24V Cummins WVO setup (Waste Veggie Oils)

Just documenting my WVO setup I've constructed for my 1999 Cummins 24V with the VP44. I should state that I'm not going to run this as a 100% WVO setup. I'll be running a percentage of diesel fuel or Kerosene in the tank with the WVO as well to help reduce the coking effect WVO can have. In any case I've constructed my system with K.I.S.S. in mind. Not so much in overall complexity. But in components.

I'll start with the tank first. It's a plastic marine tank. It's 23 gallons. It fit inside my toolbox. I wanted to be able to have everything hidden out of sight. Best of all, it was only $33. I did have to clean a layer of varnish out of it (lacquer thinner works great!) and I had to replace the sending unit. I picked up a sender from the local marina shop. $33 for it.



I used a Mallory 4060FI fuel pump for the WVO setup. You can get away with a typical vane style pump for diesel. But WVO is to viscus for a vane pump. The oil will cause the vanes to "stick" in place and stop pumping. The Mallory fuel pumps are a gearotor style pump. So they use a gear to pump.

I used a series of fittings to step it up to 1" NPT into a goldenrod filter. The goldenrod filter is nice since it's clear. I can check on the filter media. One of the worries with WVO is polymerization. A traditional screw on cannister filter wouldn't allow you to see this in that event. Next I stepped it down to a tee with a adjustable pressure regulator. This bleeds off excess pressure back to the tank.



From that point the output from the pump/filter/regulator/tank is fed into my hose in hose setup.



The hose in hose is a 1" ID hose with 1/2" aluminum fuel line inside. I drilled out the center of the 1/2" compression fittings to seal them off. There are tees at both ends to allow coolant to pass through. This allows heat transfer. The key to WVO setups. The total length of the hose in hose is about 15ft. So the fuel is heated plenty by the time it reaches the engine. Here's the end that meets the engine.



I fastened the hose in hose along the frame rail. Also I used a 5/8" heater hose for the return.



I tapped off the head for the heat supply. I used a ball valves to adjust flow. It's also a good idea to valve off the coolant flow in and out in the event you have a leak.



The return line is tied back into the heater core return.



Here's a pic of everything plumbed as well.


On to the engine itself. I used a pair of 1/2" check valves. Most people use expensive valves. But in my opinion that's a more expensive means to do so. And leads to failures.

I used a 4 way fitting to allow for a port for my fuel pressure gauge and my warning light as well.


While I was working on all of this I upgraded my diesel fuel system as well. I used 1/2" fuel lines with a 1/2" draw straw. I used AN fittings I picked up from summit racing. I used the 12mmx1.5 to -8AN adapters. And 90def -8AN fittings.


The VP44


The new fuel pump for diesel


Now for the return. Since the dodge is a return system. You have to have a selector valve for the return.


Now about the return valve. Since I've got a dual pump setup with check valves. You have to have a delay to keep the selector valve feeding back to the WVO tank for purging. Otherwise you'll pump the WVO from the IP, injectors, and lines back into your diesel tank. I built a timer based off the 555 chip. Crude looking inside, I know, but it works.



Here's a video of the controller in action cycling through sources and a purge cycle.
YouTube - WVO controller with purge cycle

Since I don't smoke I used the ash tray for a holder for the controller. Also notice the fuel gauge.


All said and done I've got about $500 in my setup. So in about 5 tanks it'll be paid for.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask if you need any help. The wiring is a documentation all on it's own...

Kudo's on a very well thought out system :rockwoot:

One question though, the pipe coming from the head and across the turbo, is there a brace I can't see in the pics? With the slight vibration these engines produce I'd worry about the nipple cracking.

Yep, I've been asked that as well elsewhere. I'm going to build an angle iron brace. I've got the parts cut and drilled. I'm just needing to get it welded to the pipe. I just moved and haven't got the outlet wired yet.

With the amount of thought in the rest of the setup I figured you did have one.

Sweet looking, are you using the goldenrod filter to filter the WVO or are you pre-filtering it also?

haloman said:

Sweet looking, are you using the goldenrod filter to filter the WVO or are you pre-filtering it also?

