A Test Run with the New Engine

We recently put a new engine in the Volksvegan. The 1.6L engine was just too small for our big bus! So we got a 1.9L Turbo Diesel engine from a ‘95 Passat and Seneca and our friend the VW expert installed it last week. As you can see, the engine is pretty darn clean. She runs great! We actually were able to go up hills going 50 in third gear instead of 30 in second gear.

We had plans to go to the Okanogan Family Faire Volunteer Summit last weekend, and we were determined to take the bus. Thankfully, she was running great in time for the weekend. Seneca filtered grease and filled the tank while I cleaned out the interior a bit and packed all our gear in the handy-dandy cabinets on Friday. Before we left, Seneca was even able to install new shocks, for a better ride and added safety in the wind (since the bus is about as aerodynamic as a big sheet of plywood).

I even got some interior shots of the bus, since I haven’t shared views of the inside much yet. I dig the retro brown and green upholstery on the chairs & curtains. We’re going to replace the white upholstery stuff that’s on the walls and ceiling, on the back of the door, and inside of all the cabinets, which you can’t see from the picture but it’s buckled and peeling off. We’re waiting for a nice warm weekend at home for that project. It’s a cozy little home!

We left Friday afternoon and headed North to the faire site near Tonasket, Washington. After about thirty minutes we switched on the grease system and she purred along just fine. However, after a few hiccups going uphill on grease, Seneca switched back to diesel. When he switched back to grease again, the switch seemed to be out! We stopped to check it but the grease system wasn’t getting power at all. We’ve come to conclude that we should’ve coughed up the cash for a really nice Frybrid system, Greasecar’s components are a little cheapy. We’re also thinking it may have not worked correctly because the Turbo Diesel engine runs a lot cooler (and is more efficient), which means that less heat is going to the grease and it may not be hot enough to reach the ideal temperature for the engine. So, we plan to install an in-line heater on the grease lines. It was a bit nerve-racking dealing with the grease mishaps, but that’s why this is a test run and we’re taking a couple of them before our big trip! It’s good to get all the kinks worked out.

Anyway, the bus ran just fine on diesel for the rest of the trip, but unfortunately we didn’t find any bio-diesel. I guess having two tanks is good, but we were upset that our trip wasn’t as sustainable as we wanted it to be. Send some good vibes to that grease system, we’re a little worried about it with our new engine because it is still quite experimental. And that’s one hell of an expensive experiment…

The trip was awesome and we had a great time meeting other volunteers and the organizers of the faire we’ve attended in the fall for the last several years. I even volunteered to help with the redesign of the faire’s web site, so it was a great networking opportunity as well. The bus was the perfect home for the weekend. The only problem was that we found out we were out of propane when we got there! So we couldn’t cook on the stove or turn the propane on to power the fridge. Drat! We brought enough food and the family fed us though, so all was well. And now we know we need to refill that tank before the trip! It sure was nice to roll in late Friday night and not have to pitch a tent in the dark. We just turned on the light in the bus, popped the pop top, and put down the seat. Viola – cozy bed! And it really doesn’t feel quite like camping when you get to use real sheets and blankets instead of sleeping bags!

We enjoyed our weekend in the bus, even with the mishaps it was still exciting trying out the new engine. We even passed someone going uphill in the bus! That was a first, and it certainly wouldn’t have been possible with the old engine. The Turbo Diesel is more efficient and runs cooler than the old engine as well, so we should get similar mileage. It’s about time that the engine was powerful enough for the size of the bus. We’re one step closer to our big volksvegan adventure, although the bus is still a work in progress, as usual… there’s lots to do!

 

We Need a Garage

It sure would be nice to have a garage this time of year. Seneca has been working on the bus a little bit, but he can’t last long when his fingers freeze. A garage is definitely something we’re looking for in our next place, but in the meantime we’re hoping to set up a makeshift shelter for the bus so we can actually work on it during the winter. Seneca installed the new starter switch, but found out that the battery has died. It’s just one problem after another, and it’s pretty obvious that this bus sat for a long time and a lot of the parts need to be replaced. So we’re doing that one part at a time…

We hope to move in the spring, hopefully to Eugene, Oregon, or somewhere around there. It sure would be nice to get the bus running first though, and get a trailer hitch on it so we can move all our stuff (or what remains after a huge yard sale). The bus is kinda on hold until a warmer day in the meantime…

 

First Veg-fueled Trip!

