Is 4 year old diesel fuel any good?

[Hay Dude]

Old dosnt mean contaminated. This is where a clear fuel filter bowl comes in handy.

Again, no old doesn’t mean it’s bad, but what you can’t seem to understand is storage conditions are more important.

You could have perfectly stored 5 year old fuel better than 1 year old fuel stored in a tank where water, algae, rust, sediment could ruin it.

 

[Bryon1]

I have about 75 gals of 4 year old diesel fuel and am wondering what I should do with it.

The fuel has been sitting in the fuel tank of a diesel pusher motorhome fuel tank. The fuel tank is 150 gals, or about 1/2 full. The motorhome has been always stored inside an insulated metal building located in a dry climate area.

I don't know if there are any problems with the fuel, and I don't know how I would test it or find out. The motorhome starts and runs fine. But I've read that old diesel fuel can have water or algae in it that clogs filters or does damage. I don't want to do that. Can you help with any ideas?

Here are the options I am considering:

- do nothing and just use it.
- siphon it out, replace with fresh, then slowly use it up/blend it elsewhere by adding small amounts when refueling my tractor.
- siphon it out, use for burn piles (but that's a LOT of fuel for that use!)
- put some additives in it and just use it.

The motorhome engine is a Cummins ISX. It is expensive to work on, even if just buying new filters. So I'd like to avoid causing any maintenance or damage.

Ideas?

In the UK that would be around £2300 worth of fuel. So would be
worth considering having the fuel polished. There are companies that do this or it can be pumped through a series of filters on a recirculating

I have about 75 gals of 4 year old diesel fuel and am wondering what I should do with it.

The fuel has been sitting in the fuel tank of a diesel pusher motorhome fuel tank. The fuel tank is 150 gals, or about 1/2 full. The motorhome has been always stored inside an insulated metal building located in a dry climate area.

I don't know if there are any problems with the fuel, and I don't know how I would test it or find out. The motorhome starts and runs fine. But I've read that old diesel fuel can have water or algae in it that clogs filters or does damage. I don't want to do that. Can you help with any ideas?

Here are the options I am considering:

- do nothing and just use it.
- siphon it out, replace with fresh, then slowly use it up/blend it elsewhere by adding small amounts when refueling my tractor.
- siphon it out, use for burn piles (but that's a LOT of fuel for that use!)
- put some additives in it and just use it.

The motorhome engine is a Cummins ISX. It is expensive to work on, even if just buying new filters. So I'd like to avoid causing any maintenance or damage.

Ideas?

I have about 75 gals of 4 year old diesel fuel and am wondering what I should do with it.

The fuel has been sitting in the fuel tank of a diesel pusher motorhome fuel tank. The fuel tank is 150 gals, or about 1/2 full. The motorhome has been always stored inside an insulated metal building located in a dry climate area.

I don't know if there are any problems with the fuel, and I don't know how I would test it or find out. The motorhome starts and runs fine. But I've read that old diesel fuel can have water or algae in it that clogs filters or does damage. I don't want to do that. Can you help with any ideas?

Here are the options I am considering:

- do nothing and just use it.
- siphon it out, replace with fresh, then slowly use it up/blend it elsewhere by adding small amounts when refueling my tractor.
- siphon it out, use for burn piles (but that's a LOT of fuel for that use!)
- put some additives in it and just use it.

The motorhome engine is a Cummins ISX. It is expensive to work on, even if just buying new filters. So I'd like to avoid causing any maintenance or damage.

Ideas?

in the UK that would be around £2300 worth of fuel. It would be worth considering polishing the fuel by recirculating by pumping it through a series of filters until the fuel is clear enough to see through or pale red depending on what diesel is used. It will take a bit of time.The are company’s that specialise in polishing old diesel may be worth contacting one for advice

 

[Handloader109]

I've got a 50 gallon barrel that is down to about 25 gallons of diesel. It's 4 years old, bought roughly 100 gallons. It looks fine, examined it the other day when I pumped another 5 gallons into the tractor. Never any algae.

 

[nyone]

what you can’t seem to understand is storage conditions are more important

No I do understand that..that's why I said you can all send me your "old fuel".

 

[NewHampJim]

Last year while clearing out my aunts house after she went into an assisted living facility, we had to get rid of an old fuel oil storage tank. The tank was almost half full of kerosene that had been there since the early 1970s when the oil space heater was removed and replaced with central gas heat.

I found a guy that would take the oil and also remove the 250 gal tank in exchange for the oil. I asked him what he used the oil for. He told me he would filter it, remove any water, and used it in some older tractors. He also said he had been doing this for several years.

I've done the same with smaller amounts, up to 100 gallons, but prior to filtering, I centrifuge the older diesel and in doing so, I remove the water, rust, algae and sediments and any other containments less than 0.5-microns!..never yet clogged a fuel injector, and I've been doing this for decades.

 

[Hay Dude]

No I do understand that..that's why I said you can all send me your "old fuel".

Do you want some of the old fuel I used that cost me $5,000 for injector replacement?

 

[nyone]

Do you want some of the old fuel I used that cost me $5,000 for injector replacement?

Sure. My injectors cost $35 each and I know how to watch and change a fuel filter.

 

[TractorTYMe]

This is why I settle on my TYM with a Kukje engine with mechanical injection, I'm an IT Manager and the older I get the LESS I trust electronics. I don't have anything connected to the internet at my house except my computer. I believe a mechanical injected engine is somewhat less vulnerable to bad fuel than a common rail?

 

[Too many Kubotas]

The oldest fuel I've used was about 12 years old. It was treated with anti-gel, and eventually also Star Tron.
It was in an OTR tractor's aluminum tank, outside but on the shady side. No issues.

My Generac generator is fed fuel almost as old, but from a plastic tank that's in the shade. Same treatments, no issues.

Some of my 135-gallon totes have diesel that's coming up on three years old. Kept in the shade, using the same treatments. Those are used to replenish a 200-gallon steel tank with a pump and filter. No issues.

Now, I did buy a backhoe that had sat outside for many years, without a fuel cap. The tank contained nothing but water., up to the neck..and bacteria (which for some reason is often called algae).
For bacteria to get going there has to be water in the tank. (Algae needs sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow, by the way).

It took some mechanical cleaning and a BioBor treatment to get that backhoe running, which it now has for about five years. I read up a lot on the subject while fighting with that one, and that's why I wouldn't hesitate to use old diesel just because it's old.

In other words, if water is suspected to somehow have ended up in the tank, there could also be bacteria in it. And the bacteria will clog up the fuel filter(s).

 

[YanmarFever]

When I moved I had 450 gals of red diesel in 2 tanks, I could not take it with us, so I gave it to my nicest neighbor.
It was stored inside and treated every 3 years, yes it was 10 yr old diesel and still worked great in my Branson and his Deere.
The secret is storing it indoors and treat it every few years.