Diesel Fuel Advice

[Skip Medeiros]

We're having a wonderful fall sailing in Long Island Sound and are evaluating the many issues related to winter sailing. Diesel fuel is getting increasingly more difficult to come by as so many marinas are closing for the season. What do I need to know about using diesel from a gas station in my Universal 30 (1984 CD33)? Are there any reasons not to use gas station grade diesel fuel? Are the winter additives which I assume are already in automotive diesel harmful, neutral, necessary for winter marine diesel use. Are othe additives suggested?

Thanks for your help

Skip



Whmedeiros@aol.com

[BobPence]

We're having a wonderful fall sailing in Long Island Sound and are evaluating the many issues related to winter sailing. Diesel fuel is getting increasingly more difficult to come by as so many marinas are closing for the season. What do I need to know about using diesel from a gas station in my Universal 30 (1984 CD33)? Are there any reasons not to use gas station grade diesel fuel? Are the winter additives which I assume are already in automotive diesel harmful, neutral, necessary for winter marine diesel use. Are othe additives suggested?

Thanks for your help

Skip

Service station deisel fuel is fine, especially if it is a volume seller. Suggest you add 4 ounces Marvel Miracle Oil to every 10 gallons of diesel. It can be purchased in quarts or gallons at Pep Boys or in quarts at West Marine. This will lubricate your injectors and injector pump.



sixpence@dmv.com

[john churchill]

try truck stops. they sell lots of fuel, so it will be fresh .

[Bill Goldsmith]

Skip:

Service station diesel is all I've ever used in my Yanmar. I fill my 12 gallon tank with two six gallon portables, which usually gets me through the season. I've never heard of any reason not to, except that, as mentioned, try to get fresh fuel.

Bill

P.S. I'm jealous!!!! Been on the hard since Halloween!!

We're having a wonderful fall sailing in Long Island Sound and are evaluating the many issues related to winter sailing. Diesel fuel is getting increasingly more difficult to come by as so many marinas are closing for the season. What do I need to know about using diesel from a gas station in my Universal 30 (1984 CD33)? Are there any reasons not to use gas station grade diesel fuel? Are the winter additives which I assume are already in automotive diesel harmful, neutral, necessary for winter marine diesel use. Are othe additives suggested?

Thanks for your help

Skip

goldy@bestweb.net

[Larry DeMers]

Skip,

My experience is that Off-Road Diesel (died red or pink)is the best of all diesel fuels..if you can get it. I was able to find 15 gals. this past summer, and found that it made a world of performance differences.

The usual diesel that I buy (died yellow) is low on sulphur, and while it works, it is different than the off - road stuff.

Here is what I noticed as different in the way the engine worked. This experience was gained while motoring 350 miles on Superior this past August.

With the Off-Road fuel, I saw an immediate decrease in the idle RPM by 200 rpm (which increased back to normal (500rpm?) when the fuel was switched back to the yellow tinted stuff). The engine started easier (faster) with the red fuel. The engine exhaust sounded slightly deeper in note, and there was an apparent power increase to boot (again, with the red tinted fuel).

Another diesel engine hint that my mechanic tells me about is to add a quart of Automatic Transmission fluid to the 20 gal. fuel tank (full). Do this once a year, and the injectors will stay clean and will fire much better (better pattern), but the engine will smoke a lot more while the ATF is in there.

Hope this helps,

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30 Sailing Lake Superior

We're having a wonderful fall sailing in Long Island Sound and are evaluating the many issues related to winter sailing. Diesel fuel is getting increasingly more difficult to come by as so many marinas are closing for the season. What do I need to know about using diesel from a gas station in my Universal 30 (1984 CD33)? Are there any reasons not to use gas station grade diesel fuel? Are the winter additives which I assume are already in automotive diesel harmful, neutral, necessary for winter marine diesel use. Are othe additives suggested?

Thanks for your help

Skip

demers@sgi.com

[Skip Medeiros]

Thanks to each of you for sharing your insight on my questions.

I have heard that diesel fuel becomes particularly viscous in the winter and that there exist additives to minimize this temperature related thickening. Am I off base in my concern about this potential? Does the Marvel "Mystery" Oil help this or is it not really a concern?

Thanks again

Skip



Whmedeiros@aol.com

[Mark Yashinsky]

We're having a wonderful fall sailing in Long Island Sound and are evaluating the many issues related to winter sailing. Diesel fuel is getting increasingly more difficult to come by as so many marinas are closing for the season. What do I need to know about using diesel from a gas station in my Universal 30 (1984 CD33)? Are there any reasons not to use gas station grade diesel fuel? Are the winter additives which I assume are already in automotive diesel harmful, neutral, necessary for winter marine diesel use. Are othe additives suggested?

Thanks for your help

Skip

The Mystery Marvel is a good addition, but a diesel fuel conditioner, handles water and algae growth, is a MUST. Remember how long the fuel sits in the tank and amount of moisture nearby. Be careful of the "off-road" fuel. Find out the Cetane number and the sulphur amount in the fuel. Sulphur has to be low so as not to form sulpuric acid in the combustion process. Home heating oil has sometimes illegally been sold as diesel fuel but it has a must higher sulphur content. Also the grade number has to be known. Normal diesel is #2, but during the winter in the northern country, #1 (kerosene) is blended in (up to 50%) to then the thickening diesel fuel. Running blended or straight #1 in warmer weather is a definite no-no.