I change mine every 3000, or at least in that ballpark. 5000 is a hard limit for me.
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Yes, they had problems with the oil getting thick during the war as well, so you are not alone with that problem, I have a foam rubber mattress as the last filter, helps quite a lot.
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3000 on regular 5000 on synthetic is my usual. Might need to lower those numbers with woodgas. Still doesnāt make sense how the pickup screen broke off
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I noticed with the synthetic diesel oil I used, it was jet black within just a few hundred miles on charcoal gas. Maybe the higher levels of carbon monoxide mess with synthetic oils? I started adding MMO to keep any kind of varnish off of my parts.
Iād recommend maybe do a BG cleanup course that comes with the rinsing oil and everything.
Maybe @JocundJake has something to add from his Woodgas 2020 journey when it comes to oil. Then again he was consuming oil so it might not have had enough time to sludge.
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In the beginning before it started using it, I had a problem with it sludging up. it actually turned to jelly. Only thing I can say is to pay attention to it and change it more often if it needs it. On the way home it was using enough it was changing itself.
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What were you running for oil in your truck Jacob? And if the soot is making it into the motor, i really gotta wonder if the soft wood just needs a better filtering system to control the soot
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Hmmmā¦I change oil and filter once every summer, 6,000 miles or so, and if anything, itās thinner after a year and lots of soot past through the Rabbit and Mazda motor.
I wonder - I use regular 10/30 mineral oil - could it be synthetic oil reacts with woodgas or soot? But then again, as @Jan says, they had thickening problems back in the days with no synthetic availableā¦
I wonder if @Wayne has ever noticed any thickening???
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Are you running synthetic in the your rigs, and are you running soft or hardwoods? ways to modify the existing hay filter to remove more soot thoughts? I have been brainstorming on this for a while if i could find a way to put a bag house/ sock filter inside the hay filterā¦
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I donāt run synthetics in mine. that is the only one i have ever had problems with. I was running 15/40 diesel oil in it when it jelled up. now i run the 10/30 in it again no problems since then. I was running the heavier oil in it because the Dakotas have low oil pressure with 10/30.
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I have been running 15/40 in this as well, rotella t6 since i get it by the barrel at work. Its warming up in the weather and i was going to switch back to 10/30 on the next oil change anyway, thatās what i normally run in anything with 150,000 plus miles
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This engine that i have torn down right now i think it is a 30,000 mile woodgas engine. i notice very little difference in that verses the gasoline engine i have torn down right now. The oil in the lifter valley is a little jelled but not much I changed the oil every 3500 miles on that and used regular non synthetic 15/40 diesel oil in it. I also had 220,000 miles on it before i switched it over to woodgas.
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Ill probably stick with the 10/30 from now on just because of what happened in oregon but if all I had was 15/40 i would use it.
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No, no synthetic. Wood is a mix.
As @Jan mentioned, he uses mattress foam on top of the hay. In the Volvo filter I have the hay stuffed into a woollen bag, made from a blanket. Seems to work pretty well.
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Oil was very different in WW2, it had paraffin deposit problems to begin with even on gasoline. Itās almost like just running Lucas, oil with little to no additives but obviously not as thick.
I think conventional or semi synthetic might work better. I have some High Mileage rated oil in the Mazda, itās semi synthetic but also has a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil. Iāll report how it seems after 3000 miles.
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Marcus, I had a similar thing happen to me. In my Dakota I start using high mileage motor oil. Because of the long trip to Argos and back. This was in June when Mike and I started on the trip.
On the way back I notice my oil pressure dropping and idle it was down to 10 lbs. We pull into Laramie Wyoming at oil change shop and had the oil changed. The oil look like it was jello liquid. There was not quit 4,000 miles on the oil. I had them put just good old regular 10/30 oil back in with a new oil filter. Problem solved the oil pressures went back to normal.
I now changed my oil every 2000 miles period. And I do not use oil with any synthetic oil in
my wood burner truck.
Oh yes when I got home I change my oil again to make sure there was no more synthetic oil in it.
Oil is cheap compared to a rebuild of a engine.
Wood Gas and synthetic oils do not mix. And change your regular oil at 2000 miles. There was no harm to my engine because I changed the oil back to what I use to run in it.
Bob
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Also,āthey sayā never to use synthetic if you have once used regular. Any buildup will losen and end up blocking the pick-up screen. I donāt know if thereās any thruth to it.
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I have been thinking the same thing, have a hay filter then have the gases go into preheating mantle through the out side of the bottom part of the gasifer barrel, this is a 3 Mississippi hot area. Then back through a bag filter system.
This is what Max Gasman suggested, then you could run the heated gases through a paper type filter then into the engine. A lot more complicated system. So for now I change my oil more often at 2000 miles. I calling this a KISS solution to the problem.
Bob
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Hay is more of a coalescer than a full on filter. Good for taking more moisture out of the gas. Iād maybe dedicate the bottom half to hay and the top half to maybe a 100% wool bag filled with pine straw for the finer size. Wool should catch the lions share of the soot.
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Never had a problem with oil jelling. I use hard wood for fuel and 10/30 oil. I try to change oil at 5000 miles .
After seeing Marcus video I may start changing more often .
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Iād find another short block and have it on stand by alert. I donāt know anything about wood gas in an engine but if you are not getting your oil pan polluted with gasoline when driving on that then I canāt see how soot could get past your rings.
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