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The goldenrod is the WVO's filter. They're a 10 micron filter. The stock dodge filter is only about 12-15 from what I've read. My friends already have these setups on their truck. The WVO is "processed" before we put it in our tanks. We have a steel vat that we dump the WVO in, build a fire under it and boil the oil for a couple of hours to dewater it. Then skim it out with a pump. The pump passes the oil through a series of filters. It's final filter is a 1 micron.

They have heated tanks, and in a pinch they've dumped raw WVO in their tanks. They reticulate the oil from the FASS filter back in the tank. So it'll "process" it. But it kills the filters in short order.

Where are you actually preheating the WVO at? What point of the WVO storage?

zstroken said:

Where are you actually preheating the WVO at? What point of the WVO storage?

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We boil the oil for about 6-8 hrs. This is after it's been collected. We use the plastic bins for storage. The oil sits and waits for probably 2-3 weeks settling out. Then it's skimmed off the top with the pump. Into the vat for boiling. It's pumped back out of the vat through the final filtering. Back into the trucks tanks.

patracy said:

We boil the oil for about 6-8 hrs. This is after it's been collected. We use the plastic bins for storage. The oil sits and waits for probably 2-3 weeks settling out. Then it's skimmed off the top with the pump. Into the vat for boiling. It's pumped back out of the vat through the final filtering. Back into the trucks tanks.

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I meant on the truck. Reason I ask is I have a friend who runs WVO, and he filters the oil before he dumps it in the truck. Then he has a water to oil heat exchanger, in his WVO tank, and runs the water lines right beside the WVO lines and then insulates them. He also has a small water to oil exchanger he runs on the frame rail, and then in finally runs through an electric heat exchanger righ by the pump. He can run the WVO down to about 10-15 degrees F. Good looking system, you have. How much was your WVO pump, he ended up going with a big FASS Pump.

zstroken said:

I meant on the truck. Reason I ask is I have a friend who runs WVO, and he filters the oil before he dumps it in the truck. Then he has a water to oil heat exchanger, in his WVO tank, and runs the water lines right beside the WVO lines and then insulates them. He also has a small water to oil exchanger he runs on the frame rail, and then in finally runs through an electric heat exchanger righ by the pump. He can run the WVO down to about 10-15 degrees F. Good looking system, you have. How much was your WVO pump, he ended up going with a big FASS Pump.

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I built the hose in hose heat exchanger. There's about 20ft of heated hose the WVO has to travel before it reaches the engine. There's insulating wrap from that point on (less than 5ft total) into the engine to retain heat.

Here's the ends of the hose in hose.




And under the truck you can see the hose in hose...


I drove with it on diesel in the tank to test and I can confirm (burned my hand :doh: ) that the fuel is heated nicely before it enters the IP. It only gets to about 15-20 for a couple of days where I live. But I can add some electric heater wire later on to the section near the motor if needed.

Oh and I have about $500 total in everything. I sourced a lot of my parts off ebay.

I missed the hose in the hose thing. That is slick. I will mention that to him. He has some coin in his, most of this money is in the Tank(big 90 gallon diamond plate toolbox/tank), and the pump. He tried some walbro pumps and they would not pump it.
He also doesn't boil it. He uses dehydrogenated oil, and just uses whole house filters on it.

I'm hoping the pump will do. I know it can deliver more than needed pressure on diesel. Also I'm not going to run 100% WVO in the tank. I'll have about 80% WVO and 20% Diesel or Kero. Hopefully that'll make it a little easier on the VP44, pump, and reduce coking.

patracy said:

I'm hoping the pump will do. I know it can deliver more than needed pressure on diesel. Also I'm not going to run 100% WVO in the tank. I'll have about 80% WVO and 20% Diesel or Kero. Hopefully that'll make it a little easier on the VP44, pump, and reduce coking.

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He runs 100%(minus what gets diluted when he switches back to diesel) The walbro didn't burn up, it just wouldn't pump it. He had a few places where the line was uninsulated or heated so when it gets cold the walbro wouldn't do it. He runs a VP44, so far no issues and I bet he has been doing this for 1.5 years. He did the diesel secret and lost a vp44 in about 3 months. Pump had some miles on it though.

zstroken said:

He runs 100%(minus what gets diluted when he switches back to diesel) The walbro didn't burn up, it just wouldn't pump it. He had a few places where the line was uninsulated or heated so when it gets cold the walbro wouldn't do it. He runs a VP44, so far no issues and I bet he has been doing this for 1.5 years. He did the diesel secret and lost a vp44 in about 3 months. Pump had some miles on it though.

