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How old can diesel fuel be before it becomes unusable?

a lot of variables here. I have some well over 10 years old I wouldn't hesitate to use. Cool climate and in the shade helps alot
 
If it is in a sealed container, and you know there is no biofuel mixed in, I agree with AK.

Not knowing what was mixed in, $2 a gallon, Either chuck it, or Store it in another fuel can until you get the truck running properly. Then you could mix it back in with fresh new diesel.

The truck he just bought sitting for 7,8 or more years- You're going to have to change the fuel lines anyways because you can't buy fuel in Texas that doesn't have bio in it now. SAE9r fuel line. Drop the tank and clean it.

Don't ruin that low mileage injector pump and injectors over $30 worth of fuel.
 
Will L. said:
If it is in a sealed container, and you know there is no biofuel mixed in, I agree with AK.

Not knowing what was mixed in, $2 a gallon, Either chuck it, or Store it in another fuel can until you get the truck running properly. Then you could mix it back in with fresh new diesel.

The truck he just bought sitting for 7,8 or more years- You're going to have to change the fuel lines anyways because you can't buy fuel in Texas that doesn't have bio in it now. SAE9r fuel line. Drop the tank and clean it.

Don't ruin that low mileage injector pump and injectors over $30 worth of fuel.
Click to expand...
 
Will L,

THANKS for the advice. - A local "diesel mechanic" had told me 2 days ago that that fuel should be fine.

What's your suggestion to clean the tank??

yours, satx
 
As long as that "diesel mechanic" is willing to pay for your new ip, injectors, etc. if something goes wrong...

It might be ok, I just figure getting the truck back on the road, new fuel will do it better. Run the gamble if you want, but I grew up in Vegas, I don't bet $3,000 worth of engine to "win" 30 bucks worth of fuel. Did he do a test for moisture content? You will need to start out with new filters after sitting that long, the paper will have deteriorated. Now how much water before that new $12 water separating fuel filter is done? Sitting that long I know the lites have evaporated away, so it's not going to burn as good as it should.

Pump out the tank, drop it, and just dump in a gallon of gasoline. Have a friend help and shake the tank good enough to wash out any residue. No scrubbing should be needed. Then dump it out. Look inside with a flashlight and make sure all is good.

The main thing your really doing is replacing the old fuel line. The line ford used does horrible with modern ethonal cut biofuel. Rinsing out the tank is just precautionary since your there. You could skip it if you really don't have time or money now, but if you can afford the time & $, now is the time before you start adding up the miles.
 
Will L.,

It's NOT the 30.oo-60.oo worth of old fuel. = Both tanks (it has 2) are supposedly nearly full.

The BIGGER problem is how to lawfully dispose of two tanks full of old diesel, which nobody (at least that I've yet found) here (including the county HWD site) will accept for disposal.
(I guess for the time being, I'll put it in sealed containers & store it until I can figure what the H to do with it.)

THANKS for the advice.

yours, satx
 
I've used diesel that was properly stored since WW2 best my Burb ever ran, old kerosene w/2stroke added too w/o any ill effects.
 
Maybe put it on craigslist. Someone might want it for a heater or something. Just be up front with description and advise you aren't going to burn it in your good engine. If someone wants to treat it and cut it in with good fuel in an old tractor let them gamble. I treat fuel and gas that I don't burn up on the road continuously. And periodically treat fuel systems. Bad fuel will recirculate and contaminate a tank that sits so running it even for a trip is not a good idea IMO.

Call around someone will take it. Shame your area doesn't collect waste oil. I wouldn't feel bad pouring it in there. I wouldn't pour in gas or antifreeze in the waste oil container. Here they collect waste oil and gas since ethanol gas goes bad. Lots more of it gets thrown away than it use to. The guy at the collection site says pour bad diesel in the waste gas.

I am with Will today is just different. Seems like nothing made today seems to last like it use to gas, diesel etc etc. Too many things change to even be brand loyal. Even lot to lot differences occur buyer beware. Its hard to compare things today vs yesterday and gets worse with time.
 
I've used 10 yr old deez, other than smelling wierd, worked just fine. Diesel is a light machine oil, tight lid, no air, no problemo.

-c-
 
I'd run ww2 diesel in an instant, that was real diesel.

Everything been made since the introduction of low sulfur is cut with some form of higher fuel to get it to light off properly. Let alone ultra low sulfur.

If it were sealed in an air tight container steel container, then a little additive would do i. Because the lights would evaporate, condense on the walls then fall back into the heavier fuel.

Being stored in a tank with rubber filler hose, and a vent, the lites evaporate leaving a heavier fuel. Think #2 vs #1 fuel, only the other way. It would be about #-1 on power, and #3 gelling.

If you can store it while you get your truck running good, then do it. The bugs is the first concern, water is second. If your good that there is no problem with those, then after you burn 1 tank of fuel through your tank, fill up 3/4 with new fuel and 1/4 with the old stuff. Just make sure you are throwing in some good additive for lubricant for the ip & injectors. Keep up the additive until you crush the truck.
 
