So being new to the diesel world since April. I was wondering when you guys switch to 50/50 or straight 1? I seen a product by diesel kleen that will have number to not gel till negative 30 F. I would still do 50/50 before then. I thought about running opti-lube. read great things. So in a wrap of a question. What diesel to run when and to run additive when?[MOPAR][/MOPAR]

If the fuel is supposed to be good to -30* then it is a blended fuel. I would run that with some good antigell. Like W&F I have never ran straight #1 fuel. #1 fuel has higher cetane and less BTUs than #2 since it has less wax in it.

If I cant find a blender pump set up I will keep using the blended stuff and probably start using some Howes Diesel Treat instead of the 2 stroke oil. It is supposed to be a good lube and anti gel.

Schaeffers makes a soy based winter fuel additive, 139A SoyShield. Reduces gel point 15 to 25 degrees below the fuels gellling point. I have a bottle of it in case I get into some cold weather, but it seldom gets below 0 degrees here. All of Schaeffers additives are tested using the Cummins L-10 injector deposit test and N-14 Corrosion test

X2 on the schaeffers fuel conditioner, they make an awesome fuel conditioner ,I ran this for years, but stay away from their engine oils at all costs!

 

http://www.schaefferoil.com/soy-shield.html

Can you elaborate on the oil a little more??

I am a shop foreman at a coal mine so I deal with a lot of oil samples every week, I am in contct with the lab techs at our local CAT SOS lab and one day we had a general conversation and I asked him which oils he sees the most issues with from a labs perspective.

The one and only oil mentioned by the lab tech that they wouldn't touch is any Schaeffers oil, said they have way too much moly in them and it breaks down too fast and the wear metals are always way high in the samples they see with this oil.

The only other red flag was any Rotella oils, they did say they have gotten better but years ago Cat and Cummins both released public statement bulletins stating not to run Shell/Rotella oils as they did not meet the specs for thier engines, they have since improved the quality but is still not a highly thought of oil from the manufactureres standpoint."I actually heard this from 2 insider sources from CAT".

They did have good things to say about most synthetic oils as they rarely if ever see any breakdown of the oils just the depletion of the additives like zinc with the use of bypass filters and extended run intervals. He did commend Amsoil as a top quality he said the only thing that has most lab techs wondering is the oxidation is a tad higher than normal on their samples but it is that way naturally and never climbs though, they don't know what or why the additives amsoil uses is like that but it was not a bad thing.

Edited January 1, 201411 yr by Wild and Free

I've used  Howes  by-the-case  over the  years.    It only works  if you get it  mixed  with the fuel  BEFORE it  clouds.   Probably   the same  with any additive.    Then,   there is  the   'emergency'  stuff:    Diesel  911.     Pretty expensive,   It  works,   I hate/love  the  stuff,  but  keep it off your paint!

 

Seems  lately,   our  fuels  around here  have  degraded    in past years.    The  50/50    blended fuels    that used to handle  any temp  we'd  see in  my area  suddenly    can't handle   0*      Some of  it  can  be   blamed on  a  poor   blend,    I'm beginning to   believe  problems  are  starting to surface  with   the   transporter  having  residual   bio fuel   crud   contamination too.

I  am   starting to  run  a  biocide  in my   bulk tank...    algae  that   grows  in my  bulk tank   will break loose    in the cold  weather.   I'll  'shock' the  tank  once a  year  to  knock  it  down.

Algae?    yepper,    today's  fuel  has  more  water in it  than  before.   Not the  kind  we can see   on the bottom of the tank  (that part is  easy peasy).... this is  the  stuff that  doesn't  settle out,  but the filter  will  'catch' it!     (then  I am walking home)

Our biggest issue at work with all the bulk fuels we get is water in the fuel. It is a wide spread issue and not just with our operation, seems everyone who gets it in huge bulk deliveries have had this issue the last 5+ years.

Problem is the volume we go through diesel in the state with all the ag, oil and mining our fuel is trucked in from all over the country.

We have 2 diesel specific refineries being built in the state as we speak, it can't come soon enough.

First new refineries to be built in the USA in nearly 40 years they are saying.

I don't know, I have yet to see anything that proved moly in an engine has any negatives. It is simply what Schaeffers uses as a friction modifier being they are a synthetic blend. All oil analysis results that I have seen have all produced very similar results compared to the AME, and has been tested and approved by Cummins, Cat, Detroit, and Mack. It is pretty popular around here and can be bought in several local stores and I know of 2 large dairy farms that use Schaeffers exclusivly on all their farm equipment and service their equipment according to oil anaylisis, and have never heard of any complaints.

