Is 4 year old diesel fuel any good?

[walnutman]

I let my neighbor borrow my backhoe this spring for some septic work.
When he was done he gave it back with a full tank... nice guy.
Started losing power. Ended up the fuel filter was clogged with mud.
Weird part is I drained the whole backhoe tank. The fuel looked fine.
I'm thinking a mud dauber loaded the filler nozzle with a mud nest and it was the first thing pumped into the tank and first thing into the fuel line.

 

[Gord Baker]

Ask a farm supply if any clients would like to take/buy your old fuel. It is very important to possibly remove the tank and have it super cleaned out. There will be rust.

 

[5030]

Diesel, unlike weasel pee gas don't go bad but it dies get contaminated with external stuff like water (condensation) which promotes akgae growth. If it was mine, I'd dose it with a biocide like Powerservice Bio-Kleen and then pump it out (after sitting for a few days) through a diesel filter like a Golden Rod coalescing unit to remove any dead algae and entrained water and then use it..

Don't be fooled by all the supposed algae removing elixirs for sale out there. If the 'elixer' don't have the Federally required MSDS label attached, it's bogus. It has to (by Federal Law) have the MSDS label attached to it. Only one I have found is Powerservice Bio-Kleen and it's not cheap but it works and it don't take a lot to work either, Just follow the dosage instructions on the bottle.

 

[Geodevos]

A process called "fuel polishing" is done on boats. It's easy to find anywhere near the ocean or lakes and maybe where you are. Boats tend to sit for long periods with large amounts of fuel onboard. I would look into that. Fuel polishers should also dispose of fuel for you if you don't want to save it. The gallons versus the charge to polish it should help you decide. I sure wouldn't risk an expensive repair for a few hundred bucks worth of fuel. Just sayin.

 

[jrsavoie]

Makes a lot of sense. Except 75 gals of diesel is a lot more than $300 here.

Separately, I just acquired a 100 gal storage tank and fill-rite pump and meter. Now I need to figure out how to store fuel and cycle it often enough that it doesn't go bad.

Put at least 2 filters inline. A 20 or 30 micro. With a water trap. And finish with a 2 micron going into your equipment.

One tank I have 5 filters on. A starter, 30 micron and then 2 - 20 microns & 2 - 2 microns in parallel.

Add a lubricity additive and a big killer to every fill

 

[BlueBerryFarmer]

I've seen diesel fuel last much longer than four years ---- case in point is my 1966 JD 2510 which runs just fine on 10 yr old plus diesel (off road).........have many other pieces of equipment that don't get used much and I simply add Sta-bil --- JD 410E backhoe has diesel in it that's about 5 yrs old, fires up just fine. Old Betsy my monster oversized CAT excavator has a mix of diesel fuel in her -- probably average age is 6-7 years.

However, with that being said I would not risk using old diesel in modern, emission controlled diesels with extremely high (oil) pressure injector controls--- Powersmoke 6.0, 6.4, 7.3, 6.7Ls..........ditto Cummins (6.7L) and Duramax..........

It's an entirely different story with gasolines (ethanol based) -- two months to one year is about it (depending on how airtight the fuel delivery system is).........

 

[Jstpssng]

My mother's property has (2) 275 gallon oil drums of what I believe is #2 heating oil which is at least 10 years old, probably older. I just dropped an email to a company which tests "furnace oil", asking if they can determine whether it's usable. I will pass on what they say.

 

[Diesel5000]

Well I would compare it to putting a little sand in your motor oil versus a lot at once which would destroy your motor all at once. It does some damage a little at a time. I operated a facility that had a 2,000 KW generator. We had a 10,000 gallon fuel tank. We had to add algaecide regularly and had a moisture detector in bottom of tank with alarm.
We called in a company to pump the whole contents of the tank through a filtration and water removal system repeatedly until it was clean.
Bad fuel will ruin your fuel system and engine. It’s not worth the cost of damage risk to save the fuel.

 

[Hay Dude]

This ^^^^

 

[Hay Dude]

I let my neighbor borrow my backhoe this spring for some septic work.
When he was done he gave it back with a full tank... nice guy.
Started losing power. Ended up the fuel filter was clogged with mud.
Weird part is I drained the whole backhoe tank. The fuel looked fine.
I'm thinking a mud dauber loaded the filler nozzle with a mud nest and it was the first thing pumped into the tank and first thing into the fuel line.

One thing I have observed over the years is that most Caterpillar equipment has a deep strainer at the opening of the tank. It catches junk like that. If you remove the lid and walk away, a small object like a bug or a leaf can’t fall into the tank. It will be caught by the strainer.
For the cost to repair these fuel systems, ALL diesel equipment should be equipped with a small removable basket strainer at the TOP of the tank in the fuel opening.

This is IMO, the most vulnerable spot for dirt, insects, etc to fall in the tank and cause big problems later.