Okay, I start new thread FUEL QUALITY

We yanks have a real problem over here dealing with the quality of diesel fuel. BULBASOR is still healthy and happy and his last oil sample report card (blood test) from the oil doctor looked good, (see attached), but I still worry about the food I'm feeding him. I can't expect my luck to last forever so I am wondering if I can get some expert advice from the people who are real sprinter techs like Dr. A - Richard - Mr. Horse - and others about the proper way to add cetane or whatever I need to do to keep BULBASOR healthy while he travels accross the USA. (BULBASOR has traversed west to east coast and north to south several times already).

Thanks for your help (P.S. elevated sodium levels in test are caused by the plastic tubing I used to pump out the oil sample - it was a new hose they they are have calcium bi-carb powder sprayed on them as a drying agent during the manufacturing proccess. BTOG is already aware of this and the sodium goes down the older the tube gets).

Very good. Do you typically change your oil with such low mileage? Do you plan to extend it to 10K on the next interval to compare the change because I think it could be very informative.

BULBASOR said:

We yanks have a real problem over here dealing with the quality of diesel fuel. BULBASOR is still healthy and happy and his last oil sample report card (blood test) from the oil doctor looked good, (see attached), but I still worry about the food I'm feeding him. I can't expect my luck to last forever so I am wondering if I can get some expert advice from the people who are real sprinter techs like Dr. A - Richard - Mr. Horse - and others about the proper way to add cetane or whatever I need to do to keep BULBASOR healthy while he travels accross the USA. (BULBASOR has traversed west to east coast and north to south several times already).

Thanks for your help (P.S. elevated sodium levels in test are caused by the plastic tubing I used to pump out the oil sample - it was a new hose they they are have calcium bi-carb powder sprayed on them as a drying agent during the manufacturing proccess. BTOG is already aware of this and the sodium goes down the older the tube gets).
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I couldn't make any recommendations as to fuel additives at this point as I'm still trying to decide for myself. When I do decide, I'll report. Since you're still very early in engine life, you can probably afford to wait a little since injector hold-down issues don't seem to appear until after 100k miles.

The dealer want's the oil changes held out till 10K and BULBASOR has 30K miles but has had 4 oil changes because of a boo boo I did one day trying to bleed off a little oil I accidentially dumped 6 quarts in some guys parking lot (I hope he does not find me) so the test is from that replacement change, (the dealer fixed my error for free and gave me the next change for free too because they felt responsible for putting in 1/2 quart too much). That was 6300 miles ago. Since then I have been able to add about 1/4 quart of make up oil after a long trip from San Diego to Minnesota and back (the long way - you know Rushmore - Amish - Custer - Indians - Black Hills - Monument Valley again - Arches - more Indians and all that stuff)

Blaskstone says 1 quart makeup oil refreshes 9000 mile old to almost new but BULBASOR does not burn enough oil to even get 1/2 quart in at 9000 miles, so I usually opt for an oil change. If BULBASOR ever starts burning oil at a "normal" rate (as I understand is 2 quarts per 9000 miles) I can add make up oil and run the oil much longer. Just not there yet.

As for fuel, Seek:

As I travel I notice some pumps say DIESEL 2 and some just say DIESEL and sone say DIESEL 1 and I'm always worried. Some places are neat and clean and there are no stains on the ground and they have nice green handles that pump into BULBASOR without issue and some places are covered in driveway cleanup sawdust and the ground is covered with oil and diesel and the pumps are like 2 inch pipes and the fuel comes out so fast it blows all over the place when BULBASOR is full.

I really worry about the quality of fuel as I travel the country. We do not stay on the interstates much, so I have even stopped at farm supply stores to buy fuel with dye in it because in some places it was the only fuel avail. I'm always asking people at diesel stations: "IS THIS STUFF OKAY FOR MY VAN??" and there is always some guy with a few teeth missing who looks at BULBASOR and then looks at me like I'm from a different country and says: "Well heck!" "If its diesel you want mister - that'll geet er done!" It's the same whereever I go - the only thing that changes is the location of the missing teeth. There is one exception: OREGON - for some reason in OREGON the guys at the stations seem to know what they are talking about and they aways help me pump the fuel into BULBASOR.

We did a Minnesota, St Louis, etc. trip one year driving the 80 and returning on the 70, but this was with our gasoline driven Subaru. I hope we'll have more time to do a trip like that again.

BULBASOR said:

We do not stay on the interstates much, so I have even stopped at farm supply stores to buy fuel with dye in it because in some places it was the only fuel avail.

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What is the fine now for doing such a thing? $3500? $5000?

I don't know but the guy that sold us the gas (he was missing mostly bottom teeth) said: "Now don't you go gittin caught with that stuff in yer tank mister!"

We were almost empty and 100 miles from any fuel so this guy sold us 6 gallons for 6 bucks!

BULBASOR said:

If BULBASOR ever starts burning oil at a "normal" rate (as I understand is 2 quarts per 9000 miles) I can add make up oil and run the oil much longer. Just not there yet.

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My oil consumption seems to have gone down as miles accummulate.

hkpierce said:

My oil consumption seems to have gone down as miles accummulate.

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Mine too, virtually nil since ~110k miles. Now 126k miles. Some is required to keep the '02 EGR valve healthy, so I hope enough is being consumed for that. I suppose it will eventually turn around and go the other way.

I got the burn info from BTOG and it was not specifice to any particular engine. I do not know what is normal for our particulat motors.

Maybe someone could answer this? What is the normal burn rate for the OMB647? Is it zero?

BULBASOR said:

I got the burn info from BTOG and it was not specifice to any particular engine. I do not know what is normal for our particulat motors.

Maybe someone could answer this? What is the normal burn rate for the OMB647? Is it zero?

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Don't know that, but for the 612 the owner's manual quotes a max # which I don't remember exactly, but I did once calculate assuming a mpg of 22 (oil consumption was pegged to fuel consumption) and it was 1100 miles/qt.

The fuel with the dye in it is for off-road use only. Farmers buy it for their tractors, combines and other farm equipment. The reason it's cheaper is they don't pay the federal road use taxes on it. The only way to get caught using it on the road is for an officer to "dip" your tank. This is a common practice at livestock auctions, the gas police wait until the parking lot is full and start dipping tanks to see how many farmers have red dye in their trucks. If they find a truck with dye in the tank, they write them a ticket with a hefty fine.