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Organic food supplier Abel and Cole has had two blown engines and numerous complications as a result of running plant oil in an LCV in a stop-start delivery operation.

The Iveco Daily 3.5-tonner, which was converted by Regenatec, was trialled for two years.

Nick Cannell, Abel and Cole transport manager, says: "We were finding that the oil  was degrading very quickly over the trial period, resulting in regular draining and replacing.

"We then had the engine blow on us, which was subsequently replaced by Regenatec. The third time we were wise to [the problem] when we saw a massive degrading in oil, so we pulled the engine apart and found it was about to go again."

The problem was identified only when an injector was cut in half and viewed under a microscope.

Injector tips in a running engine are kept at a constant temperature because the heat of combustion is balanced with the cooling affect of the fuel going through it. But as soon as the vehicle stops, for a few seconds the temperature of the injector tip increases, Cannell says.

That continuing hot and cold process - due to constant stop-starting - was inducing a polymer build up on the injector tips in the converted Iveco engine. After 7,000 miles the injector tips wouldn't close properly, causing fuel to seep down overnight, contaminating  the engine oil with the fuel, Cannell says.

"Once contaminated, it took very little running before the internal bearings of the engine started to break down, but it took us a long time to find that out."

Abel and Cole's 90-strong van fleet delivers organic fruit and vegetables to homes and offices across the UK, creating a stop/start pattern typical of urban delivery.

Ben Reardon, head of logistics for Abel and Cole, says: "Regenatec did have a wider concern that what we found with this polymer build-up could be something that could be found on all vehicles using the plant oil, but at a slower process. We were just dramatically speeding that process up."