Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel Advise

[eze2bme]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A friend of mine who owns a trucking company (and a 67CPMY with 12V71T's) asked his shop mechanic about this issue and here was his reply:

"This was a problem back in 1993 when we when to the LSD or >500 ppm of sulfur fuel. The engine companies changed the o-ring rubber material to correct the problem of the o-rings coming apart. Since that time we have not had that problem. As for the lower lubricity question, that was a great concern until we started running it in October of 2006. The question was are we going to have injector problems due to lower lubricity of the diesel. This should a two parts to this question. First will it effect both the older lower pressure injectors as you have or just the newer very high pressure injectors of the 2004 and later engines? The second part is what can be done about it if anything is required?

What we have found with our truck engines is that the older engines are doing just fine with the ULSD and did not have an increase number of injector problems. The newer engines have had problems with the injectors before the ULSD was put out to the field and the problems have not slowed down. While I cannot say that there will not be a problem I would not say that the ULSD is going to hurt or help your injectors. It will increase your fuel usage and cost to operate. Adding a lubricity modifier will not hurt and it may help but we have not had to use any in our truck engines."

His final suggestion was to add Marvel Mystery Oil to each tank to assist with lubing the parts. Any thoughts from you guys on this and how much would you add??

By the way ... I've searched around for the best prices on Diesel Kleen + Cetane Boost and found it at Tractor Supply @ $14 per gallon.

[captddis]

Usually 1 qt of MMO per 100 gallons of fuel.

[MikeP]

As I've said many times, I'm a big fan of MMO but it IS also a really good detergent. So be prepared for a lot of filter clogging if there is a lot of crud that is stuck to the tank sides/fuel lines right now. It won't be after the MMO's in there! Have some extra filters just in case and I wouldn't add MMO for the first time just prior to a long trip.

I had a terrible experience with this on my last boat - the MMO cleaned the system so well that the filters were clogging every 15 minutes. I had to eventually make a "vacuum cleaner" using a fuel pump and a Gulf Coast filter and vacuum the tanks with a hose/rod as well as run all the fuel through the GC filter before I was able to run the boat without it starving for fuel every 15-20 minutes at cruise speed. The amount of black tar-looking stuff that came out of the tanks was unbelievable. It was relatively harmless before the MMO went in since it was adhering to everything.

I'm not suggesting that MMO not be used, it's truly great stuff. Just be aware of the potential for clogging filters unless/until the fuel system and fuel is clean.

[eze2bme]

I need to make a correction. I went to Tractor Supply today here in South Carolina to pick up some Diesel Kleen + Centane Boost and found that they had given me some bad pricing info. The largest size container that it comes in is not by the gallon but 96 oz @ $14.33 plus tax. Price comparison = WalMart @ $15.20 plus tax and NAPA @ $15.99 plus tax.