Is my diesel still usable?

[RayIN]

If it's corn squeezed gas (Ethanol) don't expect it to last a long time. E-gas is prone to phase separation and that is what gums up fuel systems. Stuff is Federally mandate crap.

Todays ULSD biofuel is the same, it will stratify when undisturbed for months.
reference: How to Maintain Stored Diesel Fuel

 

[Portuguese Farmer]

Throw a quart of ATF in each, good to go

 

[5030]

Todays ULSD biofuel is the same, it will stratify when undisturbed for months.
reference: How to Maintain Stored Diesel Fuel

Good article and candidly, Bio Diesel was the culprit that caused my algae issue and caused the expensive repairs I had to undertake. Did the work myself and it was still north of a grand to remediate the issues. I will never use bio-diesel in anything, ever again. Might smell like French fries at the exhaust outlet but certainly causes issues with injection systems as well as fuel systems once you get an infestation of microbes growing in there.

Why I religiously use a MSDS certified biocide always and run Racor 2 micron spin on filters in the fuel system prior to the injection and lift pumps now. Having said that, I use the much less expensive Chinese 'Racor style bases but I do use genuine Racor filters which aren't cheap by a long shot but having dealt with algae and what it causes, I'm very leery of problems now plus I use a lubricity additive in my diesel fuel though I've never had a pump related issue so far at least. I was very lucky that I caught the algae issue before it got into the injection pumps. It did, however, destroy the lift pump, all the fuel related hardware in the fuel tanks plus I had to drop and flush out the fuel tanks as well.

 

[5030]

One thing I really like about the Racor elements is the bottom of the element has a clear polycarbonate bowl so you can readily see what contaminates the Racor is stripping out of the incoming fuel and that includes any water or algae if present and the bowls have a convenient drain fitting on them so you can drain off anything present in the bowls plus mine are heated (12 volt), which is a Racor option.

 

[5030]

Throw a quart of ATF in each, good to go

Might work for you but far as I'm concerned the ONLY thing ATF does is improve lubricity and it has to be Dexron-Mercon ATF. Not the synthetic ATF.

 

[RayIN]

Might work for you but far as I'm concerned the ONLY thing ATF does is improve lubricity and it has to be Dexron-Mercon ATF. Not the synthetic ATF.

I mostly agree;
No ATF is designed/formulated to burn, in fact it is formulated to resist high temperatures. The additives it contains may or may not be harmful to injector seals and the extremely tight tolerances; we are told a droplet of water can cause an injector tip to explode/fail. Cumulative effects of burning ATF???
Biofuel is the most effective and lowest cost diesel fuel lubricant known. It is in ALL diesel fuel sold today.
If anyone disputes that, ask them what their distributor adds to replace the lost lubricity during the refining process to remove sulfur. Diesel pumps are not required to display any biodiesel content below B10/10% though.

 

[Portuguese Farmer]

I mostly agree;
No ATF is designed/formulated to burn, in fact it is formulated to resist high temperatures. The additives it contains may or may not be harmful to injector seals and the extremely tight tolerances; we are told a droplet of water can cause an injector tip to explode/fail. Cumulative effects of burning ATF???
Biofuel is the most effective and lowest cost diesel fuel lubricant known. It is in ALL diesel fuel sold today.
If anyone disputes that, ask them what their distributor adds to replace the lost lubricity during the refining process to remove sulfur. Diesel pumps are not required to display any biodiesel content below B10/10% though.

Ran a quart of ATF in each tank with each fill up, 4 Heavy Haul Trucks over 41 years, millions of miles without a single injector failure, Cat motors......

 

[monzadriver]

I have a special additive for diesel, that will prevent algea and flakes in diesel, special for machinery thats not often used or for long stored diesel.
The diesel in my small 2wheel tractor and aggregate are for a part maybe over 10 years old.

 

[dodge man]

Using atf used to be a “thing”. I think anymore it’s a bad idea unless it’s an older indirect injection engine. It always bothers me when someone says they put in some additive and never had a problem. You probably wouldn’t have anyway. The only additives I like are a specific purpose, such as anti gel or a biocide.

 

[Portuguese Farmer]

Using atf used to be a “thing”. I think anymore it’s a bad idea unless it’s an older indirect injection engine. It always bothers me when someone says they put in some additive and never had a problem. You probably wouldn’t have anyway. The only additives I like are a specific purpose, such as anti gel or a biocide.

You might go back and read the post I responded to.