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Diesel Cocktail
by
klr4evr
on 20 Dec, 2008 08:23
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I've got an 82 Rabbit diesel. The manual indicates that you can mix gas with the diesel in cold weather. It's freakin' cold here and was wondering if anyone has tried this and what the results were.
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#1
by
Vincent Waldon
on 20 Dec, 2008 09:33
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Those are very old instructions from way back in 1982 and no longer apply.
Back then winterized diesel was not commonly available. Nowadays vendors winterize their diesel effectively... gelling is very rarely (if ever) an issue.
The other thing that's changed is gas... the unleaded gas available today is very "dry" and would be hard on your injection pump.
Some people run diesel additives in the winter just to be safe, but in general the diesel fuel available today will work very well in your engine, without any additional modifications.
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#2
by
klr4evr
on 20 Dec, 2008 10:05
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Thanks for that advice Vince. Looks like we are in the same town too. Are you on Airriders?
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#3
by
Vincent Waldon
on 20 Dec, 2008 12:34
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Yup... vdubs are my life. :cry:
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#4
by
Quantum TD
on 15 Jan, 2009 16:00
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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.
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#5
by
TurboJ
on 15 Jan, 2009 16:02
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You can safely run 1/3 petrol, 2/3 diesel.
BUT, I have no information on whether that works with biodiesel.
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#6
by
Quantum TD
on 15 Jan, 2009 16:15
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Ok. I think I read something like 7 gallons of diesel, 2-3 gallons gas. So, that sounds about right.
Thanks.
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#7
by
jtanguay
on 15 Jan, 2009 23:14
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i would imagine gasoline & biodiesel to be better... the biodiesel would make up in lubricity where the gasoline lacks...
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#8
by
fatmobile
on 15 Jan, 2009 23:29
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I think there should be some lubricity added,... maybe some 2-stroke oil.
It's meant to burn so it's ashless.
Biodiesel cannot be kept from gelling by additives.
Only heat will ungell it.
Actually that was a few years ago so maybe they have something that will keep it from gelling but gasoline won't.
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#9
by
the caveman
on 16 Jan, 2009 06:55
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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.
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#10
by
arb
on 16 Jan, 2009 07:11
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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'd run through this mixture and stick with straight winterized #2 - Gas has no lubricating properties like fuel oil. In fact, the ethanol is just the opposite and might carry enough water to cause corrosion in your pump.
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#11
by
jtanguay
on 16 Jan, 2009 10:24
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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.
sounds like you need some of this stuff to increase the shelf life of the bio...
http://www.powerservice.com/bk/
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#12
by
Quantum TD
on 16 Jan, 2009 10:51
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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.
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#13
by
arb
on 16 Jan, 2009 11:16
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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...
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#14
by
jtanguay
on 16 Jan, 2009 11:41
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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...
good idea. if you can, you might want to buy some of this stuff to stop gelling..
http://www.powerservice.com/dfs/all in one - cetane boost, anti gel, and lubricant.