Remain Vigilant at Pilot Travel Centers

CocoaVan

New member
It's December 2009, and apparently 10% of Pilot Travel Centers still dispense Low Sulfur Diesel (LSD) at their primary retail pumps (at the auto plaza, not the big truck lanes). There's one about 10 miles from my house at exit 77 on I-81. I stopped there earlier this week in the midst of a rainstorm. I really didn't think to check for the ULSD or LSD sticker, as I was admittedly more concerned about staying dry and everywhere I go ULSD is the norm. Fortunately, I spied the LSD sticker before putting the nozzle in the fuel filler. I went inside and spoke to the shift manager, who knew exactly what I was talking about. He said the labels are correct and they don't need to cutover to ULSD until 2010, and I offered to buy him a calendar. He also pointed out a ULSD pump off to the side, which was blocked by a utility trailer -- brilliant. When I got home, I checked the Pilot Travel Centers web site, and you can readily see which stations don't offer ULSD as their primary diesel fuel. There were 55 stations listed like the one near my house, and that's roughly 10% of the total. Too high of a failure rate for my liking.

We are on our fourth model year of diesels prohibited from using LSD, and fortunately I find LSD-dispensing stations to be quite uncommon in my part of the US. Most franchised brands strive for product consistency across geographical locations, but I guess that's not important to Pilot. So when I'm driving down the highway and am thinking about fueling up, I will ignore Pilot Travel Centers. At least until December 1, 2010.

Brian
 

CocoaVan

New member
No such luck at the one I visited. I can't even find any mention of the Adblue capabilities at the Pilot locations that are supposed to have them, such as the one near Charlotte, NC.

Brian
 

Altered Sprinter

Happy Little Vegemite
No such luck at the one I visited. I can't even find any mention of the Adblue capabilities at the Pilot locations that are supposed to have them, such as the one near Charlotte, NC.

Brian
Thanks Brian I was watching a promtional video a few weeks back with this company for all the new Trucks running on the SGR Ad-blue Blutec urea showing how easy it is to use.
All Pilot stations are supposed to have them, Trucks must be running on empty these days.
Richard
 

CocoaVan

New member
Next time I'm in the neighborhood, I'll go drive around the Pilot Travel Center and look for the Adblue dispenser. If I don't see it, I'll ask the shift manager what he knows about the installation timetable.

Brian
 

sikwan

06 Tin Can
What would be the effect on (mistakeningly) using the LSD stuff on a ULSD required vehicle?

I would think you would go into an early regen cycle. No?
 

Altered Sprinter

Happy Little Vegemite
Brian this may interest youPilotBeginsOperatingNations1stFuelIslandDEFPump.pdf (application/pdf Object)
They have one only DEFP pump installed... No rush.
If you did fill with LSD and had some ULSD in your tank it would not effect your van
enough to go into limp mode or start a regeneration burn on the DPF at a pinch if caught for fuel just keep adding ULSD until the fuel mix becomes balanced.
Not that I'd even think of running LSD full time on a NCV.

Mind you I just realized what LSD Low Sulfur Diesel is,{d-lysergic acid diethylaminde}
That explains Why your sprinters keep doing strange things, when on a trip:eek:
Those Sprinters are running on Drugs:lol:
Richard
 

CocoaVan

New member
I found a Pilot press release with the list of first 25 travel centers getting the DEF dispensers through Q2 2010. One of them is at a location not too far from me on a route I take every so often. I'll post a picture when I see it.

Brian
 

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