diesel fuel from gas station

[dlewis812]

no fuel gauge so base fuel level from the log book. know i'm good but sailing with guests tomorrow and thought might bring small back up can. since will not be able to make it to the fuel dock only option is from the gas station.

is the diesel fuel fine to use? thought read somewhere that it wasn't as clean as from a marine fuel dock?

 

[Lee Scott]

It should be fine, as long as you buy from a busy station that sells a lot of diesel so it's fresh and free of water. The only real difference is that you'll be paying for highway diesel with all the highway taxes added to the price. If you can find a place that sells off-road diesel it will be significantly cheaper. Just make sure they sell enough that you're getting fresh fuel, or you could be getting water and who knows what else in there.

 

[Ross]

My engine specs call for automotive diesel so I buy it where I buy my gasoline for the car. Ten years and never had a speck of crud in the sediment bowl.

 

[Johnb]

I always carry down my fuel, 4 gallons at a time because:
I know it's fresh because the busy stations have plenty of turnover
I have a high quality container with built in valve and literally never spill a drop
I can take my time and put it in slowly - no worries about burping out the vent
No worries about spilling in the bay

 

[Stu Jackson]

Ach, I have fuel in my tank from two years ago. It still works. I used to run once a week for two hours on the engine, but 'cuz of my broken leg I didn't get out as much.

Boat still works. Engine, too.

Old wives tales about old diesel fuel.

So far.......

 

[zeehag]

diesel fuel has no shelf life and use biocide --no sudar-my fuel in my ericson is 4 yrs old--boat runs great and my yannie loves it..go figger......fuel in my formosa is 6 yrs old--will work just fine...both have biocide.

 

[seadaddler]

No Bad

Like said already diesel does not go bad like gas,it's the water and dirt or sludge that gets picked up from old fuel tanks and yes busy truck stop is the best place to buy less water and they use and change the filters on pump.
My marina Burnt Store added all new tanks and is cheaper than on the road and easy for me to get,at one time I would buy fuel from truck stop and before adding to my boat use a funnel with a filter in it to catch water and dirt and you would not believe the dirt and water in that jug from road fuel.
I have the normal racor filter's on my Yanmar plus I also added a Racor 500 right off my tank so I have no problems and change the 500 twice a year easy and cheap insurance for good running Yanmar,$9.00 dollar filter.
And if you see a tanker delivery truck in the station wait and go to the next one.
Nick

 

[Texas Lake Sailor]

Just add a good biocide to prevent organic growth. I use a filter funnel when filling from my jerry can. Never had an issue.

 

[sailaway78]

Truck Stops

When I buy fuel from a gas station, I try to get it at a truck stop. The busier the better.

 

[zeehag]

if the tanker is dropping fuel--dont go there-wait 24 hours for the fuel to settle--even gas--will mess up the injectors....

 

[kloudie1]

In addition to biocide, it is a good idea to add a sulfur replacement additive to older engines. Engines made before about 2002 should have that additive to help the HP injection pump, injectors, and exhaust valve seats, and, to a lesser extent, the rings. The sulfur was removed from road fuel a few years back and now (soon) all diesel will be ULSD (ultra low sulfur diesel), or close to it. ORD (off road diesel) has a little more sulfur but not nearly as much as it used to.. May be one of those things that causes the engine to last only 5000 hours instead of 5006, but I am not willing to take the risk on the expensive parts.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Legal aspects of what you are doing

As oldjags indicated you will be paying HIGHWAY taxes not marine taxes. That is why "highway" diesel is dyed yellow and "marine" diesel is dyed purple. I've never heard of them checking but a word to the wise should be sufficient. If the USCG should for some reason (can of fuel clearly in view) check for color they would be within their jurisdiction to fine you if they find yellow diesel.
FWIW

 

[Lee Scott]

I found this on the www.clean-diesel.org website:

"Like Low Sulfur Diesel fuel, ULSD fuel requires good lubricity and corrosion inhibitors to prevent unacceptable engine wear. As necessary, additives to increase lubricity and to inhibit corrosion are added to ULSD fuel prior to its retail sale. With these additives, ULSD fuel performs as well as Low Sulfur Diesel fuel."

One of the problems with high sulfur diesel was that the crankcase gasses and combustion byproducts could combine with any moisture in the engine and form sulfuric acid, which will quickly eat up the bearings and other internal parts. That's the main reason that oil changes in diesel engines are recommended much more frequently than in gasoline engines. Now that the sulfur is mostly gone, engines should last even longer than before, even with spotty maintenance from time to time.

