Red off road / heating oil OR ULSD from pump???

[WilliamBos]

Up here the only differance in the fuel is the red dye, which saves 14 cents per litre. All is ULSD up here.

 

[Hefty Lefty]

I would go to the distributor and see how he handles the HHO and #2 diesel. I would bet they come from the same tank. My 2010 tractor says use ULSD diesel. Refineries have replaced the lubricity of sulfur with an additive so the ULSD is not going to hurt your pump or injectors even on older tractors. I ran my 1984 Yanmar on ULSD and didnt add any additives to the mix and it ran ok for the 4 years I kept it. My brother in law has it now and still cranks and runs as it should. I think that the issue of low lubricity of the ULSD diesel is being played up way too much here on TBN. Other than anti-gel agents for cold weather, you shouldnt have to add anything to the fuel. IF it makes you feel better, put another $10 per 20 gallon tank into an additive. It wont hurt anything other than your wallet.
As for smelling different on green vs red, I suppose that depending on where the fuel was put in, it could have had some anti-gel agents in it or could have been a mixture of #1 and #2 diesel that made it smell different. There should be no difference in smell, taste, feel or performance between red dyed and road diesel.

My philosophy is that one injection pump will pay for a LOT of additive, but the thing to ask here is what kind of pump the engine has. If it is a Bosch style inline pump any diesel fuel that is clean and water free is ok. If it is a CAV or Roosa Master pump or that style I would add, if not PS, some kind of oil to the fuel as insurance.

Home heating oil may or may not be the same as diesel. It may have a lot of sulfur in it and if it does this will help with lubricity but it will foul the oil sooner and can cause corrosion if not watched. When a relative had her house converted to gas I drained off all the HHO in her tanks and ran a Mercedes on it for a long time. The fuel had water in the bottom and was filthy so I transferred it through an oil filter twice and sumped the barrels several times. There was no algae, oddly enough.