Ford Focus 2010 TDI
Discussion
Hi all
This is my 1st post so please be gentle with me lol.
I have a Focus 2010 1.6 diesel titanium estate and I would like to know if it would be ok to use heating oil in the tank. I have read that if you mix 3 litres of cheap vegetable oil with 20 litres of heating oil it will work fine although I don't want to ruin my engine if it's not going to work ok. I'm not sure what sort of fuel pump is on my vehicle or if it will cope ok.
I have read numerous posts on other forums where many are using it without problems but I wondered if there were any good mechanics on here that actually know what they are on about rather than people like myself pretending they know what they are on about.
Many thanks in advance.
Am I not right in thinking that any fuel you use to make a vehicle move must have tax paid on it; therefore are you in the same tax situation as using red diesel if you use heating oil?
HMRC really don't like that, if they find you're not paying tax they definitely make a solid example of you. So, even if your engine tolerates it (i'd speculate not on some of the new higher pressure common rail systems; maybe an old rattly mechanically injected diesel, but probalby not this), the tax man won't!
HMRC really don't like that, if they find you're not paying tax they definitely make a solid example of you. So, even if your engine tolerates it (i'd speculate not on some of the new higher pressure common rail systems; maybe an old rattly mechanically injected diesel, but probalby not this), the tax man won't!
Im aware the tax man doesn't like the idea, ive never been happy about the amount of tax on a gallon of fuel either, I think that is criminal. Thing is I have about 1000 litres of heating oil thats going to go to waste if I dont shove it in my tank so I just need to know if it will work ok or not and then I can make a decision whether to risk it or not.
conna said:
Im aware the tax man doesn't like the idea, ive never been happy about the amount of tax on a gallon of fuel either, I think that is criminal. Thing is I have about 1000 litres of heating oil thats going to go to waste if I dont shove it in my tank so I just need to know if it will work ok or not and then I can make a decision whether to risk it or not.
Fair enough. Unfortunately it’s not illegal for HMRC to impose the tax but it is for you to evade it. If you’re happy to do that and happy that the heating oil is clean enough to use (the stuff we used to burn in an oil fired boiler wouldn’t have been imo) give it a shot and let us know how it goes.
Im at the point now I don't know what to believe lol. As I don't know the peoples personally and how good a mechanic etc they are I can only go with tried and so far tested results which at the minute is a 20:1 mix of veg oil and Kerosene 28sec. Or what I am toying with is 50 50 mix of diesel and a 20:1 kerosene mix.
Setting aside the fact that what you doing is illegal, You need to do the maths very carefully.
Does the saving that you’re going to make cover the cost of potentially replacing the high-pressure fuel system of relatively modern turbodiesel? You used to be able to get away with stuff like this on the old school diesels quite easily, but the more modern engines are a different beast altogether.
Then you’ve got the hassle factor of pumping the fuel out of your heating oil tank, mixing it properly with the additives (vegetable oil or whatever) and getting it into your car.
Does the financial side of things coupled with the amount of time you’re going to be spending messing around with it all really add up?
Does the saving that you’re going to make cover the cost of potentially replacing the high-pressure fuel system of relatively modern turbodiesel? You used to be able to get away with stuff like this on the old school diesels quite easily, but the more modern engines are a different beast altogether.
Then you’ve got the hassle factor of pumping the fuel out of your heating oil tank, mixing it properly with the additives (vegetable oil or whatever) and getting it into your car.
Does the financial side of things coupled with the amount of time you’re going to be spending messing around with it all really add up?
you are better off running veg oil, convert to bio diesel or mix with diesel. you can use 2500 litres of vegetable oil each year legally for road use.
Diesels will run on veg but the fueling system is the the issue, which is why the viscosity needs to match to diesel either chemically, remove glycerin or preheating. you also need to add lubrication. After all this you need extra servicing, potentially engine oil veg mixing, engine issues, unless you can get free veg oil and do mega miles you really won't save much.
Diesels will run on veg but the fueling system is the the issue, which is why the viscosity needs to match to diesel either chemically, remove glycerin or preheating. you also need to add lubrication. After all this you need extra servicing, potentially engine oil veg mixing, engine issues, unless you can get free veg oil and do mega miles you really won't save much.
conna said:
Im aware the tax man doesn't like the idea, ive never been happy about the amount of tax on a gallon of fuel either, I think that is criminal. Thing is I have about 1000 litres of heating oil thats going to go to waste if I dont shove it in my tank so I just need to know if it will work ok or not and then I can make a decision whether to risk it or not.
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