Our biggest issue at work with all the bulk fuels we get is water in the fuel. It is a wide spread issue and not just with our operation, seems everyone who gets it in huge bulk deliveries have had this issue the last 5+ years.

Problem is the volume we go through diesel in the state with all the ag, oil and mining our fuel is trucked in from all over the country.

We have 2 diesel specific refineries being built in the state as we speak, it can't come soon enough.

First new refineries to be built in the USA in nearly 40 years they are saying.

 

It is good to hear we are building any refinery in this country. 40 years has got to be close to right. I saw on one of the news channels the other day that the cost a gas is "expected" to go lower in 2014, but the price of diesel was "expected" to go up due to high demand.That was the only discussion of it  have seen anywhere.

Edited January 1, 201411 yr by dripley

I don't know, I have yet to see anything that proved moly in an engine has any negatives. It is simply what Schaeffers uses as a friction modifier being they are a synthetic blend. All oil analysis results that I have seen have all produced very similar results compared to the AME, and has been tested and approved by Cummins, Cat, Detroit, and Mack. It is pretty popular around here and can be bought in several local stores and I know of 2 large dairy farms that use Schaeffers exclusivly on all their farm equipment and service their equipment according to oil anaylisis, and have never heard of any complaints.

I am just the messenger repeating what a CAT SOS oil lab tech told me.............He is a lab tech and non mechanical so he has no skin in the game either, just what they see from sampling every oil on the map in about every application one can think of.

I can tell you that any lube product with Moly in it is a killer in more than just oils, we have tons of water pumps on the mine and the Gorman Rupps absolutely do not like any amount of Moly in grease, it wipes out the contact seals instantly.

I love Moly grease it has made me a lot of money over the years "just like scotch locks" repairing bearings / spindles anything that rotates the moly will separate from the actual petro lubes and you wind up with a bearing full of dry clay.

Edited January 1, 201411 yr by Wild and Free

I am just the messenger repeating what a CAT SOS oil lab tech told me.............He is a lab tech and non mechanical so he has no skin in the game either, just what they see from sampling every oil on the map in about every application one can think of.I can tell you that any lube product with Moly in it is a killer in more than just oils, we have tons of water pumps on the mine and the Gorman Rupps absolutely do not like any amount of Moly in grease, it wipes out the contact seals instantly.I love Moly grease it has made me a lot of money over the years "just like scotch locks" repairing bearings / spindles anything that rotates the moly will separate from the actual petro lubes and you wind up with a bearing full of dry clay.

Any chance you can get your hands on some of those test results? I have actually studied their oils quite a bit and reviewed alot of UOA and your the first person I've come across that has had any negative comments about Schaeffers. They have been using their moly additives since the 80s. The first real test of their moly oils and greases was Desert Storm, which they received awards for. They also have a general services contract through the government. Most people aren't familiar with the name because they don't dabble in the consumer market, they are primarily focused on bulk and commercial buisiness. The fact that they are a 100 million dollar a year company tells me they have a product that has to work quite well.

Fuel at the non-blended pumps is generally winterized for the local climate, and ramps up as winter comes in. That's why unseasonably cold weather early in the winter can cause gelling issues.

I normally add anti-gel starting with elk hunting in October into December, them just pump diesel. If I am going somewhere a lot colder I'll dose it. I also keep 5 gals of #1 in the garage, and 2 bottles of diesel rescue in the tool box (1 in the summer).

I do run amsoil diesel concentrate every tank, and will occasionally add a cetane boost.

While cetane does reduce BTUSs it does help cold weather starting and low fuel flow ignition. If I am going to spends a lot of the miles at slow speeds and low load I'll add 3 points worth of additive. It does make a difference.

Any chance you can get your hands on some of those test results? I have actually studied their oils quite a bit and reviewed alot of UOA and your the first person I've come across that has had any negative comments about Schaeffers. They have been using their moly additives since the 80s. The first real test of their moly oils and greases was Desert Storm, which they received awards for. They also have a general services contract through the government. Most people aren't familiar with the name because they don't dabble in the consumer market, they are primarily focused on bulk and commercial buisiness. The fact that they are a 100 million dollar a year company tells me they have a product that has to work quite well.

I doubt I could get that sample info with all the privacy laws now, and I am not the one making the negative statement, like I said just passing on info from a lab techs POV.

Other than fuel conditioners I know of no mine companies around my area using the oils. Petro Canada oils are very High quality and are what major mining companies use for synthetics and syn blends here in the state. I know many farmers using it also.

At our mine we use mainly chevron oils at the last mine they used primarily exxon products but they use such a large quantity they are looking at the price along with quality. They are constantly trying different oils to see what the samples look like over time.