Considering Bio Diesel...Opinions? - TriStateTuners.com :: Home of Tristate Auto Enthusiast

cranshinibon · 07-16-2007, 07:04 PM

I wanna get a new car for about 4,000 that I can call my own and customize as I please (cosmetically, and for comfort...not for speed). Also I want to get as good of MPG as I possibly can out of the car. I really wanna get an Astro Awd Passenger van and I found a really nice one with only 80k on it for 4k. Reading up the information on fueleconomy I found that it gets a pitiful :

13 City
18 Hwy
15 Combined

What I wanna know is do you think itd be better to get the astro for 4100 and then spend like 1500 on a biodiesel kit and install it or if i should go buy something more fuel efficient stock. I think either way would be a good investment...just need a difference of opinion to help me along my way.

redline · 07-16-2007, 07:10 PM

Bio is not all it is cracked up to be espacially in the winter time. It gels very easily and will clog alot of stuff up.

Adam496 · 07-16-2007, 07:12 PM

How do you expect to use bio-diesel in a gasoline engine?

sisforsurfing · 07-16-2007, 07:20 PM

Astro vans aren't diesels, so you're going to have trouble if you put vegetable oil in the gas tank... which is what I'm guessing you want to do. Cool idea, not on a car that uses gasoline.

edit: beaten by 8 minutes. i'm not up on my game.

cranshinibon · 07-16-2007, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redline

Bio is not all it is cracked up to be espacially in the winter time. It gels very easily and will clog alot of stuff up.

i also heard that you cant just go out to a mcdonalds and grab the stuff....that its gotta be treated first..is that right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam496

How do you expect to use bio-diesel in a gasoline engine?

Quote:

Originally Posted by sisforsurfing

Astro vans aren't diesels, so you're going to have trouble if you put vegetable oil in the gas tank... which is what I'm guessing you want to do. Cool idea, not on a car that uses gasoline.

edit: beaten by 8 minutes. i'm not up on my game.

there are biodiesel conversion kits that go for about 1500 the one i was looking at was made by frybrid.

Raven18940 · 07-17-2007, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cranshinibon

there are biodiesel conversion kits that go for about 1500 the one i was looking at was made by frybrid.

Could you throw us a link on what you're thinking of? I was pretty sure you needed to us a diesel for this sort of thing. Just get an old diesel merc or pickup.

yellow2000S/R · 07-17-2007, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cranshinibon

there are biodiesel conversion kits that go for about 1500 the one i was looking at was made by frybrid.

Biodiesel is for vehicles that are already diesel. Diesel engines have HIGH compression, like twice a gas engine.

Even if you were diesel, and tried biodiesel, I'm pretty sure you still need to run regular diesel for a few minutes till the engine is nice and warm then switch over to the biodiesel.

P.S. My mom has an 02 Astro AWD, she averages between 15.5 and 17.5 mpg reguardless to where we drive.

cranshinibon · 07-17-2007, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yellow2000S/R

Biodiesel is for vehicles that are already diesel. Diesel engines have HIGH compression, like twice a gas engine.

Even if you were diesel, and tried biodiesel, I'm pretty sure you still need to run regular diesel for a few minutes till the engine is nice and warm then switch over to the biodiesel.

P.S. My mom has an 02 Astro AWD, she averages between 15.5 and 17.5 mpg reguardless to where we drive.

yeah i didnt know it needed to be diesel...i thought biodiesel was just a conversion from gas - fry oil lol. im gonna scrap that idea regardless because there arent any places nearby anyway that sell biodiesel.

15-17.5 isnt horrible is it? and is an Astro a 15 or a 21 gallon tank

yellow2000S/R · 07-17-2007, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cranshinibon

yeah i didnt know it needed to be diesel...i thought biodiesel was just a conversion from gas - fry oil lol. im gonna scrap that idea regardless because there arent any places nearby anyway that sell biodiesel.

15-17.5 isnt horrible is it? and is an Astro a 15 or a 21 gallon tank

Its in the 20 gallon range. She put almost $70 into it at a time when it gets real low.

