Back to Work

Summer vacation is over which means I was up this morning at the ungodly hour of 6:00 a.m. I drove several of my co-workers to a local restaurant for lunch so they could personally experience the grease mobile. Of course one of the first questions asked was about the car's exhaust so I started the engine while several school psychologists bent down to smell any available fumes. Although there wasn't any noticeable aroma initially, they reported the scent of popcorn as I drove away.

Since I spend much of the work week driving between various schools the district reimburses me for mileage and today I learned that the rate of reimbursement will increase this year to .44/mile. Yet another advantage of burning grease.

An Inconvenience?

On our way back home we stopped by our friend's birthday party where we showed off the grease mobile. During a discussion with one of the party guests I mentioned how we brought extra fuel with us on our trip to Ohio enabling us to drive the entire 530 miles without purchasing gasoline, and he responded that he wouldn't want to endure such an inconvenience. Obviously, perceptions vary from one individual to the next and what I regard as minor - along the lines of remembering to pack my hair dryer - others view as a nuisance. The last time we visited my family in Ohio it cost us $100 in fuel so I'm more than willing to carry a few 5 gallon containers in the back of the wagon.

Ohio

Showed the car off to my dad who pointed out that we'll need to purchase new tires in a few months. I think he was somewhat impressed although it's hard to tell with him. My dad's a creature of habit and routine so the concept of collecting fuel from restaurants and carrying extra oil in the back of the car isn't the least bit appealing but he understands the financial benefits we're experiencing. On our way to lunch, we drove so my brother, Stacy, and his partner, Tracey, could experience travel in the grease mobile. Stacy drives a diesel truck so he's curious about the process but doesn't appear ready to commit any time in the near future. Of course he probably commutes less than 10 miles to work each day.

Going to Ohio

We're headed to Southeastern Ohio this weekend to visit my family on top of ol' Connett Hill. Round trip it's 530 miles which I'm determined to travel while burning WVO. Since we've never made a trip of this length in the grease mobile, I thought it wise to purchase some additional oil from GoodOil so there was less chance of us running empty. After contacting one of the owners, I drove by their garage where I purchased 15 gallons of filtered WVO for $22.50 - or $1.50 a gallon. In addition to our luggage, we plan to load the car with 10 or 15 extra gallons of oil and our large funnel so we can refuel at my dad's house. Fortunately with the wagon we have plenty of space for all our gear.

Stalled (AKA "Coasting")

On our way to church this morning, as we're driving 65 mph on the interstate, the engine stalls forcing us to slowly move off the road and onto the berm. For obvious reasons this caused me some anxiety although Craig casually referred to the malfunction as "coasting". After switching back over to the diesel tank he restarted the vehicle and we were on our way. When we reached the residential streets of Clifton, Craig tried the grease tank again without any problems and the car drove perfectly for the remainder of the day. Apparently there was an air bubble or two in the line (probably occurred when switching out fuel filters) which caused the initial "coasting" but it seems to have resolved itself and we're back to driving on free fuel.

Tonight I ordered two fuel filters from Greasecar so we'll be prepared the next time they need replacing.

I'm Bummed

When our car was converted the guy at GoodOil told us to change the fuel filter between 1,000-2,000 miles so last week Craig called the garage leaving a voice mail stating that we had driven in excess of 1,000 miles and needed purchase a filter or schedule an appointment to have a new filter installed. We never heard back from GoodOil and failed to follow up with a second phone call. Today as we're driving back from Bowling Green, where we picked up our niece Lisa, the car starts to loose power which causes Craig to switch over to the diesel tank for the remainder of the trip. Now the good news is that our car has two tanks, or as he says "suspenders and a belt", for just these types of situations but I'm so used to driving for free that I'm bummed when we start consuming diesel fuel. Granted we only drove on diesel for a little over an hour but it meant that we had to stop at a gas station and pay money to fill up the tank. Yuck!

After stopping by GoodOil we learned that our contact person is on vacation until August (no wonder he didn't return Craig's call) but the other employees were kind enough to direct us to a nearby auto parts store where we purchased the necessary fuel filter. When we returned home Craig went to work on the car while I drove Lisa to a nearby mall, in our Galant, to purchase clothes for church in the morning. Tonight was the first time either of us has driven the Galant since we picked up our converted car in June. I am entertaining the idea of reducing our vehicles to the grease mobile and scooter but want to see how we manage our transportation needs during the winter with colder temperatures and snow.

Mexican Oil and Fuel Filters

Craig picks up our oil from the Mexican restaurant on Tuesdays. Although there were some problems with storage last week, everything went as planned today and we are now in possession of 10 more free gallons of fuel.

Decided to order some new filters this evening from Greasecar. At $10 a filter we sprung for the 5/1 micron bags which consist of a 5 micron bag which blocks the coarser particles, and then a 1 micron outer bag which removes 99% of particles. Given our current rate of consumption, it appears that we'll need to utilize one filter a month although that may change depending on the quality of the oil we receive.