Drago,

Inasmuch as there is NO real Winter in South TX, there's no oil heat, either.
I used to live in NOVA & know all too well about how cold that it is there in November-March.

yours, satx
 
If storing it for somebody else's possible future use, recall that the one type of jug *not* to use is galvanized steel as the diesel will leach out metal (IIRC copper) which is not so good on the injectors.

Agree with the others that a farmer will likely take advantage of it (especially if free) to blend-in with good fuel.


Oh, and congratulations on the move out of NoVa. :) Traffic there just does not tend to get better as the years go by . . . :(
 
JayTheCPA; All,

Fwiw, I've "put out the word" to some friends who have tractors in the outlying rural area & that I have (probably 40 gallons of ) OLD diesel for FREE. - So far, not even a "nibble" from anyone.

As soon as I actually have the PU at my place (a shipper is bringing it to me in the next week or two & at a GOOD/discounted price, so that he doesn't have to come home with an empty trailer, after dropping his load.), Steve (my sometime/part-time mechanic) & I will be dropping/emptying/cleaning the fuel tanks (the PU has 2), replacing the old fuel lines, changing the fuel filters, replacing the 2 old batteries & then trying to start the old 6.9L diesel.
(I seriously doubt that that tough/old/all-mechanical 6.9 is "hurt" with only <60K total miles.)

To All,

THANKS for your advice.

yours, satx
 
Nobody. Chomping at the bit for free old fuel- sounds like some people have learned the hard way.

Let us know what turns up.
 
Will L.,

IF we still had our old diesel farm tractor, I wouldn't be afraid to run that old & "un-finicky" BEAST on most anything that will burn.
(We ran a lot of filtered waste motor oil, "French fry oil" & "stock feed-grade" cottonseed oil in it, W/O problems.)

yours, satx
 
satx78247 said:
Will L.,

IF we still had our old diesel farm tractor, I wouldn't be afraid to run that old & "un-finicky" BEAST on most anything that will burn.
(We ran a lot of filtered waste motor oil, "French fry oil" & "stock feed-grade" cottonseed oil in it, W/O problems.)

yours, satx
Click to expand...
.
The first concern you should have is shutting off the air in case the IP sticks wide open on you. Have a plan.

And parts for the injection system on this tractor are even available and cost what? The least amount of damage is ruining the entire injection system. The most amount of damage is the malfunctioning injection system takes the engine completely out. Say an injector sticks open - it will melt the piston and the rod will ventilate the block without guidance from a non-melted piston. The 6.9 is a slightly more expensive engine than the 6.2/6.5. The above "experimental fuels" are NOT old bad fuel.

It would be a shame to ruin it over running old bad fuel through it. After all you are going to change the engine oil no questions asked right?

This is an example bad fuel and bad things happen "when you don't get away with running garbage through an injection system":

http://www.thetruckstop.us/forum/th...ulsd-and-biodiesel-this-can-affect-you.35096/

It's waste oil. Usually can be disposed of with used engine oil. Look for boat mechanics and call them about disposal. Look up "Fuel polishing services" and ask them for disposal options. Boats sit and experience these problems way more often than vehicles do.

The return lines for the system should go into a bucket, not your clean tank until the system is flushed. You got a quart or so of what used to be diesel in the IP.

I tore into a NOS 4.3 L Olds diesel V8 donated to a engine tech program by GM for educational use only. (No typo the rare small V8.) It had sat around for better than a decade, perhaps nearly 2, and no one had ever bothered to tear it down and reassemble it for the shop class. The yellow varnish that poured out of the new, but, ruined from sitting injection pump was no longer diesel. Had I wanted to "repair" the engine for use from a customer estimate standpoint I would have had the IP sent out, cleaned, resealed, flex ring upgraded, and tested if possible to even save it. Injectors cleaned and tested as well. Old fuel can turn acidic and etch the parts in the IP.
 
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WarWagon,

The old tractor is no more. - It putted right along, happily doing "farm stuff" until the TX brush fires destroyed the barn & the tractor. - That same fire also destroyed my VERY rare (one of reportedly 2 or 3 that were ever completed) 19 foot HURRICANE of TEXAS I/O runabout boat & trailer.
(I cried over that loss, as I had just restored it.)

That MUST be a really rare diesel.
(All of the 4.3 diesels that I ever saw were 85HP V6 & mounted "sideways".)

Btw, I used to "have use of" a LINCOLN CONTINENTAL with a diesel engine. - Ever even seen one??
(I was in those long-ago DAZE, "the pet of" a General Officer & his lady & the couple wanted me to marry "a certain young lady" & said that my junky looking old PU was UNSUITABLE for "wooing" a YL. - As long as I was stationed there, I "had weekend use of" the Lincoln. = LOVED that car with a BMW engine.)

yours, satx
 
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