As the consumption and import of diesel fuel increase in Indonesia, palm oil esters are now being considered to gradually replace the petroleum based fuel. A study on the laboratory preparation of methyl esters from crude palm oil has been successfully carried out in LEMIGAS R & D Centre for Oil and Gas Technology, Jakarta. Preliminary evaluation of palm oil methyl esters as diesel fuel and as diesel fuel substitute was initiated based on performance test on stationary engine. The test showed that the torque and power are lower and specific fuel consumption is larger when using the ester.