James
In the letter from "John in Central New York State', he says that
most late model diesels with electronic ignitions won't work with off
road diesel fuel. Do you know why? Thanks, J.P. in Montana
JWR Replies: I believe that John's statement was
not entirely correct. Most Diesel
engines can run just fine on
the off
road
fuel or even home
heating oil (called "red diesel", in England),
but
they cannot legally do
so on public roads in the U.S. and the UK. The formulations
of
Home
Heating Oil, "off road diesel", and
road taxed No. 2 Diesel fuel are virtually identical. The only
statutory
differences are A.) The dye added to the off road fuel (to prevent
cheating on the road tax) and, B.) The Federal standard for ash content,
which
is slightly higher for off road fuel. (At worst, this might mean that
you injectors might become fouled more often.) The very
recently mandated reformulation of "ultra low sulfur" diesel
(ULSD) fuel in the U.S. actually
makes the formulations of home heating fuel and diesel even more
similar. (The
older diesel formulation had sulfur added to aid in the lubrication
of engine components.) In fact, a considerable quantity of home heating
oil comes directly from
the
same
production
runs as
diesel fuel. For all intents and purposes, the only difference is the
dye and lack of
tax. A reader of SurvivalBlog informed me that both Stanidyne and Delphi
produce an electromechanical pump for some on road applications that
use an electric eye to read timing. These types of
fuel systems cannot be run on dyed fuel. So before you buy
a diesel that was made in or after 1989, be sure that the vehicle's
engine
does not have a Stanidyne and Delphi electromechanical
pump. If you must make a diesel vehicle purchase without knowing for
certain what type of fuel pump that they have, to be safe buy only
pre 1989-on
road engines and pre-2004 off road/marine engines.
If need be, Diesel No. 1 fuel (kerosene) can also be substituted for
Diesel No. 2, albeit with less power and at greater expense. According
to an
Exxon
web page, blending a No. 2
diesel fuel
with
No.
1
diesel (kerosene) is probably the most common approach to dealing
with winter operability for diesels. The Exxon site warns: "But,
the use of Diesel Fuel No. 1 reduces power and fuel economy, and often
is more
expensive,
so minimizing
the amount of No. 1 Fuel in the blend is an important consideration.
Another approach to reduce the filter plugging incidence is to use
wax-modifying additives. These additives can give operability benefits
equivalent to No. 1 Fuel blending without the power and fuel economy
losses."
OBTW, I discuss alternative vehicle fuels (such as as home heating fuel, biodiesel, "greasel", aviation gasoline, and natural gas "drip" oil condensates) in my recently released non-fiction book Rawles on Retreats and Relocation.