CleanNeon98 · 07-17-2007, 12:03 PM

why are you buying an astro...really is there any reason for it?? compared to a normal passanger car? What cosmetic mods will you do to this astro? Its not like they make body kits for them so prepare to have to shell out BIG money for custom made parts
BTW ive never met any man who wanted a minivan...

**TROLL** · 07-17-2007, 12:03 PM

yeah thats pretty horrible mileage. and like i said before, this project is not for someone who is scraping by financially.
but you know what, i spent a long time explaining this to you already and you sounded like you agreed. if you're going to ignore all of my advice then i'm not gonna waste my time trying to help anymore... get what you want, learn from your mistakes.

92dxman · 07-17-2007, 12:11 PM

If you only have around $4k to spend, your best bet would be either an old Mercedes diesel or a Civic. If you want a Merc diesel, expect to find ones with 200k+ on them for that price range. On the other hand, that is nothing for a diesel. You can def find a Civic for that price range, make sure to get a stick and drive it like a normal person and you should get 35 mpg easy.

cranshinibon · 07-17-2007, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yellow2000S/R

Its in the 20 gallon range. She put almost $70 into it at a time when it gets real low.

yeah thats deff a no lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by CleanNeon98

why are you buying an astro...really is there any reason for it?? compared to a normal passanger car? What cosmetic mods will you do to this astro? Its not like they make body kits for them so prepare to have to shell out BIG money for custom made parts
BTW ive never met any man who wanted a minivan...

cosmetic as in a cool duckbill in the front, a roof rack, cherry bomb exhaust and a lot of interior mods for ultimate comfort...its basically a shagn wagon ...and its not a minivan...its a van van. and im not going to get it until i have enough money (like i talked with troll about) to shell into it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TROLL

yeah thats pretty horrible mileage. and like i said before, this project is not for someone who is scraping by financially.
but you know what, i spent a long time explaining this to you already and you sounded like you agreed. if you're going to ignore all of my advice then i'm not gonna waste my time trying to help anymore... get what you want, learn from your mistakes.

nah i thought you could make it biodiesel so i saw the best of both worlds but i was wrong in that aspect. i found a few civics, imprezas, legacies, elantras, and SHOs in my price range...gonna go over all of it with the parents to see which would be the best bet. and no i didnt ignore your advice...if i did i would already have an astro...im going with a low mileage good mpg dd like you said. so all in all i want to say thanks troll for your advice...what you said really did put me in the right direction

View Poll Results: Which Should I Do?
Keep the Astro Stock - Gas Prices wont be too bad	0	0%
Try out the biodiesel it really will be a good investment	0	0%
Get a 4cyl Civic or the like instead	4	66.67%
Get a turbo diesel jetta or something along those lines	2	33.33%
Voters: 6. You may not vote on this poll

07-16-2007, 07:10 PM	#2
redline Tri-State Post Whore Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Kaiserslautern, Germany Member #784 iTrader: (1)	Bio is not all it is cracked up to be espacially in the winter time. It gels very easily and will clog alot of stuff up. __________________ 2006 Evo 9 Special Edition

07-16-2007, 07:20 PM	#4
sisforsurfing Tri-State Post Whore Join Date: Mar 2005 Member #267 My Ride: 2003 WRX wagon iTrader: (2)	Astro vans aren't diesels, so you're going to have trouble if you put vegetable oil in the gas tank... which is what I'm guessing you want to do. Cool idea, not on a car that uses gasoline. edit: beaten by 8 minutes. i'm not up on my game. __________________ *To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.*

07-17-2007, 12:03 PM	#10
CleanNeon98 TST Ruined My Life! Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Philadelphia Member #2029 My Ride: "Honey Badger" Turbo Miata iTrader: (8)	why are you buying an astro...really is there any reason for it?? compared to a normal passanger car? What cosmetic mods will you do to this astro? Its not like they make body kits for them so prepare to have to shell out BIG money for custom made parts BTW ive never met any man who wanted a minivan... __________________ 2004 MAZDASPEED MX-5 : 328whp / 308wtq / 2500lbs 2012 Toyota Prius 2 : Daily Driver Last edited by CleanNeon98; 07-17-2007 at 12:07 PM.

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