Veggie oil?

Mobo said:

sorry to bring up a old thread
Im getting a car which has the smart veg system
so it starts on diesel and turns to vegtable oil after it has reached a certain tempreture.
if not a good idea how do i remove the system
thanks

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TornadoRed said:

It depends on the car you're buying. If it's a TDI (direct injection), then there are risks. If it's an older model with indirect injection, where the fuel and air are mixed before being drawn into the cylinders, then those are pretty safe.

I will assume that you're referring to a TDI, however, so make sure the car is checked out very thoroughly before buying it. If vegetable oil has gotten into the sump and mixed with the engine oil, it may have crystalized and blocked many of the smaller oil passages. There is no way to clean it out and the engine may need to be replaced.

Plus the turbo is oil-cooled, so you might end up having to replace the turbo as well.

So be very careful that you do not buy a car that will many very expensive repairs in the near future.

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Mobo said:

cheers for the advice
how do i check if oil has gotten into the sump. the chap im getting the car from says the micro processor has gone on the system so it hasnt run on veggie oil. but my worry is it has been parked up since janaury. the benifit for me is im getting the car very cheap that if i do need to replace the engine then after labour cost of chaging the engine i should be around 700 saving on the actual market value of the car as i have a engine in my back garden

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TornadoRed said:

You can start by pulling the valve cover to see what it looks like under there. If the top of the engine looks pretty clean, then the bottom end probably is too.

I assume you taken it for a test drive. Does it seem to have normal power? Give it a hard workout and see if it runs or sounds rough.

You could also draw a sample of the oil that's in there and have it tested for contamination. You'd have to ask around to see which labs are the best in the UK, and with the fastest results. If you need a car and this one turns out to be junk, then you probably don't want to waste a lot of time or money checking it out.

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Mobo said:

I havent taken it for a test drive as i couldnt get it started as the battery was completly flat and my car wernt powerful enough to get it going. but will do on sunday when i go to pay for it and collect it.

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