Question about age of diesel

ibboatin28 · Mar 6, 2014

I found a 300 gallon tank on C/l for a reasonable price so I bought it sight unseen. When I got there to pick it up, it turns out it's full,of off-road diesel. The seller did not know how old it was and suggested it might be contaminated but didn't know with what. It was at a landscape business that uses a lot of off road. It seems clean, is nice and red. Burned ok in my heater. Is there any way to test it before I put it in one of my tractors?

Tia

dodge man · Mar 6, 2014

I know they make a paste for checking for water. If its near full, that's near a $1000 worth of diesel so it'd be nice to know wouldn't it?

corl · Mar 6, 2014

Basically the only problems would be water and algae. The water would be in the bottom of the tank and the algae would make it cloudy. There are treatments and filters available. Diesel fuel can last a long time.

ibboatin28 · Mar 6, 2014

It's almost completely full. I did have to pay an extra 50 for the fuel that was in it. It came with a filter on the tank, I'm going to change it out, add some conditioner and try a tank in my 755. What would be the worst that could happen? I ran some into a jar and it's clear.. Well red but not cloudy.

Diamondpilot · Mar 6, 2014

Worst case ruin injectors, injector pump, and clog filters. That being said I would filter it and use it. That's $1100 worth of fuel. I would personally drain it all through a double stage filter into 55 gallon drums, clean the tank internally, then put the fuel back in with anti gel additive and conditions. Change filters and call it a day.

Chris

dusty3030 · Mar 6, 2014

Put a new filter on the pump and pump some out into a clear container and observe it a day or so, If nothing looks awry rock on.

A good fuel treatment / biocide would be a good move too.

If you want to be super cautious get a mr. Funnel and pump it into a can and fuel your tractor by pouring it through a mr funnel from the can.

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ibboatin28 · Mar 7, 2014

Thanks for all the replies. I pumped some into a clear bottle and it looks fine. The suction tube to the pump is laying in the bottom of the tank so they probably thought the pump was bad.the oil company keep their tanks full so I suspect it's good. I'll keep it filtered and try it.

Gary Fowler · Mar 7, 2014

Does the tank have a bottom drain with a valve, if so, tilt the tank to the valve end,open it and drain out a gallon or so of fuel and let it set to see it any water settles out. OR if no valve, you could put a hose to the bottom of the tank with the tank tilted a few inches lower to the siphoning area and pull some fuel right off the bottom. With the hose touching the bottom and the tank tilted, any water will be right in the bottom corner of the tank. If you get a little that is OK, just siphon out more till your sample is clean. Pass the fuel with any water thru a Mr. Funnel and back into the tank and you should be good to go. A biocide would be needed if you have more than a bit of water removed.

Dingeryote · Apr 2, 2014

When you set the tank, raise the pump end a couple inches so water and rust etc. settles away from the pick up.

Most tanks have the fill port on that end anyhow. After the tank has sat for a day, snake a siphon hose to the bottom of the low end and drain off a bit, then pour into a quart jar to look for water and other sediment.

If it has water in it, rack off another couple gallons and burn some brush.
Any water will drop right to the low spot and stay there until you rack it out.

Keep an eye on the pump filter and keep a spare handy. If the tank has seen a couple winters, moving it will turn loose a bunch of scale that will end up in the bottom of the tank and make it's way to the filter for a little while.