wvo on the supercheap. or ghettowvo.

[westbound nate]

Hi delica board people!
I've had my delica for, hmm... about 10 months, and have had the intention of converting it to run on veggie oil since day one,
but i'm broke and cheap. I've been scrounging the parts nessecesary, setting up my filteration system, collecting and filtering grease, and reading loads.
so i wanted to give a post here, as i'm pretty sure i now have everything i need, and thought you all may have some suggestions or tips as i go.
I've never done anything like this before. My girlfriend just showed me how to do my own oil changes two months ago. I'm fairly mechanicly minded though, and feel like the hours and hours i've spent researching this subject will do me at least some good.
so I'll start with a parts rundown...

I have a marine tank. got it second hand at the sydney boaters exchange for 55 bucks. hopefully this will be good.


i have a bunch of hose that i got at good nieghbours in duncan for five bucks, i'm hoping to use it for coolant heating the lines and tank, probably not for fuel though. i'm guessing that would be bad?


i have pipe insulation, that i got out of a recycling bin. it's brand new and i have about 30 feet of it!


heres a milk crate filled with stuff. I got it at the pender island free store. it had a sign that said "veggie oil conversion kit" so i picked it up.


in the crate there's a heat exchanger...


a 12 volt heated oil filter


an inline pump


this thing, wich i asume swiched the fuel line from diesel to oil?


a switch box... with the plug cut off.


this thing, that i haven't figured out yet.


two of these things?


and a bundle of wires.


i still need to run to c-tire and get some fuel line, but i think that's it! ...?
and all for under a hundred bucks.
now comes the fun part.
trying to put it all together!
today, i think i'll just start by cleaning things, testing them with a 12v to see if they all work and looking them up.
thanks for looking, and i'll take loads of pictures, and post them as i go!
wish me luck!!!
yay!
-nathan

[westbound nate]

oh, and here's my ghetto gas station

[FalcoColumbarius]

I'm impressed, Nate. Have you ever watched a British TV show called "Junk Yard Wars"? Keep us posted with how things transpire.

Falco.

[westbound nate]

Thanks, Falco!
No i haven't seen junk yard wars... is it worth a look up?

I organized and cleaned up the parts in the milk crate, and started to try to figure out how the wiring goes... I've been able to make a few guesses, i can match up some of the wires where they've been cut. But it's kind of like a jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing, and no picture to work from. Some wires are missing, or don't lead anywhere... hmm...
Anyone know where i might find a wiring diagram? or know what kind of kit this thing is? Then i could look up a diagram.
A while ago I saw a post on here, with pictures of an install with what looked like the same kit, but now that i need it i can't seem to find it. < edit: nevermind about the post... i found it. http://www.delica.ca/forum/space-antelo ... 08-15.html >

-nathan

[dfnder]

I hope you are in an urban area as bears will certainly be attracted to the scent of WVO.

Good luck!

[after oil]

you got yourself a $1000 wvo kit right there!!! pender island free store FTW!
"two of these things" is fuses
the switch is actually the return valve, there's one on the heat exchanger two.
the unidentified thing looks like a solenoid but im not sure what for.
in my opinion dont bother to heat the tank.

ill look for the wiring diagram for you.

[after oil]

[after oil]

[BCDelica]

Hello Nate,

Like Ari said that is freaking awesome you got one of Slavko's kits at the free store! And look, that first picture matches up your parts box perfectly. Be sure to change the brass seals (cheap cheap) on the converter and cycle the activator with 12v. Also a good idea to remove the electronic activator and replace the little rubber seals on the shaft, on both the main heater switch block and the second solenoid. Probably won't hurt to change the glow plug that is near the thermocouple - which you could also test with some boiling water and a volt meter. Hope that little heated filter works for you, that would save you a bunch. Though it's size may have been the cause of issues on it's previous install. That little unidentified thingie is an old automotive solenoid, just hit the wreckers and get yourself a couple of newer ones.

As you know valve number 2 is so you don't have to have a looped system, with a little WVO return to the diesel tank. Have you decided which system you will install; a loop system with IP overflow returning to only one tank, or the other option shown on Ari's second diagram?

peace

[after oil]

another install http://www.delica.ca/forum/turtle-wvo-i ... 11165.html

[jessef]

14 psi is too high for the 4D56T injection pump. this conversion kit was probably meant for another vehicle and they just pulled it.

ditch the pump and get one 8-9 psi

use new heater hose. it's cheap and you'll know it's clean. any foreign material or oil in your cooling system is not good.

ditch the two old relays and solenoid. they look horrible. get a pair of new 30Amp one's from auto parts shop. same thing. cheap.

replace the wire if you can. I try not to reuse old wiring but if it looks good then go for it.

