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The automotive technology program under the direction of Adam Hausler and Matt Wilson offer three courses in which students are exposed to varying degrees of automotive proficiency. These courses are Introductory Automotive Technology, Automotive Technology I and II.

Automotive Technology Involvement

Students in Introductory Automotive Technology were exposed to the veggie car as an introduction to heating and cooling systems as these two systems are primarily responsible for making the "Veggie Mobile" work properly. Please click on link below if you're interested in a basic description of how the "Veggie Mobile" works and general information on the differences between running a vehicle on straight vegetable oil and biodiesel.

THE BASICS OF VEGETABLE OIL AND USING IT AS A FUEL TO RUN YOUR CAR

Students in both Automotive Technology I and II and Mr. Hausler's lab aides worked on tuning and replacing or repairing parts such as the tires, starter, brakes, oil and fluid replacement and adding components that included new thermostats, temperature gauges and a specially designed pump to increase coolant flow around the vegetable oil system.

Secondly, Matt Wilson worked with students to implement and test new innovations on the Veggie Mobile which ultimately led to a system that would decrease the overall time for the coolant to heat the vegetable oil by approximately half.

Below are schematics of the "workings" of the Veggie Mobile.

This schematic shows the basic principle/engineering behind the veggie mobile.

This schematic shows how the system functions initially running on diesel.

This schematic shows how the system works when switched to vegetable oil. A toggle

switch is used inside the veggie mobile to begin this process once the coolant reaches a

temperature of 180 degrees F.

This schematic shows how the purge cycle works as the same toggle switch is used to

purge the system for one minute of all vegetable oil so it will not congeal within the engine

after the car cools down.