Bringing this one back up.I don' have a manual for my Rabbit, so I can't figure out the proportions for the gas/diesel mixture ratio.Can anyone check thier manual and let me know what the exact mixture should be (the Bentley doesn't seem to have it)?The reason I ask, is my car started to sputter, miss, bog-down and smoke today. Temps were down to about 10-15F last night. Normally, that's not a problem, but I had only B20 biodiesel in my tank. I think it was leftover summer fuel, because it shouldn't have gelled at such a high temp.I pulled (well, more like sputtered, coasted, and chugged) into the gas station, and put in 4 gallons of #2 Diesel, and one gallon of 87 octane. The truck started up just fine afterwards (instantaneously), and ran great. I'm certain I wasn't low on fuel either (had about 3 gallons in the tank).On a similar side note. I had a customer for whom I resealed his pump. The car sat here for about a month before I got to it. When he picked it up, it was a cold day (about 30-36 F), but it started just fine and he said it never ran so good. Two weeks later, he calls and says it started to lose power on the way back from the grocery store. It was about 15-20 F that day too. He changed his filter, without any positve results. He rarely uses the car, and I think that he had some leftover summer fuel in there, and it gelled up on him.
i would worry about using more than 10 % gas to diesel. We used to tell customers [in like 1982] to put in about 1/2 gallon and to fill the rest with diesel ; that seemed to do the trick. Think of the damage that could happen if there is too much gas. Also biodiesel sitting in a tank for 6 months, plus the time it was in storage before could definitely mean that is has gone south. I just recently had to ditch some that we had in storage for a year. It was NASTY! It definitely has a shelf life.
Well, I think my problem had to do with the age of the biodiesel. It was 20% mix with #2, and I think I'm the only person in our area who buys it from this one station. I rarely see big trucks filling up there: either #2 or the Bio-Blend. So, I'm guessing the Bio-Blend is leftover from the summer: at least, that's what my car was telling me. As for the gas mix, I'm going to keep it low: like 1 gal per 14 gallons of diesel. We're having a cold snap here in the South (5 degrees last nite). Not northern cold, but cold nonetheless. I'll run this for like a week. Given how crappy my truck has been running lately, I don't think 2 gallongs of gas will do much harm, especially with a diesel additive.
Quote from: "Quantum TD"Well, I think my problem had to do with the age of the biodiesel. It was 20% mix with #2, and I think I'm the only person in our area who buys it from this one station. I rarely see big trucks filling up there: either #2 or the Bio-Blend. So, I'm guessing the Bio-Blend is leftover from the summer: at least, that's what my car was telling me. As for the gas mix, I'm going to keep it low: like 1 gal per 14 gallons of diesel. We're having a cold snap here in the South (5 degrees last nite). Not northern cold, but cold nonetheless. I'll run this for like a week. Given how crappy my truck has been running lately, I don't think 2 gallongs of gas will do much harm, especially with a diesel additive.I'd dump an can of diesel IP lube in the tank with the gas...
Topic: Diesel Cocktail (Read 4344 times)
