Diesel Fuel

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ClickHill

ClickHill

Well-known member
Joined
May 13, 2016
Posts
269
Location
Beaverdam, VA
We stopped at a Flying J yesterday to fill up with Diesel and pulled to the pumps on the RV island.  Just before I ran my card I saw the sticker that said 20% Bio-diesel.  I was shocked.  I put my card back in my pocket and moved over to the truck pumps which said #2 Diesel truck fuel on the pump sticker.  the RV island price was $2.85 which was what was on the main LED sign and the price in the truck lanes was $2.91.  Be careful if your filling a diesel and read what you are buying you might not know if you don't pay attention.  My Cummins owners manual specifically says to NOT us Bio-Diesel.
 
Thanks to biofuels federal mandate,(2007) all diesel fuel has some bio fuel in it. I don?t what the percentage is up to now, but it goes up a little every year. I don?t know what state you were in, but for example, Minnesota mandates 10% bio (B10) from April thru September and 5% over the winter months the last I knew. I think Minnesota is going to B20 next year. Here in Colorado, the last time I asked my fuel supplier about it he said 2-3%. Be glad its in there for the lubricity since they pulled most all the sulphur out (2006).  I quit adding lubricity additives to diesel in about 2012 or 2013 when my supplier said they up to 1-1 1/2% bio.
There is a political move afoot to remove the federal biofuels mandate.
 
Click,
I  think if you go back and read your Cummins manual again, you'll find that it says, 20% MAXIMUM  biodiesel. Also, if you read the signs on the pump, they say that the fuel MAY  contain UP TO 20% biodiesel. I see this on all diesel pumps truck, car, or rv pumps. I recommend that you not worry about it. I certainly don't
I think many folks equate bio-diesel to ethanol. The only thing they have in common is that they are plant based.
 
My Cummins owners manual specifically says to NOT us Bio-Diesel.
Click to expand...

I think if you re-read that you will find that up to a 20% commercial bio-diesel blend is approved.  What they don't want you to do is fill the tank with used vegetable oil from the MacDonald's deep fryer.
 
The steam engine for the Grand Canyon Railway runs on used vegetable oil.
 
    It is claimed that biodiesel eats up some fuel lines. One article said that any vehicle made in the mid 90's my not have the proper hose installed and could result in a degrading of the rubber. Not sure yet about the seals in the injector pump but the low sulfur fuels have been shown to cause a slight leak around the seal on the throttle shaft like min is doing.
    One of the many things I like about my old M35A2-Deuce and a half, is it has a multifuel engine and can run on most anything, currently running 20% filtered waste motor oil. And yes the vegetable oil makes her smell like fried chicken and french fries
 
A lot of the truck drivers that come into the facility I work at do not like Biodiesel. Their first complaint is less fuel mileage. Even losing a 10th of a mile per gallon is a big deal to them, considering the miles they drive.
 
My Cummins engine is restricted to 5% bio,,I strive to use NONE,,and in Utah I can...(The flying hook's are all bio, that's why I don't use them any longer,,same with Love's).>>>D
 
I am considering ordering a new truck and one of the listings in options (at no charge) is "Bio diesel ready".  I asked the salesman what it entails and he said all it means is it has a sticker on the fender because all Cummins 6.7 engines are bio diesel compatible up to 20%.  I have run 50% filtered waste cooking oil in my 1996 model and it definitely smells like a fryer when doing so! 
 
I went to the Cummings site and it reads as if Bio-Diesel maybe used but if you use it you have to change your fuel filter more often (at first).  It reads as if the Bio-Diesel will "clean" your fuel system and therefore your fuel filter will have have a high yield collection of trash for a few months.

Cummins engines that can be used with B20 biodiesel?

On-Highway:  ISX, ISM, ISL and ISB engines certified to EPA ?02 and later emissions standards, ISL, and ISB engines certified to Euro 3.  I have an ISB XT, so I may use Bio-Diesel.

Cummins has approved B20 for the high horsepower engines listed above with the following fuel systems: Pressure Timed, High-Pressure Injection, Modular Common Rail Fuel Injection System and BOSCH Pump-Line-Nozzle.

Due to the solvent nature of B20, and the potential for ?cleaning? of the vehicle fuel tank and lines, new fuel filters must be installed when switching to B20 on used engines.  Fuel filters will need to be replaced at half the standard interval for the next two fuel filter changes. After this initial period, you may revert to the intervals specified in your O & M manual.

I won't worry about it as much but I will change my fuel filter more often the next two changes.


 
Clickhill, you have a 2015 coach. Stop obsessing over fuel filters. Your coach has been run on biodiesel since it was built. The statement from Cummins was regarding engines built many years ago.
 
It really does not mater when his engine was built,, it does mater were he buy's fuel,,example here in Utah and other western states, bio is not mandated. I have a choice in fuel and never use any bio. The most I have encountered is 5% and I bought only enough to get out of that state.>>>Dan
 
here in Utah and other western states, bio is not mandated.
Click to expand...

State mandates (or not) have little to do with it any more.  There is a national mandate (Congressional Acts of 1992. 2005, 2007) for use of renewable fuels, which is translated into an EPA requirement at the refinery level to produce and delivery a certain proportion of fuel production as bio-diesel & bio-gas. That percentage has been increasing yearly but a scheduled increase in bio-diesel for 2018 is on hold for now.  The regulations are complex, but I believe that at this time something like 9.6% of all diesel fuel produced must be some form of bio-fuel.  If one region is getting pure diesel (B0), then some other area has to be getting B20 to make up the national target percentage.

Maybe you can escape it for awhile, but at some point your choice will be a bio-diesel blend or nothing, cause the all the motor fuels produced will have at least some bio content.
 
ClickHill said:
On-Highway:  ISX, ISM, ISL and ISB engines certified to EPA ?02 and later emissions standards, ISL, and ISB engines certified to Euro 3.  I have an ISB XT, so I may use Bio-Diesel.
Click to expand...

Funny the ISC wasn't in the list. ???
 
I suspect that list is for current year engines, and the ISC is no longer marketed. The ISB and ISL now fully cover the HP & Torque range that the ISC used to handle.
 
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