Day 1 - 2000 Ford F250 Vegetable Oil Conversion

Brief Overview: Today we started to convert our shop truck (2000 Ford F250 Powerstroke) to run on straight vegetable oil. We are using the PlantDrive 99-03 Powerstroke specific kit along with a Northern Tool 80 gallon smooth aluminum tank. Many small pieces of hardware were needed and the parts list can be found here.

Date: 10/14/06

Time Spent on Installation: 3.5 hours
Time Spent Collecting Hardware: 1.5 hours

Tasks Completed:

§ Decided on locations for veggie oil system components.

§ Collected necessary hardware for conversion completion.

§ Modified Northern Tool tank and installed HotFox tank heater.

§ Assembled and installed Vormax fuel processing unit.

§ Installed 6-port solenoid block.

§ Ran fuel/coolant lines from HotFox to Vormax.

§ Ran drain line from Vormax.

§ Ran fuel pick-up line from HotFox.

§ Ran fuel line from Vormax to 6-port solenoid.

§ Looped veggie oil return on 6-port solenoid.

Components laid out on truck tailgate.

80-gallon aluminum tank – Starting modification to existing hole to accept HotFox tank heater.

Rob underneath the truck getting acquainted with it’s stock fuel feed/return setup.

Miscellaneous hardware we collected to complete the installation.

More hardware including fuel hose.

Vormax fuel processing unit with fittings attached. We were figuring out how to orient the brass fittings for optimal placement.

Rob modifying stock rubber grommet to accept multiple fuel/coolant lines to run through it.

Reinstalling grommet – This will be our main pass-through point.

Vormax installed. Notice our tank drain coming from the lower corner of the fuel cell and out the
grommet we modified.

HotFox with extended pick-up hose. The hose is cut into a “V” shape at the bottom to avoid
the possibility of getting stuck to the bottom of the tank during heavy fuel usage.

6-port solenoid mounted to frame rail. Have you ever tried to drill through a Ford Powerstroke
frame rail? It’s not exactly a walk in the park! :D

Another shot of the 6-port solenoid. The blue tape is what we used to mark what hose goes
where.

6-port solenoid shown with feed line coming from veggie tank. Return is already looped.

Picture underneath the truck showing our veggie feed line going down the left and the Vormax
drain hose peaking out on the middle-right.

Test fitting diesel filter mounting spot above stock tank. We are mounting it here due to ground
clearance issues and ease of access.

E-brake cable was in the way so we are using 1” steel standoffs to move the filter off of the
frame rail by a little bit.

That's it for day 1! We were moving at a really leisurely pace... Tomorrow we'll bear down and finish
the conversion if all continues to go as planned.