Yarrrrr. So here is a picture of the exhaust problem. The truck ran like crap and I noticed a lot of exhaust in the engine compartment. Turns out one of the springs that hold the exhaust down pipe to the manifold was missing. I put one back on and it ran even worse. So there must have been a blockage. When the truck was in storage for so long a mouse must have made a nest in the back of the pre muffler (thing in the picture cut in half). I could not dig it out it was packed in there so tight. So I cut it in half cleaned it out and welded it back together. New exhaust gasket and spring and she runs like a top. Nice consistent idle and clean exhaust.

VW truck number 5 I think. I have been rebuilding these for the last few years and making custom vegetable oil kits for them. Welding custom tanks and cutting in switches and such to make them really clean looking. Just started rebuilding this one in the last few weeks. Body is in great shape except for a big dent that was on the side. Pulled it out and this is the bondo work you see. Original engine and she runs great after a few new parts. Air filter, oil change, timing belt, and cut, cleaned, and welded exhaust...more to come on that.

GREASE CAR NEWS!

Well 3rd grease car we have built is now complete. First a 2001 Jetta, piece of junk. Then a restored 1980 vw rabbit pick up. Great truck and many memories. We have now moved on to the rare 1996 vw passat tdi wolfsberg addition. This car was manufactured in Germany and is the most coveted TDI ever made from VW, besides the wagon version.

It had been a great car on diesel for the 6 months or so that we owned it. Now that the house is done I got around to converting it to veg. On that same day that I finished it a very strange thing happened which involved many trips to the local mechanic, (no answers), downloading VW's VAG-COM software, and finally ordering a new quality controller.

It turns out this is what happened. While driving on the maiden voyage on vegetable oil the switch from greasecar.com was bad. This pressurized the injection pump causing the over flow valve to pop out. At the exact moment that happen my foot was on the gas but decelerating. The spring shot out and got trapped in a tiny spot holding the throttle open. This in turn resulted in the car starting but the computer shut off the accelerator because the throttle was stuck open by the spring. Lots of head ache latter I figured this all out and fixed it. The scan tool for the computer said the injection pump was bad $2200.00. Turns out the part I needed was $50 good thing i took it a part first.

Energy Costs

We are thrilled about our energy costs these first couple of months! Our electric for the house was $24 in January and $22 in February. Our gas bill was $92 in January and $70 in February. The appliances running off gas are our oven/stove, dryer, on demand water heater (for two sinks, shower, clothes washer, and dish washer), and the 40 gallon water heater that sends water thru the floor to heat the house.
So as the days get longer our electric will drop because we will be using fewer lights. And as the weather gets warmer our gas bill will continue to drop due to less need for heat. We are thrilled that January, the coldest month of the year, our gas was under a hundred dollars.

The joy of not building....much easier projects- like making a headboard and curtains!