Does diesel fuel make a difference??

[Mike_S]

Since I live in a suburban area (was rural a few years ago), there are fewer choices of brands of diesel fuel. One of my concerns is that most of the major brand filling stations may not sell enough diesel to keep it from gathering moisture or not sell enough that in the middle of the summer I would still be purchasing winterized diesel. The person behind the desk never knows when they last received a load of diesel either. The ONLY truckstop within a short drive is a Flying J, which appears to be very popular with 18 wheelers. There are no COOPs within easy driving distance. My question then, is: how good is diesel fuel that may be months old and can its use be a potential problem to my compact diesel tractor?? Mike S.

[Billc]

Mike,

You always want to use diesel that is a "fresh" as possible. It would be better to get it from the truck stop. They go through it quickly (weekly).

Another alternative is to buy it from someone who supplies off-road diesel to the farms in your area. The diesel is the same as what's sold at truck stops, but it does not have the highway tax added, therefore it's cheaper than what you would buy at a gas station/truck stop. The off road as a red dye added, that's so the D.O.T. can tell if someone is using off road diesel in their car/truck...big fine if you are caught.

Several ways to get the diesel: Go down to the jobber with your 5 gallon cans and get them filled up, purchase it in a 55 gallon drum, or have them deliver it to you if you have a large fuel storgage take at your house.

Hope this helps.

Bill Cook

[Kubbruce]

Mike,
The shelf life of diesel is much longer then gasoline. I would always try to get fuel from somewhere that goes through a lot of it because with diesel there is a algae that can form and is very difficult to get rid of and one thought is that is grows more in slow moving tanks. I have also done some looking into the low sulfer versus off road fuels. I have spoken with both injection pump rebuilders and engine manufacturers. What the short of it is that everyone feels that the off road is better for a non-electronic engine because the sulfer offers additional lubrication to the injection pump. Since our Kubota's are not electronic motors I would use an off raod fuel if you can find it. I would love to hear what other people have found out. Hope this info is of value.
Thanks...Bruce

[cowboydoc]

As long as you would use an additive you would be ok. I have always been told that diesel that is used within a year will be ok to use if you add one of the additives to it. Now with that said I would definitely try and get as good of diesel as you can. If you're close the Flying J go there. The problem with diesel isn't so much that it sits for awhile but getting water in it. Gasoline companies are notorious for putting water in fuel wither deliberately or through poor storage. A gas powered car can take it but a diesel can't take any water at all. You get water in your fuel and you are in for a rough ride.

[M. Sullivan]

Find the freshest fuel possible. Diesel absorbs water (hydrolosis, I believe) and as said is badd news for a diesel. Low volume stations are the ones to avoid. Wife took our 2000 F250 to the worst one in town, twice. How did I know....dead on the road with ice in the lines. Fortunately avoided paying for repairs, but was close. Not sure that additives solve the water absorption issue.

[cowboydoc]

Mike,
There are additives that will absorb the water out of the diesel.

[RJohnson]

One of the nice things I saw on an old MF was a sump built into the diesel tank. It had a pet cock on the bottom connected to a hose and you could drain off any water that got into your tank. Seemed like a good idea.

Randy

[cowboydoc]

All trucks, pickups and alot of diesel tractors have this on them.

[jinman]

CBDoc, my Dodge Cummins has a filter/water separator on the engine and a water sensor in the bottom that lights a light on the dash if water is detected. If so, there is a drain valve on the bottom of the filter with a hose attached to drain off the water. In 140k mi. I have never had a problem with water in any diesel.[img]/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Doesn't your Ford/Navistar diesel have a similar device? Or is it built into the fuel tank?

JimI

[cowboydoc]

Jim,
Same as yours. Ford/Navistar has had them since their first diesel came out in 1985. Only problem with them was on the old 6.9 engine they were a source of air leaks and alot of guys took them off. You just had to replace the o-rings though and you were fine. Very rarely will you have a problem unless you get bad diesel. I guess my post was a little misleading. What I meant was that most diesels have some kind of a water/fuel separator.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by cowboydoc on 06/19/01 00:09 AM (server time).</FONT></P>