$30-50 worth of relay/wire/connectors can save you an electrical short/fire/issues down the road. call it safety insurance.

can't beat the deal you got. nice job

[westbound nate]

Thank you all for your prompt and informative responses!

dfnder: Not too many bears in our rural area... mostly just raccoons, mink, tourists and retirees...

After Oil: Thanks so much!!! The diagrams will save me HOURS of head scratching! A thousand dollar kit ain't worth much if you don't know how to put it together! I was thinking to just heat the lines, and not the tank, as it doesn't get too cold, and I could always put some anti-gelling agent into the wvo to keep it flowing in the few winter months.

BCdelica: Where do i pickup brass seals? And how do you mean cycle the activator? I'm a bit lost there...
I'll be going through and replacing All the rubber I can get tom, some of it is in pretty rough shape.
Glow plug... do you mean one of the 4 in the engine? Or is there a glow plug in the kit I haven't yet identified. I replaced the glow plugs in the engine recently, if that's what you mean?
The heated filter seems awesome. I'll pop a new filter into it, and see how it works, I got another filter casing free at a flea market, a k&n type one. I think the heater coil will fit around it.
Um... forgive me... but what's the solenoid for?
I'll look up some articles about looped return vs. this other system. I'll likely go with the one in the diagram, as i have the parts, and the diagram is right there.

jfarsang: I wondered about the pump. I thought it might be too high. I'll likely use it somewhere in my filtering setup. Where would you suggest getting a new pump?
hose... hmm.. grumble. okay...
new relays, check.
new solenoid... i'll get to that when i get to that. i still don't really know what the solenoid is for. but yeah, that one is in really rough shape.
ALL new wires, check! that's easy enough.

Yesterday i went and started mounting stuff where I'll want it. The heat exchange and the return valve are mounted right where space antelope's are. Seemed good to me.
I'll take some pictures and post them and look at the turtle install when i get back, but now it's off to miracle beach for some family camping.

again thanks you all so very much, and I'll keep this up to date as i go!!!

-Nathan

[jessef]

Nathan

Are you going to strap the tank down inside or roof/undercarriage ?

[BCDelica]

The brass seals, matching the existing compression seals on each aluminum blocks hose connections for coolant, should be in stock at a good automotive store. Cycle the actuators, which do the switching between fuels (the wired black units connected to the heat exchanger and the second switch unit), with a 12v power source or battery, but it may be a good idea to disassemble both of them to good and apply some oil to the rubber seals. The actuators are solenoids, you don't need new solenoids.

I mean't the glow plug screwed into the heater exchanger.

I think the reason for the high pressure aux fuel/oil pump maybe was to overcome the flow resistance of the small WVO filter. Most common system issues/problems after an install is air working being sucked into the system. A small filter when dirty, or running cool, will create a high pressure differential between the filter and the injection pump (IP), do to filter resistance.

Install the system as shown gives you the option to switch lines around to run a loop system, which would be handy for troubleshooting.

The 2 things are fuses, the resetting automotive type. Junk them, you shouldn't be blowing fuses and but you must have them.

New; fuel hoses (the transparent reinforced type from the plumping stores is fine for WVO delivery), coolant hoses, wiring and connectors (you should be able to use what you have short runs), heat shrink for good connections, seals mentioned, glow plug, relays, fuses, and get good quality hose clamps which are worth the money (don't reuse the old ones, they will cause you some headaches). That will total more than $50, but will save you some troubles.

On Van Isle you will not need heated hoses and tanks. Don't forget to take a q-tip with oil to inside of each hose end when you install them.

Happy camping

[after oil]

yeah, toss the pump, it wont help you in filtration either....
the actuators are the grey plastic things on the heat exchanger and return valve.. give them 12v to get them to go, with the valves in them.
as for the big dirty solenoid im not sure what its for. Ilan from the Thirsty Camel restaurant in Nanaimo has that too in his kit, but not sure why... hes a friendly guy, you could ask him to see his system