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How does he have his valving setup? I don't want to toot on my own horn. But check out my minimalist setup. The check valves and single solenoid allows me to purge the WVO back to the tank until diesel is flowing. You really don't care if diesel ends up in your WVO tank too. Just not WVO in your diesel tank. If he's interested I can build another controller for him like mine.

I read about diesel secret, but never found any solid results on it. I didn't buy into the marketing ploy though. Really all you were doing was mixing WVO with other fuels and thinning agents. All stuff you can buy from the hardware store. For a lot less!

Personally I never liked the idea of mixing and a single tank. Too many things to go wrong. Having a independent (separate pumps and filters) two tank system is the way to go. I had issues with the main diesel tank sucking air before I filled it back up. I flipped over to the WVO setup when I lost pressure. Also having valves on the coolant system is a good idea. When you're passing coolant the length of the truck, theres the chance you'll spring a leak.

patracy said:

How does he have his valving setup? I don't want to toot on my own horn. But check out my minimalist setup. The check valves and single solenoid allows me to purge the WVO back to the tank until diesel is flowing. You really don't care if diesel ends up in your WVO tank too. Just not WVO in your diesel tank. If he's interested I can build another controller for him like mine.

I read about diesel secret, but never found any solid results on it. I didn't buy into the marketing ploy though. Really all you were doing was mixing WVO with other fuels and thinning agents. All stuff you can buy from the hardware store. For a lot less!

Personally I never liked the idea of mixing and a single tank. Too many things to go wrong. Having a independent (separate pumps and filters) two tank system is the way to go. I had issues with the main diesel tank sucking air before I filled it back up. I flipped over to the WVO setup when I lost pressure. Also having valves on the coolant system is a good idea. When you're passing coolant the length of the truck, theres the chance you'll spring a leak.

Click to expand...

He has two tanks, 90 gallon WVO, and the stocker. He has two pumps, the stock pump and the Fass pump. Solenoid on the supply, and solenoid on the return. He doesn't have it automatic like yours, going from diesel to WVO he will switch the return first, then the supply, and vice versa on WVO to diesel. Like you said diesel in the WVO isn't bad, only thing it does is cost you a little coin, actually helps thin the WVO out. He filters his before he even puts it in the tank. Still filters it on the truck, but he said lots of guys change a filter per several tanks, and you ahve to worry about it causing you issues ont he road, he would rather have it pretty clean before it ever gets in the truck. You system looks good, just you need a bigger tank, he can run almost 1500 miles on WVO before he has to get more.

I'm planning on adding a secondary tank later on. If I can find something that will fit under the toolbox. With the 23 gallon tank I should be able to get about 350 miles out of WVO. (assuming only 17mpg) But I could also stretch it a little more with my propane setup as well. With everything running, it's perceivable that I could run a tank of propane, diesel, and WVO and net 1200+ miles.

Good looking setup.

Just an update. DO NOT USE A GOLDENROD! I thought the head of the filter was aluminum. Turns out, they're zinc! Zinc is terrible when exposed to diesel or WVO. The plating comes off in diesel fuel and passes to the engine. WVO causes polymerization at the head. Allowing the goop to pass on to the engine. In either case, it's not good! So I stopped by tractor supply and bought a cast iron head and a better filter. I noticed a few of the zinc flakes in the diesel fuel left over in the goldenrod today too.



I'm purely on WVO now. Truck is running great. Fuel pressure is rock solid at 22psi. WOT can only pull it down to 19psi. I'm going to pull my timer and do some cleanup on it. I need to install a voltage regulator as the timer sticks at times. I also need to dial in my purge to 2 minutes.

The wife thought the truck smelled better when I parked it in the garage tonight.

What does it cost you to filter the oil, store it, boil it, etc? All said and done, if diesel were 2 bucks a gallon, would you continue to run WVO? What's it worth to you or where would you put the fuel savings vs time and hassle? I have a local source that will sell 10 micron filtered WVO for $1 per gallon. Sounds like a deal to me, just to not have to deal with picking up WVO.