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Testimonials
“I own a Landrover County Defender TD with a 200 series engine. Over three years ago I installed a 2-tank system supplied by Plymouth Bio-Fuels Ltd.. Since that time I have run the vehicle on pure vegetable oil, using conventional diesel fuel for starting only. My experiences have been very positive. Not only does the Landrover run more smoothly and quietly but, more important, the power and consumption has improved dramatically. Normally a vehicle like mine would achieve approximately 26 mpg on ordinary diesel. On a trip to Glenborrowdale in Scotland recently the consumption on vegetable fuel was an amazing 39.3mpg. The only downside with using this fuel is the need to change fuel filters more often. This is a small price to pay. Since I make my own fuel from used cooking oil, this is probably due to my lack of fuel hygiene. Because I produce less than the statutary quantity, I now pay no duty to Customs and Excise whatsoever. Since installing the 2-tank system I have driven 30,000 miles with no problems. Anyone wishing to contact me regarding the above, please ring 01805 601331.” Mike Lamprey |
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“Many thanks for installing the 2 tank system in our VW Golf (130hp PD engine). Please feel free to use this email to help advise your other clients.
The system has been very well thought out and was very skillfully and very tidily installed.
Operation is very simple and easy to remember and after a few days becomes second nature.
We switch on the diesel for as little as 10 seconds as we move into a parking space if we know we will be parked for a couple of hours or more. If we forget to switch over we can go back to the car and if the engine is even slightly warm it will fire up instantly on bio-fuel. If we forget it overnight it won't start instantly on biofuel but switching to white diesel and 5 or 6 short turns of the engine and it draws enough diesel to fire up without any inconvenience -just a good reminder to switch to diesel before parking.
We then run on diesel until the temperature needle to rises (a few minutes) then switch back to bio-fuel for the rest of the journey. The warm PD engine goes like a rocket on pure V100 biofuel.
We were running on a 2/3 bio to 1/3 diesel mix in 1 tank. With the new 2 tank system, assuming most journeys are more than a couple of miles, we are using much less diesel. For short journeys, e.g. to the local shops, we go out on white diesel and home on bio. The longer the journey the smaller the proportion of diesel is used. You installed a 20L tank for us and on our average use (e.g. a few 5-10 mile round trips, a few 20-30 mile round trips and one 100 mile round trip) we got 300 miles before having to re-fill the biofuel and we can't notice the diesel needle moving. If we have to make a longer journey than 300 miles then we will either take a spare can of biofuel if we have space or will put a 2/3 mix in the diesel tank for that journey only.
The loss of space in the boot is minimal as we used to carry a spare fuel can anyway (don't need it now as we have 2 tanks if we run out in one). We can still get the pushchair and shopping in the boot. Re-filling the biofuel is easy, just lift it out onto the ground so no worry with spilling it in the boot, just don't fill it right to the top as it may leak out of the breather. We can't smell the fuel in the car.
More importantly I am much happier about the effects on the engine system on cold starting. On our previous 2/3 biofuel mix in 1 tank the computer in this car used to detect the thicker fuel on a cold start and after a minute or so a warning light would come on (a yellow circle with a yellow triangle in it) and one of the injector units would be cut out, making the engine chug excessively and loose power. This warning light would be re-set if we switched the ignition off and back on again and the chugging would stop for another minute. On a cold morning we would repeat this 2 or 3 times until it ran smoothly and I was concerned what effect this would have on the system. I was also concerned about the bio-fuel getting past the piston rings on cold starts and polymerising the sump oil (making it thick).
With the 2 tank system the engine starts straight away and does not chug having put only 10 seconds of white diesel in the night before. From a cold start, and after a few minutes on diesel, the warning light still comes on when switching to the cold biofuel but there is no chugging. As soon the biofuel is re-circulating and heating up the warning light will not come back on after re-setting it (by switching the ignition off then straight back on again).
The cost of the conversion is quite reasonable and is a small price to pay for trying to do the best thing. We have been running many different vehicles on biofuel for nearly 4 years with varying degrees of success. Converting used cooking oil to V100 bio-fuel is the only system I can see that stacks up in terms of energy and carbon use. Your 2 tank conversion on a PD engine is the best system I have seen for making good use of V100 fuel in a modern, computer controlled engine.
I strongly recommend it to any of your other clients.”
Simon Major |
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''In 2004 I bought a 51 plate TD4 Landrover Freelander and enquired with Plymouth Bio-Fuels whether it could be run on V100 Bio Fuel. It was the first TD4 they had fitted with a two tank system so they agreed to split the R&D costs, which I thought most reasonable. With the two-tank system the Landrover started and stopped on Dino Diesel but ran beautifully the rest of the day on V100. My main trip at this time was between Exmouth and Portsmouth weekly and in a year I covered some 30,000 miles. During this time all that was required was an additional fuel filter change. I continued to have it serviced by the local Main Landrover Dealer. They had never seen a TD4 with the dual fuel fit but were most agreeable, even suggesting modifications if they saw a potential improvement. The high pressure fuel pump on the engine block failed at around 116000 Miles but this is quite common on all cars fitted with the TD4 (BMW 3 Series, Rover 75 and MG ZT for example) Landrover specifically state in the owners manual that the TD4 Freelander is NOT Bio Diesel compatible and without modification serious problems could occur. With the dual fuel system you could not tell the difference. When I came to sell the vehicle I did not tell the buyer he was running on vegetable oil till half way through the test drive! He was so impressed he took it on the spot. I have since bought another TD4 Freelander and Plymouth Bio-Fuels will shortly be modifying this vehicle. Running the Landrover on Bio Diesel did not save any money but it was a small price to pay to reduce my impact on the environment. It was always amusing to see people pull up behind me at traffic lights then read the big Plymouth Bio-Fuels sticker on the spare wheel cover. Generally they look incredulous at first, then a big smile would spread across their faces before they pointed it out to every one else in their vehicle. Read into this what you will but it always made me feel better about having to use my car.''
Phil O’Callaghan |
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Hi, Just wanted to let you know I had a conversion done by you lot about three months ago and after a visit to my local diesel engine specialists was told it was the best conversion they had seen - and they have seen quite a few as they only deal with diesel engines. Keep up the good work, and many thanks! MC |
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Hello, I just wanted to give some feedback for the use of your bio-fuel. I have been using it in a 1997 VW Transporter TD and have found that with no conversion it ran OK on even one of the coldest weeks this year (it was snowing over Dartmor) but in warm weather it definately improves and I would say that it is better than standard diesel, runs quieter and with more power. However using it as at 100% concerntration, the staring can be a bit grumpy, but nothing problematic and the use of the manual choke for the first 5-10 minutes has been enough to make starting trouble free. I will look into getting a heat exchanger fitted for next winter as this should improve the running. |
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Fantastic service and so easy to fit too. |