Putting used motor oil in your diesel fuel?!

upgw · Nov 3, 2004

This topic has been kicked around pretty well... but facts are hard to come by. It seems that some people get by on a 5% (1 quart in 5 gallons) of used motor oil mixed in, filtered, etc. I've done it in my BX... call me nuts, but you can't tell. Motor oil has been through the oil filter a bazillion times when in the engine, how much 'dirt' is really in it?

I wouldn't do it in the winter though in case it makes it harder to start (which I didn't see in the summer).

- Patrick

Dargo · Nov 3, 2004

Nope, I'm not calling you nuts. I'd just never heard of it and it seemed nuts to me, however, I am certainly not the national expert on diesels. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I forget the numers, and can't find ths site now, but I had read somewhere that there are more btu's in a gallon of #2 diesel fuel than in a gallon of motor oil. Based on that "fact", it seemed to me that adding the oil would reduce power besides any other potential perceived problems I had in mind. That is why I asked. It didn't make sense to me, but there again, eating a certain form of mold would not have appeared to be a cure to many deseases to me either. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

SkyPup · Nov 3, 2004

Why would you want to add used diesel engine motor oil loaded with abrasive soot particles from 5 to 10 microns in diameter into your diesel fuel injection equipment when the tolerances in your diesel fuel pump are 0.5 microns and the injection nozzle orifices in the pintle nozzle are 0.150 microns????? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Unless, of coruse, your ultimate plan was to hydrodynamically erode all the fuel injection equipment on your diesel engine and replace it with an expensive new one! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

upgw · Nov 3, 2004

Yeah, but it's 'free' btu's..... used motor oil is kind of difficult to get rid of around here... TSC stopped taking it, as have a few other places, and occasionally Pep Boys will give you a hard time as well.

- Patrick

KirkMcD · Nov 3, 2004

( I forget the numers, and can't find ths site now, but I had read somewhere that there are more btu's in a gallon of #2 diesel fuel than in a gallon of motor oil. )

I read the exact opposite somewhere. That motor oil has more BTUs.

Ahh, foud it: Reduce Energy costs in Agriculture

No. 2 diesel: 140,000 Btu's per gallon
No. 6 fuel oil (used motor oil): 150,000 Btu's per gallon

gsxr1100 · Nov 3, 2004

I would not say the “old timers” /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif are nuts (off the wall maybe) /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif but that is what was done on the old diesel trucks. Most of the new diesels I would not do that since there pumps, injectors, electrical (sensors) are more complex then the old stuff.

It was either oil or ATF in the tank. Again it had its place (years ago) but now it is not needed. With some of the injectors on trucks going up into the thousands, I would not add that at all.

gsxr1100 · Nov 3, 2004

I know. Used oil is a pain. What kills me is that our state sprays oil on the ground before re-paying the road...hmmmm. I guess that is ok for them.

Also years ago that was all farms did was pour the oil on their dirt road to keep dust down. Now if there is 1-cup on the road, the road is dug up! unreal.....

markct · Nov 3, 2004

( I know. Used oil is a pain. What kills me is that our state sprays oil on the ground before re-paying the road...hmmmm. I guess that is ok for them.
)

my father told me how when there was a contractor resealing the roads around the power plant he used to work at they had a tractor trailer tanker parked in the parking lot and they used that to fill the truck that spread the oil, well almost tar, extremely thick. somehow they spilled some in the parking lot and the guys just spread it out with a broom and sprinkled stone on it, just like they been doing to the roads around there for miles all day, well someone musta alerted dep cause they showed up and were running around putting down sand and scraping it up with a skidsteer loader and loading it in trucks, made a big deal outa it just cause it was in the paved parking lot rather than the paved roads, thats how messed up our gov agencys get sometimes

upgw · Nov 3, 2004

Yeah, we get those 'Fresh Oil, Loose Gravel" signs on the roads regularly..... a buddy used to ask for it so put down on his gravel driveway to keep the dust down as well, but we are no longer local to him.

- Patrick

Soundguy · Nov 3, 2004

( What kills me is that our state sprays oil on the ground before re-paying the road...hmmmm. I guess that is ok for them.
)

There is a huge public misconception about oil and roads.

Yes.. a long time ago.. I know plain used oil was put down as a dust control method... those are bygone days. There are newer dust control oils that are still sprayed in some areas. We often bid on that kind of work near our local municipal airport.

However.. the black fluid that goes down on a road prior to paving or chipsealing is not used motor oil. It is a bituminous asphalt emulsion. Generally refered to as 'prime' or 'tack' coat.. and goes by the trade name 'special MS' depending on the refinery you get it from. It is a material similar to tar that is heated and mixed with water.. up to 50%, and then sprayed down on the finish grade to help with asphalt adhesion. In cases where paving is not immediate, it is often sanded to give it a less sticky surface so traffic can continue driving over the unpaved subgrade. This material is also applied between layers of slag on chip sealed and slag-gravel roads... again.. it isn't used motor oil. I work for a GC.. we build roads.. I can fax or email anyone who disputes this the MSDS that we get from the asphalt company. By the way.. this stuff is considered environmentally inert once cured. It also doesn't require hazmat tags and plaques to haul it in the emulsion form.

Soundguy