Diesel Fuel or?

[charlee]

I was at a radiator repair shop in Ellet, OH yestrday after replacng a radiator and CAC on one of our strait trucks when a International strait truck pulled up. The driver got out and he and I were talking and he said "man my truck is smoking" I looked and there was ZERO smoke coming from exhaust, although it was hot exhaust. I said what do you mean...no smoke there. He said that was his popoint.


He takes USED MOTOR OIL and adds it to Diesel fuel to the ratio of 20 gals used motor oil to 30 gals diesel fuel and uses that to fuel his trucks...he had to perfom one conversion and that was a heavier oil filter. He showed me his fuel tank and sure enough.....my questions is....

Is this legal to run over the road?

He gained 3 miles per gal due to the fuel running hotter and cut his fuel costs by more than half.



-charlotte

 

[ATeam]

Great story. All I can say is go ahead and try it. Let us know how things turn out. Better your tuck than mine.

If a stranger told me about the ability to half my fuel costs, I would be all over him for details and proof of what he was saying. I would not come here to ask, I'd ask him.

Once it is warmed up, our truck does not smoke. Neither does the reefer. Neither does the generator. A non-smoking engine is hardly proof of 50% fuel cost reduction. Methinks your leg was pulled.

 

[greg334]

Charlee,

Yes it is true, you can but....... running hotter will reduce the energy in the fuel. I am wondering what conversion?

Legal?

I think that is open for debate. Some forms of home made bio-diesel is questionable too.

Good for the engine?

Well yes and no.

This has been done for years, but this is the first time I heard a 2 to 3 ratio, more like a gallon of oil per 10 or 15 gallons of diesel.

There are two problems –

One is dirt and crude in the oil. Even though it came from the sump, there are things in it that will do to the injection system if the filter(s) are not changed more often. I know one guy who uses used oil in his generator and he built a system like that OPS1 system to clean it (which is why I can’t understand how the OPS1 people got a patent for something that has been around for like 80 years). The need to clean and take out the water out of the oil is very important.

The other is both synthetic and synthetic blends don’t burn at all. They come out of the tail pipe of the truck as funky OIL. In the waste oil burner at my father's house, if there is any synthetic oil in the tank, it pools in the bottom of the heater catch pan.


There is another thing I heard from DD down the road, there is a chance that the 2007 and newer emissions will be damaged by the used oil.

 

[Jack_Berry]

better his engine repair than yours. did he say how many miles he had on this system? this has come up on the mercedes forum. opinion is yes you can do it, is it good for the engine......well, who knows. if the engine is running hotter is that good for the engine?
is it legal? in the strict sense no. he has 20 gallons of fuel that pays no hwy taxes. is he mooney ahead? well yeah, 20 gallons worth until the whole thing goes bad.

did you tell him about diesel secret energy?

 

[charlee]

He has been running it since October...I asked him how it ran in Winter....he said great.


As to ATeam...I am not asking you or anyone else here anything except....is it legal or not because I do not know much about this stuff....i just know you cannot run off road diesel and I just wondered what a dot officer would do at one of those fuel check-points if they looked in and saw black fuel.



As far as doing to my truck...there is not way I could fuel 16 trucks like that, but I do find it amazoing that the average Joe can do something like ths and make it work, yet all the brains/ie..engineers cannot find a way to recycle this "limited resource" and at the same time lower costs to the consumer.



-charlotte

 

[LDB]

Logic suggests it would not be legal for the same reason reefer fuel is not legal. The government expects every gallon of road fuel to have a tax paid on it. I'm not sure I'd consider since October a long term enough test to feel comfortable doing it.

 

[Crazynuff]

You can use alternatives that are not taxed at the pump as long as you keep a record of their use and file reports paying the tax quarterly or annually according to state requirements . This would be simple for intrastate use or using 100% home brewed biodiesel but I don't see how you could calculate paying tax in each state using a mixture of untaxed alternative and regular taxed diesel if used interstate . If you purchased oil for an oil change would you use that receipt and pay tax to the state you purchased the oil in if you mix that oil with diesel after your next oil change ? How would you compensate for oil lost through leaks , remaining in the filter , etc ?

 

[Kurn]

The International dealer on Gilchrist in Akron has a service truck with a sign on the back that says "Powered by waste oil" or something like that.It did seem to smoke a little more,and I also wondered about the legality.

 

[x06col]

"IF", I were to "try" something like this, I would be comfortable not worrying about the tax man, as long as the fuel was not dyed red. Dark fuel wouldn't be a concern. After all, tax has been paid on the oil once.