I'm looking at the Mercedes Diesel based sprinters Mercedes says do not run anything over B5. *** I'm not sure if regular petroleum based Diesel or B5 is even available in my area. (Charlotte,NC) should I stay away from Diesel altogether ?
Minimum soy oil in MN is 10%. Problem with field grease diesel is it comes out of suspension at too high a temperature and waxes filters. If you don’t reach -10F temps I wouldn’t be concerned with higher than 5% swamp fuel. Even with the mandates here, I have never waxed a filter in 20 years of running diesel up here, but I also don’t run any of the newer emissions-destroyed models.
We had a local city try bio diesel in their trash trucks. It ate the seals alive in the injectors and filled the crankcase with fuel. I’d only try bio diesel on old mechanical injection engines. Never on modern common rails.
I actually don't pay that much attention, but I'm pretty sure just like gas without ethanol, all our diesel has some bio. I'm wondering if he had something else going on? Although I do know my Duramax goes through injectors and the truck starts smoking when they go bad. But my old 7.3 stuff doesn't have that problem, neither did my Isuzu diesel?
I loved diesels and have owned many over the last 40 years. I wouldn't own one now, unless you have to for pulling heavy stuff. I still have three that are 99,02,08 model years.
this wasn’t just one truck. It’s a large fleet of trash trucks with Cummins ISL and ISB engines. They were able to quickly narrow it down the bio diesel they were using at that time. I think they were just looking for a cheaper fuel option and it didn’t work out.
At what % does it seem to have a problem? I think we are at 10% out here, but I'm going to check the next time I fill up the diesel, it is usually my driver that fills it, so I really don't know.
I’d stick to whatever they recommend. If it isn’t designed for X%, then it will cause problems. For example, small engines (mowers, etc.) are not certified on more than E10, so the fuel systems aren’t spec’d to handle it. E85 would almost certainly cause problems.
My F350 (6.7 l) is supposed to be certified to run bio.....If I pull in for a refuel and all they have is B10 I only put in enough to get me down the road to next stop. I do my best to avoid it.
Bio Diesel will result in less MPG and also fuel filter changes more frequently, not to mention a slight loss of power vs. dino diesel. I totally avoid it if humanly possible. My 2016 F350 Dually 6.7L is rated to operate on up to 20% bio, but I'm not using that shit unless I am forced to, and then I'll be like Motofun352....just enough to get me down the road to somewhere that sell dino diesel.
This discussion has been informative to me. I have seen the stickers on pumps but have not read up on the impact of larger percentages of Bio-fuel on my trucks. The ethanol analogy makes it more clear to me. I'll be paying closer attention to the pumps now. How prevalent are bio-fuel additives at larger truck stops, versus the average auto station diesel pumps? Similar, or less? This also reminds me to source and and install an auxiliary fuel filter on my relatively new F350 6.7l truck.
Yep, glad I read this. I have a 2017 F350 and more and more stations around here have started to swap to bio diesel. I have been running it, but will now try to fill at places that still do D2.
Interesting, I didn’t know they were slipping bio diesel into the general public. I thought it was something you had to actually search out and not try and avoid like ethanol. What are the abbreviations to tell you what you’re buying like the B5 and D2 mentioned and what do they mean? learn something new everyday on the BBS and today it seems it’s about diesel.
On the way in I decided to look at some stations by my office. The first one I stopped at was an Arco and it contains more than 20% bio. Next stop was a union 76 and the same thing. Chevron is the same. Their names were B94, B95 and B9x, the sticker says over 20% bio. if the name means anything it sounds like they’re all over 90% bio. I noticed the Union 76 stations say renewable D#2. Last stop was a truck stop and their fuel says B20. The sticker says contains 5-20% bio.
The number is supposed to indicate the percentage of bio if it is above 5%. Up to 5% no special label is required. Around here I have only seen B10 once. I did see bio blends a few times in the South West, but was always able to find dino diesel. Here are the FTC regulations on pump labeling. @tony 340 why do you say to be careful what year Sprinter to buy?
I don't think you are looking at it correctly, and I may be mistaken, but something like B94 or B95 would mean 6% bio for the B94, and 5% bio for the B95. I've never hear of bio diesel exceeding the 20% value. Like I said, maybe I'm wrong and someone can come along and clarify this for us.
While we are on the topic of diesel engine fuels, I'm curious if anyone here can help educate me on the subject of 'cetane booster & performance improver' fuel additives. I was advised by some diesel techs to run them in my 6.0 after experiencing some injector issues. They were ultimately likely due to a non visible rusty fuel filler neck, but I had been continuing to use up the bottles I owned in my 6.7. I'm even more curious to learn of any benefits, after reading about higher percentages of bio-fuels on the market now. I am not referring to anti-gel additives that I use in cooler weather. This is "What I'm learning in 'beeb school today..." Need to get out and help my friends with grooming the trails for tomorrow's charity ride!