We made our first veggie-oil fueled trip this weekend to the Santa Barter Fair. It’s about 60 miles North, not a very long trip but a perfect one for trying out the grease system. It ran great on the way there on veg oil, but on the way back we lost power as we were going up a hill. We had to switch to diesel and it ran fine the rest of the way home as long as we stayed on the diesel. When we got home we discovered the veggie oil fuel tank was almost empty and that’s why we lost power. It’s pretty crazy cuz Sen filled it up with about 10 gallons before we left!

We have discovered the culprit though. At the shop last week the mechanic said that our injector pump is leaking and needs rebuilt. Ugh. So that’s what’s leaking, apparently it leaks more on veggie oil than diesel. We haven’t replaced our hoses & gaskets with non-rubber ones yet and we’re pretty sure that’s the problem. We did use some bio-diesel blends like B20 and it’s best to replace all the rubber if you’re using any bio-diesel because it will erode. So we kinda figured we’d have to do it sometime. Now Seneca is trying to decide whether we should fix the injector pump, replace it and all the rubber hoses/gaskets, or just get a new turbo engine. All options are going to be a bit spendy. I was warned that VW ownership meant one project/problem after another… I guess we should’ve expected it.

Here’s Seneca driving on the way to Santa. We had a great time at the barter fair. We’ve been going to it for about 4 years now, it’s a small fair but a lot of Moscow people go since it’s so close and so we always know a lot of people. I actually sold and/or traded quite a bit of soap and massage oil, and a couple pieces of jewelry as well! I handed out lots of PETA stickers, too. There was a potluck on Saturday night and a drum circle as always. I have some pictures up on My Flickr Page of the trip. Our next big adventure is planned for the second weekend in October, the Okanogan Family Faire near Tonasket, WA. It’ll be a 5 hour drive, so we may actually be packing extra grease, and we’ll be staying a bit longer. It’s a huge faire, and we’ll have a booth, so I gotta get busy with my crafting! Hopefully we can promote sustainable transportation and maybe even get some grease from the food booths at the faire!

 

Grease Collecting Pictures

So as promised, here are some grease collection photos of our quickest collection ever. We collect grease at the Breakfast Club every Friday, and they are nice enough to leave out the hot fryer oil in a big bucket so we can come get it before it solidifies. Seneca has to prime the pump (by sucking on the end of the hose, ewwww!) to get the grease flowing. Sometimes we hook up the pump to 3 filters so the grease can go right into the tank, but this time we opted to filter it at home so we just pumped it straight from the bucket into a container.

With a little cooperation, we got the grease in record time. Our friend Crystal works at the Breakfast Club, so she unlocks it and we plug in the pump, then pump it from the bucket into a container. It usually takes 2 people (one at each end of the hose) to collect grease, but on this trip we had 4 just for good measure. I held the hose in the “cubie” container and took the picture at the same time, Crystal unlocked the door and plugged in the pump, Seneca primed the pump and held the hose into the bucket, and Andy helped hook up the electrical cord and generally supervised the edeavor. That’s what I call teamwork.

Seneca filled up the tank for our maiden grease voyage to the Santa Barter Fair (about 60 miles away). But that’s a story for another post…

 

She’s Officially a Greasecar!

Well, we have a greasecar! Seneca finished up the greasecar kit installation on Friday. Here is the converted engine… the main additions are 2 valves and a fuel filter for the grease, and of course the hoses carrying grease from the tank. The wiring is a bit shoddy at this point because the wire that came with the kit was too short, so we gotta call greasecar to get a longer wire and re-do the wiring. I’m sure it’ll look much better since the wire we got is a single insulated wire, and it will be hidden under everything up to the front of the bus.

Before running on grease, we had to warm up the engine and time how long it took to purge veggie oil from the tank. When we stop the car, we’ll have to purge it first, so it’s good to know how long before we turn off the car we need to flip the grease switch off. We have a buzzer that warns us if we shut down without purging the lines, as well, but we still need to install it once we get the longer wire. Our purge time is pretty quick at about 40 seconds. In the picture, Seneca watches the veggie oil tank and waits for diesel fuel to start flowing back in, indicating the purge is complete.

