so thick, they will not be able to pump enough fuel into the engine, and will probably give out overworking themselves. This is even worse in a 6.0 than a 7.3, as they have weak injectors anyway. In an old truck, it just has an Injection pump pumping the oil/diesel through simple injectors with no electronics necessary, so they just work harder and the problem of the thicker fuel is remedied with a heavier foot on the pedal. Also, in cold weather, the Injection pump will fail. Believe me, I've been put beside the road with that stuff in my pump and it got cold one night. However, in my old truck, the Injection pump was fixed for $300, while a 6.0 could easily get into the thousands, on top of voiding your warranty.