Oil & Fuel kerosene in diesel fuel

[TraderMark]

One more comment....
"On-highway" fuel (low sulfur content) does not have the lubricity that "off-road" (high sulfur or "dyed" fuel) has. If you buy "truck fuel" to put in your tractor, you really should buy a lubricity additive to go with it. That will help keep the injectors and injection pump in tip top shape.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks. No I filled them up everytime and always from a service station selling diesel. From now on, I'm buying
directly from a local distributor that sells the dyed ag diesel. What bothers me about this whole episode is that
when the tractor went in for the head gasket repair it had never knocked. When it came back, we unloaded it, started it up, and it knocked like h_ _ _. The mechanic came out and listened to it, they took it back in, pulled the head off of it and didn't see anything. Then they found a cracked ring and put all new rings in it. Still knocked so they investigated and found a cracked skirt on one piston. They replaced the piston...still knocked. Then they sent the injectors out to be polished/cleaned. At that point I stopped by one day and they told me where they were with it. I asked them to call me when they found out exactly what was causing the knocking and give me a ball park on the cost. 2 1/2 weeks later, they delivered the tractor to my house and I got a bill in the mail. On the bill they seemed to be blaming all of the above on kerosene in the fuel. Like I said, if there was any kerosene in the fuel, it was a very limited amount that the distributor would have put in. (I live in Virginia.) I'm wondering if they could have shaved the head too much when they did the head gasket repair? Does this sound feasible?

 

[SteveV]

With that kind of time involved, it sounds like you got a dealer subsidized engine rebuild. They may not be proud of what was found. Without looking at the bill, it is difficult to pin point the case. Could you fell the knock in the seat? The head gaskets for the 1200 are available in different thicknesses; which could cause trouble without even getting shaving involved. Kerosene is an easy target since you don't need it as much as us in the northeast. SteveV

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks and yes you could definitely "feel" the knock. Another strange aspect about this is why the mechanic didn't hear the noise before sending it back to me the first time. When I started it up after getting it back, the knock started within about a minute. I don't think they are being straight up about it either. They are saying that
kerosene caused the piston/ring damage but it's a pretty big coincidence that the engine ran fine before going in for the head gasket repair. Also, if there was enough kerosene in the fuel to cause damage, they should have noticed it the first time in because they put on a new fuel filter and bled the system. So you think if they used the wrong head gasket (too thin) the first time, that it could have caused some problems?

 

[Kerry]

I haven`t heard of this in Australia but the same rules apply here when purchasing diesel. Recently I heard of heating oil being mixed with diesel ,that sorted afew engines out.You guys are paying alot less than us for diesel presently we are paying about $2.50 U.S.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Ag deisel was supposidly taxed by the state here in Bama recently...YUCK...These folks will tax anything when they don't think you are looking...

See ya