Smart Car Runs On Used Canola Oil

[SmartAmerica]

Restaurateur converts a Smart car to run on used canola oil.

Heesung Kim a restaurateur from Calgary Canada simply ran a Google search on vegetable oil conversions, and while there are plenty of companies doing such work in the U.S., Kim found only a handful in Canada.

[FONT=Courier New][FONT=Courier New][FONT=Courier New]One company was [URL="http://www.plantdrive.ca/index.html"]PlantDrive

[lhoboy]

Next thing you know, they will need armed guards at McDonalds to protect valuable material in the grease traps.

[2micro4u]

Will you get better MPG this way?

[gamernotwatcher]

But you need to start with a diesel engine

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by SmartAmerica

Restaurateur converts a Smart car to run on used canola oil.
Enthusiasts who have converted their diesel-engine vehicles to run on waste vegetable oil prize used canola oil because it remains a liquid at room temperature. To accommodate the conversion, an 11-litre outboard motor fuel tank was installed in the back of her Smart car. CLICK HERE FOR DEALERS

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This is nothing new for diesel engine fuel. We fueled Deutz Tractors with 6 cylinder air cooled engines with used vegetable oil back in the early 80's on our family farm. Our experience was not good. In Summer, the only problem we had was having to change the fuel filters too often due to congealed fat in the used oil from the cooking process (french fries, etc) and subsequent fuel starvation was a consequential problem.
In Winter, we went thru filters like crazy as The veg oil and/or canola oil itself also gets unsatisfactorily thicker below 20 degrees F. and adds to the problem if your mix ratio of veg oil to diesel is too great. Diesel fuels are thinned with kerosene by fuel oil dealers at some percentage in the Northeast and in other parts of the country to prevent this problem from happening. So you know that oils like canola and vegetable oil will be a problem as well at the lower temps.

[mjamus]

Canadian Smarts = Diesel Fuel
US Smarts = Unleaded Fuel

You try running your US Smart on Canola oil and you've just killed your nice new car.

[riversidesmart]

There have been a few shops in California modifying older diesels (mostly MB 300's) to run on vegetable oils. State of California began making ugly noises (no "regulatory approval" by the myriad agencies and most importantly, no state fuel tax collected).

Any word on offering diesel smarts here? I guess there are so many issues of new emission standards in the various states and even Europe. Traffic grid-lock doubtless has far more negative impact on environment in my area than a few small engine diesels running on low-sulfur and/or biodiesel fuels.