Biodiesels produced from various feedstocks have been considered as alternative fuels used in internal combustion engines without major modifications. This research focuses on producing biodiesel from waste cooking oil (WCOSD) by the catalytic cracking method using MgO as the catalyst and comparing the engine operating characteristics of the test engine when using WCOSD and traditional diesel (CD) as test fuels. As a result, the brake power of the test engine fueled WCOSD, and traditional diesel is similar. However, the engine fuel consumption in the case of using WCOSD is slight increases in some operating conditions. Also, the nitrogen oxides emissions of the test engine fueled WCOSD are higher than those of CD at all tested conditions. The trend is opposite for hydrocarbon emission as the HC emission of the engine fueled by WCOSD reduces 26.3% on average. The smoke emission of the test engine in case of using WCOSD is lower 17% on average than that of CD. However, the carbon monoxide emissions are lower at the low and medium loads and higher at the full loads. These results show that the new biodiesel has the same characteristics as those of commercial biodiesel and can be used as fuel for diesel engines.