[Ler]

Arco stations here in LA are beginning to sell low sulfur diesels- according to advertisements, these fuesl reduce particulates, etc. I'm worried about the lubricity of these low-sulfur diesels, and what kind of effect they might have on the injection pump. I've been told that adding a couple of ounces of something (i.e. ATF, Marvel Mystery Oil, etc.) per tank helps with this.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this, or know of injection pumps that failed after repated use of low-sulfur diesels? Or am I just paranoid?

 

[seanrob]

...

 

[seanrob]

I remember when the sulfur levels were first reduced in diesel fuel back in the mid '90's....

I remember when the sulfur levels were first reduced in diesel fuel back in the mid '90's. At the time I had a '92 VW Jetta with the eco diesel engine. I recall hearing about how the seals were going to shrink in the injection pump and that my car was going to explode and that the whole world was going to cease to exist. Luckily, none of that happened. The VW was just as happy with the new fuel as it was with the old stuff. In addition to that car we had, and still have, an '82 300 TD. We have owned it since new and it now has close to 290,000 miles. The fuel system is all original and still performs flawlessly. The only item that has been replaced on the injection pump is the shut off valve, and it really doesn't count since fuel has nothing to do with it. At any rate, if one is judcious in keeping the filters changed and uses a good diesel fuel additive at fill up, I personally think that there will be no problems with a low sulfur fuel. We use Redline 85 plus but I have been considering switching to Shell's Rotella DFA as it is less expensive and is sold at Wal Mart. The Redline is more conviently packaged though. The reason that I think that a good diesel fuel additive is important is because unlike gasoline, refiners are not required to add cleaning agents to diesel fuel. Most refiners produce two types of diesel, a premium and a standard. Only the premium gets the cleaning agents. Well, we both know that the retailers are not going to spend more money on the premium diesel fuel when they can buy the standard fuel and have better profit margins when they sell it at the pump. Ergo, I feel that additives are important for diesel owners in order to ensure that the necessary cleaning agents are there . Plus, my 300 TD seems to be happy with them.
If you want more info check out this site:

http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/fuels/

or:

http://www.rotella.com/products/rotella-dfa.html

 

[Ler]

Thanks for the info...

On a positive note, it looks like there's less particulate in the exhaust with the low sulfur fuel.

 

[lietuviai]

Yeah, these low sulfur fuels keep my tail light over the tail pipe from getting all sooty....

Yeah, these low sulfur fuels keep my tail light over the tail pipe from getting all sooty. I used to have a diesel Nissan pick up and one tail light would always be full of soot from tail pipe because of the old type of fuel.[xx(]

 

[afroney123]

I wouldnt think it would hurt anything

The United States are pumping the types of diesel that the Europeans have had for quite awhile. I know from one of my German classes, that any European type of diesel, has much lower sulfer contents than the U.S. versions.