diesel fuel question 8v71

It should be a marine diesel fuel which will be low sulfur. (Ultra low sulfur also available). We prefer Valvtech which has BioGuard. Low sulfur oils tend to destabilize quickly. Most marine products will have such an additive. If not it can be added at one quart per 375 gallons.

At home and most of the places we cruise, it is easy to find Marine diesel suppliers. There is a reason it does cost more than plane #2 diesel fuel.

isnt #2 oil low sulpher now?

I believe, off road/marine diesel is the same as #2 oil

DDs will live fine on #2 oil, add something like DK, if you want.

I would not use bio diesel in a marine engine.

I know someone who uses heating oil with lubricity add in his commercial boat, big tanks 20K litres, fills in the fall to avoid any questions on taxes etc as heating oil here is taxed different than marine off road diesel. so far he states no issues with his mains. Unless you are going to save a bundle it may be false economy.

Heating oil (#2 oil) and off road diesel are sold from the same tank.
Both have a red dye.

on road diesel is clear without any red dye.

the difference is the red dye.

My distributor up here told me it is different and he has to be careful keeping records of any sold to boats unless can be verified as a heating fuel only , also he indicated that a lubricant should be added if used as a diesel engine fuel..be gets his fuel from the refinery.

Yes and no. They all have the same base oil, but the additives for the marine fuel is different. Where a marine fuel is not available, then it is suggested to use additives on top of the fuel used.

The only difference is the flash point. If the flash point is not at least 60*C it is not marine diesel fuel.

There are no additives that convert on or off road diesel fuel, heating oil, or jet fuel into marine diesel.

Just go with off road diesel and you and the Detroits will be fine.

As to the point of additives in diesel fuel. No, they aren't required to label it marine fuel. However, nearly all marine fuels sold at marinas as well as those sold by regular marine fuel suppliers do have additives. This would include such companies in South Florida as Peterson and Luk Fuel.

When one talks about what an 8v71 will operate on, certainly it will run on any #2 diesel fuel. However, the diesel fuel of times past is not that of today. Low sulfur fuels and ultra low sulfur fuels destabilize quicker than sulfur fuels did. They also have less lubricity, may contain more moisture and are more susceptible to bacteria and filter plugging than higher sulfur diesel fuel was. The point of additives in quality marine diesel is to offset the loss of sulfur. In some applications this may not be important. Much depends on how long the fuel will be stored.

Note that sulfur itself is not a lubricant. However, it combines with other metals to develop lubricant qualities. Also the process used to produce low sulfur fuel reduces the lubricity of the fuel. Low sulfur is 500 ppm and ultra low is 15 ppm. Ralph mentions a specification that is 0.5%. That is 5000 ppm and is not available today.

So, can you burn home heating oil? Yes. Can you burn #2 Diesel with no additives? Yes. Would I use them personally in my boat on a regular basis, containing no additives? No. If I was using them without additives, then I'd use a produce such as Diesel Guard. Note that it would not be appropriate to use with fuel already containing an additive.

So the statement that there are no additives that convert diesel fuel to marine fuel may be technically correct, the majority of marine fuel does have additives for the reasons outlined above. Perhaps it's not necessary and perhaps it depends on the engine and the use as well as the storage. But the majority of diesel sold as "marine fuel" for the recreational boater does have additives.

Off road diesel is what you want to use. I too would add a good marine additive or diesel kleen in it.

Marine diesel fuel produced b quality refiners does not need any additives for normal use, what is does need is attention to water ingress when in your tank and before it gets into your engine.
That's all folks.

Heating Oil versus Diesel or Kerosin

The only difference between heating oil and on- or offroad diesel is the fuel tax and the red colour additive in the heating oil for the tax department, in order to catch people using heating oil unlawfull in their cars or pleasure boats. The fuel trucks pick up both fluids from the same tank and the truck driver just poors the colour into the tank prior delivery of heating oil to the customer. Automotive diesel according to EN 590 is the highest quality, lowest sulfur type of diesel available. Any modern common rail turbo diesel car engine would quit service on (dirty) MGO or MDO.

Our inland cargo vessels (with MTU 2000 or 4000 series heavy duty rating engines) run officially and legally only on heating oil without any adjustments all year long.

Kerosin has only some anti freeze additives for high altitude flying and with MIL spec some anti corrosive additive but any turbine or jet engine will run for ever on diesel or heating oil as long as it stays out of deep freezing temperatures. The problem is only the certification by the authorities.

All propeller and stationary gas turbines and most jet engines will run flawless also on petrol type fuel, as long as the operator keeps an eye on the exhaust gas temperature, especially during engine startup. I have had serveral incidents, where the fuel truck driver filled 100 LL aviation petrol fuel for piston engines into my Turbine Bonanza. I never bothered about defueling and used it during flight (but I only payed the JetA price ).

In my past like I worked on D.D.s for a living. Remember that in their day DDs were used in every imaginable application! They were the #1 diesel power in the world! They will run on #2 off road diesel just fine. Don't waste your money on fancy additives. dump a quart or two off ATF in the tank before fill up to add some more lubricant for todays fuel.
ILELBOAT

Hi,

I assume you are like me I worked on a lot of them doing my apprenticeship.

I will never tire of the sound of one fully on song.

I was just at my beach house and had the air filled for nearly a week by an 8v53 powered stump grinder working about a mile away. When the breeze was from that direction you would swear it was in the back yard.

Pure Bliss - My other half did not see it that way unfortunately.

hey gentlemen,pulling this thread out from the grave..So I am in Puerto rico and suspect is just normal diesel fuel at best(hopefully)as opposed to marine grade fuel..I have 2009 1550 hp Man's that run great and stainless steel fuel tanks, underwater exhaust..What fuel additives do you like from a lube/bio/water aspect more so than soot or cold starts??thanks