Most of those fuel additives are probably overkill - like wearing a belt AND suspenders.

 

[Lee Scott]

As oldjags indicated you will be paying HIGHWAY taxes not marine taxes. That is why "highway" diesel is dyed yellow and "marine" diesel is dyed purple. I've never heard of them checking but a word to the wise should be sufficient. If the USCG should for some reason (can of fuel clearly in view) check for color they would be within their jurisdiction to fine you if they find yellow diesel.
FWIW

I've never heard of that happening either. It's usually the truckers that get nabbed for using off-road diesel with the red die in it. Since the highway taxes are much higher than marine and off-road taxes, the gov. would be hurting itself if it started penalizing folks for putting highway fuel in their boats.

The USCG probably doesn't care either way. I'll bet it's the state marine police and the highway patrol that are the ones that would enforce any fuel use laws.

 

[John]

Despite the fact that gas station diesel has the highway taxes, I've found that it's about $1.00 per gallon cheaper than diesel at any marina around here (SF Bay) so that's all I use. I have a six gallon can and fill it up periodically. I understand that you're not supposed to fill your own boat tank away from a fuelling station because of danger of a spill, but since I never fill my tank more than 3/4, there's no danger of overfilling.

 

[Ross]

I always refuel from a six gallon can. I slip a 1/4 inch plastic tube over the vent and push that down into the filler pipe. When the fuel level hits the vent tube for the can it stops the flow from the can, no spills.

 

[Big Windy]

The last place I want to buy diesel fuel is from my marina. They have limited diesel boat owners so no telling how old the fuel is. Like most posters, I get mine from a truck stop....add a biocide and stabilizer, then use a filter when putting it in the boat.

 

[rardiH36]

Chevron's Diesel fuel website advertises a test program in the Sacramento area where they are adding Techron "D" to their Ultra Low Sulfur diesel. One claim is improved lubricity of ULSD. This Techron additive has been standard for CalTex diesel for a while now in the Far East/New Zealand/etc, so I expect that we'll see wider distribution eventually in the US. Somewhere I have seen stated that Chevron already puts lubricity additives in their highway diesel (which corresponds to the info posted by OldJags). So maybe the Techron D version will be pretty slippery stuff that will keep our older engines happy!

http://www.chevron.com/products/ad/techronD/default.aspx


Also from the Chevron webiste, here is a link to a publication of describing the effects of ULSD on off highway diesel powered equipment. This is addressed to operators of larger equipment than our small sailboat engines, but has some info. It discusses lubricity and also seal failure.

http://www.chevron.com/products/prodserv/fuels/documents/Heavy_Iron_Volume1_2007.pdf

 

[Seattle Scott]

As oldjags indicated you will be paying HIGHWAY taxes not marine taxes. That is why "highway" diesel is dyed yellow and "marine" diesel is dyed purple. I've never heard of them checking but a word to the wise should be sufficient. If the USCG should for some reason (can of fuel clearly in view) check for color they would be within their jurisdiction to fine you if they find yellow diesel.
FWIW

USCG doesn't care if you want to run taxed fuel in your boat, but road cops might care if you run untaxed fuel in your vehicle. i think our state/fed road tax is about 35 cents a gallon, but marina fuel is at least ( usualy more) the same price as gas station diesel, I think about 3.40 to 3.60 gal.

 

[Lee Scott]

USCG doesn't care if you want to run taxed fuel in your boat, but road cops might care if you run untaxed fuel in your vehicle. i think our state/fed road tax is about 35 cents a gallon, but marina fuel is at least ( usualy more) the same price as gas station diesel, I think about 3.40 to 3.60 gal.

Marina gas is almost always more expensive than gas station gas, but it's not because of the taxes. It's because they have a captive market. The amount of fuel a large power boat would use to go 5 miles to try and save 5 cents a gallon is just not worth it. Marinas also don't sell anywhere near the volume of fuel that a roadside gas station does, so they don't get the same pricing. Most marinas are pretty dead during the week and only sell a lot of fuel on the weekends.

Most of the people I know that trailer their boats fill them up at the gas station before they launch.

I just filled my boat up last week at the marina, and that $65 will probably take care of me until this time next year, so for me it's more the convenience. Lugging those 5 gallon yellow cans around can get to be a pain.