How to Convert Your Car to Run on Oil

You can run any diesel-powered engine on nothing but vegetable oil.

Only diesel engines can be converted to run on oil. Diesel engines were originally designed to run off of many different types of fuel, which is why it is so easy to convert them to oil. Vegetable oil and peanut oil are common types of fuel for the converted diesel engine. Imagine stopping for a burger and picking up a bucket-full of free fuel for your vehicle.

Things You'll Need

• Extra fuel tank
• Extra fuel lines
• Temperature gauge
• Extra fuel gauge
• Valve switch
• Dash switch
• Heat resistant tubing
• Fuel filter
• Separate filtering system

Instructions

1. Add an extra fuel tank and separate fuel lines to your engine to hold and transport the vegetable oil. You will still need to use your original gas tank for diesel because the vehicle will require some diesel fuel. If vegetable oil is allowed to sit in the fuel lines it will solidify and clog them. Before shutting off your vehicle, you should run it on diesel until the oil has been flushed out of the engine. This is at least a couple of minute's worth of running on diesel. This will clear the fuel lines of the oil and replace it with regular diesel fuel.

2. Direct extra water from the radiator through the oil tank, as the vegetable oil must stay warm in order to operate. When you start your car on diesel, you'll need to run it for about 15 minutes while the hot water heats up the oil. Run some hoses from the radiator through the oil tank and back to the radiator just for the purpose of running hot water through the oil to melt it. You can bypass this step by purchasing a separate heater and heated fuel lines for the oil tank.

3. Install a filter system to clean the oil fuel. You can literally use old fry oil from local restaurants to power your converted engine. Because there will be particles from what fried in the oil left in there, you'll need to filter it before putting it in the tank. This isn't enough, though; you also need to install a filter in the tank to filter the oil that runs to the engine. A regular diesel fuel filter usually filters particles up to 10 microns. This is acceptable, or you can get a finer filter if you desire even cleaner fuel.

4. Install a valve to switch between tanks. This is just like installing a valve to switch between two regular fuel tanks. You'll need to connect the valve to a switch or button on the dash. In addition to the button, you'll need two additional gauges on your dash: a temperature gauge to tell you when the oil is hot enough to use and a fuel gauge to tell you how much oil is in the tank. Installing the gauges is the most difficult part of the conversion.

References

• Tree Hugger: Converting a Diesel Engine to Run on Vegetable Oil
• Inhabitat: Converting Your Vehicle

Resources

• Diesel Earth: Convert Your Car to Run on Veggie Oil