Oil & Fuel Fuel gelling?

[JoeL4330]

Had a 68 MB diesel and the owners manual said same thing ...in a pinch, cut with "engine kerosene" or gasoline ...but, only a small percentage ...remember those glow plugs!! Did it many times, myself in NH

 

[Schultz]

Just some more info on fuel gelling. This year I switched to low sulphur #2 B20 fuel oil to heat my home, I also siphon some out to use it in my Kubota. They said it's treated to not gel to -20F and they have been delivering treated LS #2 B20 for a couple years now without any problems in the winter. Although during January/February deliveries they do add some Kerosene to the mix for people with outside tanks. I'm using the same stuff in my Kubota without any problems so far. I also live in Southern MI around Ann Arbor area.

 

[SkyPup]

<font color="blue"> told by the instructor that it was perfectly safe, acceptable and recommended to add gasoline to the diesel at a 1 to 10 ratio. In fact, he said that it would not hurt anything to go as high as 1 to 4 on the mix in extremely cold weather. </font>

Thanks for sharing that, it is no wonder the poor reputation these GM diesel engines and their Stanadyne injection systems have with that kind of information being voiced by their technical services.... /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[Toolguy]

I was waiting for someone to make a comment about the 6.2L. Definately not one of GM's better moments. They did have their share of problems but, I doubt if any of them were caused by running a little gasoline in the diesel fuel from time to time. As JOEL* said, even Mercedes-Benz said it was OK use gas to prevent gelling in a pinch. Funny thing about those Stanadyne pumps, too. They had been around for years before GM used them and they worked fine. In fact my dad's 1967 3020 JD with over 8000 hrs has a Stanadyne pump and it has never needed any work. I guess it was the jump from a tractor to an automotive application and the related exhaust emission restrictions that caused a lot of the problems.

 

[JoeL4330]

I believe that there are 3 issues w. respect to cutting w. gasoline: (a) the volatility and your glowplugs; (b) the higher the octane, the less "knock", which translates into poor "compression ignition, which is the way your diesel fires; and, the lower specific energy in a gallon, which means less power/less mileage. All this argues for using a small percentage, and using the lowest octane (regular) gas.

My experience w. diesels is limited to two MB's, a Chevy burb w. 6.2L, an isuzu I-mark, and my F-350 superduty 6.0L ...besides my Kubota