Biodeiesel can be run without mods to the engine. However, the usual
cautions apply... must be filtered to remove all particulates etc. There are
many good sites online to read for info.

Cummins official statement says that they don't recommend biodiesel, simply
because no standard of quality exists. By this they mean that no set scale
of quality has been put forth for the bio fuel, so they cannot say with any
assurance what biodiesel will do when burned in their engines. They do say
that biodiesel can be run in a Cummins, but that one should be cautious of
power upgrades while running bio because regular diesel may have more power.
Thus an uprate for bio burning may produce unwanted effects when switching
back to mineral diesel fuel.

However, in reading Cummins Engine's site on this topic, you will find that
they do not give approval for biodiesel.

I have in the past and do still run b20 in both of mine. only thing I have
noticed is a reduction in smoke. no real impact on fuel mileage (at least
not to speak of) or power.

I do not see biodiesel as a long term solution. It has emission issues
particularly with NOx which is a good bit higher with higher
concentrations of bio fuel and even the chemists are not quite sure
why but it is a problem and given that starting in 2008 that diesel
are going to have a lot stricter NOx limits than they have escaped in
the past this sheds even more of a shadow on biodiesels future. SOme
will say I am being biased but diesels are very big NOx generators and
have been for years (far worse than gas vehicles which have long been
strictly regulated on NOx) and the more you boost them and the worst
they get. Non turbo diesels are the least offensive NOx wise. Starting
in 08 and later years you are going to see a lot of changes with them
and some of them may not be favorable performance wise either as they
try to bring them into compliance. With a modern hitech diesel I would
stick with good quality straight diesel and limit the usage on bio
diesel to older ones (10 years or more older) with theor simpler
injection systems that are generally more reliable too.
-----------------
The SnoMan
www.thesnoman.com

Scott, I think you are confusing burning straight vegetable oil (SVO)
and biodiesel. In order to burn straight vegetable oil you need to
install a kit. The kit basically involves installing a second heated
fuel tank. You also have to insulate or heat the fuel lines running
from the veg oil tank to the fuel filter. You start and warm up the
engine on diesel fuel. When the engine is warm and the oil tank is
heated enough you switch to burning vegetable oil. About 5 minutes
before shutting the engine off you switch back to burning diesel fuel
to flush out the fuel lines and filter.
Biodiesel is a fuel much like diesel fuel. It's made from vegetable oil
or animal fats. To burn biodiesel you don't have to alter most diesel
vehicles. On some older vehicles like the VW you are considering you
might need to change some of the fuel lines. Biodiesel will eat away
natural rubber fuel lines. I just started making my own biodiesel so
I'm not an expert on the subject but I have done some research. There
is an excellent forum that discusses both biodiesel and SVO systems at
http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/ . I highly recommend reading up on both
sections of the forum before you decide which one is right for you.
--
Ken

Visit TDIClub.com.  There are a number of individuals there making there own
biodiesel, using waste oil or just regular biodiesel.  My 2002 Jetta likes
the biodiesel but does seem to take a small hit in mpg.

By the way, you might want a newer VW diesel - there are also some listed on
the above website.

JEB