Utah Biodiesel Supply Introduces The Biodiesel Review Newsletter

In late 2007, the United States EPA diesel emission standards became much more stringent. The standard now includes much lower sulfur levels, lower particulates, lower NOx levels, and a whole host of other regulations that'll make your head spin.

As with any technology, there's bound to be some bumps along the way and unfortunately, Biodiesel is going to be one of them.

Ford, Chrysler, GM, Mercedes, Volkswagen, and a few other diesel manufacturers went to work on creating diesel engines that would be able to meet the new Tier II Bin 5 Standards. In initial testing it was thought that Biodiesel would help these engines to run cleaner (which it did), but unfortunately, because of cost-cutting strategies in implementing the new technology on the engines, all of the manufactures we've listed above are having MAJOR problems with Biodiesel. Read below to find out why.

The Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) a.k.a. Biodiesels Worst Nightmare
In an effort to reduce particulates coming out of the exhaust of diesel engines, engine manufacturers mounted DPF's into the exhaust pipe of the engines. The theory was that these honey-comb looking devices would entrap the diesel exhaust particulates (you know, that black smoke diesel make) and save them up to be burnt off later.

To burn them off, the engine sprays some unburned fuel into the exhaust stream, vaporizes it, sends it down to the DPF where it ignites (because the DPF is already hot from heated exhaust) and burns off the particulates.

Sounds Like A Great Plan, Right? WRONG!
The problem all started when engine manufacturers, in their infinite wisdom, decided to use the same fuel injectors that inject fuel into the engine to inject a squirt of fuel into the exhaust stream.

They do this by squirting fuel into the cylinders shortly after the combustion stroke (called post-injection). The theory is that the already heated cylinder will vaporize the fuel and as the piston comes up from the bottom it'll just push this unburned fuel out of the cylinder and down to the DPF.

In theory, this is a brilliant plan! Saves money designing the engine, the diesel fuel gets vaporized, the DPF gets cleaned & everyones happy!

But What About Biodiesel?
Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work that way with Biodiesel. One of Biodiesels strong points, the fact that it has a much, much higher boiling point than diesel fuel, just bit it in the butt!

The sad truth is that when the fuel gets squirted into that hot cylinder, only a portion of it vaporizes. The rest sticks to the walls of the cylinder like glue. As the piston comes back up, guess where the Biodiesel goes? Past the piston rings & right down into the crankcase oil.

"But I Thought Biodiesel Was GOOD For Engine Oil!"
Well, yes, but too much of a good thing can be bad...and in the case of the crankcase all that Biodiesel starts to add up & raises the oil level. If/when it gets too high, the crank-case starts to slap into the oil causing foam to occur and the next thing you know, the engine can go into hydro-lock. In other words, bad, bad things can start to happen to the moving parts.

So How Bad Is It?
It's pretty bad. In fact, in tests performed by VW using B5 (5% Biodiesel/95% Diesel Fuel) in the fuel, in a matter of a few thousand miles over 40% of the engine oil was contaminated with Biodiesel. In Dodges running B20, engine oil levels increased in as little as 3,000 miles. Throw B100 in the tank and you can see where this is going.

The other problem is that Biodiesel reacts with engine oil additives and causes the oil to wear out faster; potentially causing even MORE problems in the engine.

So Whats The Solution?
1) DPF Delete Kits
If you're lucky enough to live in a state or county where they don't check diesel emissions or they don't climb under the truck & check out your exhaust, you can simply install DPF Delete Kits which are available from many diesel performance shops. These kits include the parts necessary to remove the DPF from the exhaust system and the electronic parts to convince the computer that it's not there anymore. Do this and the "regeneration cycle" never fires (that means the injectors never squirt that unburned fuel after the combustion stroke).

The problem with these kits is that technically they turn your rig into an "off-road use only" vehicle because it's against federal law to mess with your emission system on your vehicle and drive it on a public road. That said, it hasn't stopped hundreds of people from doing it anyway...

2) Change Your Engine Oil Much More Often
If you watch the engine oil levels and ensure that they don't climb too high, then you may be able to get away with using high Biodiesel blends simply by changing out the oil more often (like twice or three times as often as the manufacturer recommends).

That's kind of an expensive way to do it, but, it doesn't violate any federal laws either

3) Don't Buy A Newer Diesel Vehicle.
Stay away from anything about 2007.5 and newer and this problem doesn't exist. Also, CAT figured out that if you install an injector IN THE EXHAUST SYSTEM ITSELF, this isn't an issue (now why all the other manufacturers couldn't have done that is beyond me).

Which Vehicles Are Effected:
Pretty much any diesel engine vehicle from about 2007 forward put out by GM, Ford, Chrysler, Mercedes, Jeep, Volkwagen, and Audi for sale in the United States is effected by this problem.

Where Can You Learn More?
Infopop Biodiesel Forum
This topic is being discussed at length in the popular Infopop Biodiesel Forum where Biodiesel specialists (myself included) are chiming in on what's being done. Click here to see the discussion

Biodiesel Magazine
Biodiesel Magazine also did an excellent article on the DPF's and how they're effecting the use of Biodiesel. Click here to see the discussion

Diesel Power Magazine
Diesel Power magazine recently did an excellent article on installing Diesel Particulate Filters. Unfortunately, the article appears to have been pulled down from their website for reasons unknown to me (probably worried about litegation, but go figure). If you subscribe to Diesel Power Magazine, it's in one of their recent issues (sorry, I couldn't remember which one. It's in their Tech section).

I really hope that the manufacturers get this issue solved; and solved quickly because if they don't, it could spell an end to the use of high blend Biodiesel in newer diesel engine powered vehicles. I'm pretty sure with the new administration in office we'll see something soon as they seem to be extremely positive of Biodiesel and other Biofuels. Should they catch wind of this snafu you can bet their meeting with "The Big 3" isn't going to be pleasant.

If you plan to purchase a newer diesel vehicle and run Biodiesel in it, we encourage you to research the issues as much as possible and to be sure you're aware of any of the limitations of high-blend Biodiesel use in the vehicle you choose.