Comments on: Diesel Vans 1998-2006

Question: Diesel Vans 1998-2006

goalyeehah — Thu, 04 May 2006 17:53:23 -0800

Are Diesel Vans being made?

I am selling product at local farmer's markets in Los Angeles county and am looking for a diesel van to convert to bio-diesel. I not to up on cars and am curious as to whether diesel vans have been built within the past 6-8 years.

By: glibhamdreck

glibhamdreck — Thu, 04 May 2006 18:03:42 -0800

I searched fueleconomy.gov. The newest diesel vans I could find were all last made in 1995: Chevrolet Van, GMC Vandura, Chevrolet Sport Van, and GMC Rally.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Thu, 04 May 2006 18:08:25 -0800

Chevy's info page helpfully lists all the diesel competition:

Chevy Express Duramax
Ford E-Series
Dodge Sprinter

These are work vans, not passenger vans.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Thu, 04 May 2006 18:22:49 -0800

Also, there was a Dodge Ram Van until 2001 or so, that looked more like a regular van than the Sprinter. I assume it came in diesel since that's what fleets want in a van.

By: harkin banks

harkin banks — Thu, 04 May 2006 18:25:50 -0800

The current GMC Savana comes with a Duramax turbodiesel.

By: harkin banks

harkin banks — Thu, 04 May 2006 18:31:01 -0800

Also, for vehicles in the age range you're looking at, no conversion is necessary to use biodiesel. Vegetable oil ... now that's another story.

(The only real issue with biodiesel compatibility is that BD is a better solvent than petrodiesel, and dissolves the natural rubber used to make fuel lines prior to the introduction of low-sulfur diesel. Auto manufacturers switched to BD-safe fuel lines sometime in the early 1990's.)

By: TonyRobots

TonyRobots — Thu, 04 May 2006 18:43:45 -0800

OMG. I've been in NYC too long. I thought you meant Diesel Vans.

By: aparrish

aparrish — Thu, 04 May 2006 19:03:40 -0800

TonyRobots, that's what I thought too.

By: holgate

holgate — Thu, 04 May 2006 19:04:24 -0800

Sprinter. Outside the US, you'd not need to ask this question, since diesel vans are ubiquitous: why Ford doesn't build and sell the Transit in the US, I do not know.

By: jlkr

jlkr — Thu, 04 May 2006 19:46:11 -0800

holgate: because they'd have to completely re-do the fuel system and exhaust system just to make it run on NA diesel. Until a couple of years ago almost all of the diesel fuel available in North America was high in sulfur, and it doesn't burn the same as European diesel, which is lower in sulfur. High-sulfur diesel is being phased out across the US, but it's still not available everywhere.

By: buzzman

buzzman — Thu, 04 May 2006 21:05:00 -0800

A little off topic, but an 82-84 vanagon diesel can carry a ton (literally) and get 30 mpg, but don't expect to exceed 60mph. Ebay, wikipedia, google, etc... Diesel conversion kits are available for the other model years.

By: amtho

amtho — Thu, 04 May 2006 21:20:15 -0800

Maybe these Biodiesel Vehicle Finder guys can help you. (note: I work for them, and the site is still in progress. Feedback welcome.)

By: amtho

amtho — Thu, 04 May 2006 21:36:28 -0800

PS - If you don't want to spend $$ to hire them right now, they'd probably still be worth talking to or e-mailing.

By: Alterscape

Alterscape — Fri, 05 May 2006 10:21:14 -0800

The Engineers for a Sustainable World chapter at my university recently converted a large passenger van to vegetable oil / diesel working with a local company called Liquid Solar. I'm 99% sure its a Chevy/GMC, one of the 15-passenger stretch jobs with three or four rows of bench seats. I don't know much about the technical details behind the conversion, but I imagine if the engine can be converted to work with veggie diesel, it ought to be able to handle the biodiesel conversion too.