We took our first test drive in the greasecar at last! We ran it on pure veggie oil instead of waste veggie oil for the first run, and just did a quick trip out to the park. She drove perfectly, and Sen says the engine sounds a bit quieter on grease. We even stopped to smell the exhaust to make sure it was truly on grease. The exhaust on grease smelled very mild and almost like nothing, it’s a bit more of a french-fry smell with used oil, but it sure beats diesel exhaust!

We’re quite excited about finally being up and running on grease! It was much easier than we thought to convert the bus, and hopefully we’ll have many veggie-fueled travels from now on. We’re not quite ready for a road trip yet, we need to get the wiring for the kit done properly, mount the gages a bit better, and get new tires and wheels put on the bus. Then, let the grease collection commence!

 

Making Progress!

We’re making progress on the Greasecar kit installation! (OK, I guess I should say Seneca is making progress while I work and check on him periodically to take pictures!) The filter & valves are installed, the veggie oil fuel tank is in place, and now Sen is working on getting the coolant lines and fuel lines all hooked up. It’s all a bit above my head, but Sen’s been reading the instructions religiously (see the picture at left for proof). The kits are actually pretty straightforward and easy to install, according to him. They’re just a bit time-consuming.

Seneca (with the help of his brother) spent most of yesterday late into the night getting things mounted and holes drilled. He says if all goes well we could have our first veggie-fueled test drive by tonight! I’m pretty excited but I don’t wanna rush them of course. We were hoping to get it done by this weekend but it looks like we may not be able to take a trip until later because we have new wheels and tires to install first, and the tires are on the way.

Here is the veggie oil tank that fits just perfectly under the rear seat. This will hold filtered veggie oil. We have a filtering system and a few gallons of filtered oil already. You can see the two holes on the right for the hoses, one goes to the engine & one is for a return hose. When we use the veggie oil we’ll have to flush it from the engine (hence the return hose) and run on diesel or bio-diesel for a bit to be sure that no veggie oil is left in the engine or lines to solidify. Luckily the kit comes with an alarm in case we try to shut down without flushing the system.

Juneau chews on his stick and “supervises” Seneca while he’s working under the bus. Here he is running hoses for coolant which will help heat up the veggie oil so it’s viscous enough to use. There’s a heating element in the tank and one on the fuel filter, and all the hoses are insulated to keep it warm. After the components are all installed, we have some gages to mount on the dash and then I think she’ll be good to go! Now we’re going to start collecting grease a lot more seriously & consistently, we’ve got a couple local restaurants that have been giving us grease but we need as many sources as possible since there are 2 greasecars in the family.

Well, that’s what we’ve been up to for the last couple of days. We ordered new tires and already got some new wheels so that’s the next step in the restoration. Once those are installed we’ll definitely be ready for a road trip! Now, if only we could get those concert tickets we’ve been wanting…

 

Before

I just realized I haven’t even put a picture of the bus up yet! I guess I got too distracted looking for bio-fuel related links (see, I added some new ones!) and forgot about her. (Yes, the bus is a she, because of her small diesel engine she clearly has no balls and goes slow).

Anyway, here is a pic of her in Yellowstone, it’s a good BEFORE picture, and I’m sure I’ll have several more DURING and AFTER pictures to come as we go through the conversion process. We’ve been busy and haven’t made much progress lately, but have just been doing some research and planning.

 

My First Ride in a Greasecar

Yesterday Andy (Seneca’s brother) finished installing his greasecar kit. He has a 1975 Mercedes Benz that now runs on Veggie Oil! We took it out for a country drive yesterday to test it out, and it runs great! Andy made us all smell the exhaust, and yes, it smells like french fries (a vast improvement over diesel exhaust). The engine actually ran a bit quieter than it did before as well. So Andy, Seneca, Juneau, and I piled in to the Grease-Benz and headed for some country roads.

Now that Andy’s running on grease, we’re even more motivated to get the VW converted. Seneca finished up some other upgrades (new hemp/organic cotton pop-top canvas, brighter headlights, a water pump for the sink, and new injectors for the engine), and the grease conversion is up next. Stay tuned!