RED OR DYED FUEL IN 2008 FORD F-550 POWER STROKES?

If you are talking about #2 diesel fuel, it is the same with or without the dye added.

If you are talking about fuel oil, that is a different matter altogether. In fuel oil, dyes are sometimes used to differentiate the various grades, and it is not recommended for use in automotive diesel engines.

Research the difference between the two.

sorry for the confusion it is number 2 home heating type fuel oil, will it damage the new 08 fords that have the international duel turbo / spil rail fuel injection system?

thanks

Home heating oil should NOT be used in any modern automotive diesel engine.

Has the wrong additive set, and the viscosity is wrong for injectors. Diesel engines have a very much smaller orifice, and operate at much higher pressures as opposed to oil furnaces, which are dependent on a continuous spray while firing.

In short, home heating oil WILL damage the fuel system in your truck.

Buy clean (diesel) fuel, and keep it clean!

Most truckers take a dime and drill a hole in it and place it in the feul return line. That builds back pressure in the fuel lines and put more fuel into the cylinders. Increased power at high speeds and on steep mountian grades.

The red dye is only to prevent truck drivers from using up the supply of heating oil that is usually has a much lower price.

You get caught running off road fuel (off road, agricultural, construction equipment, heating oil) and you will either wind up in jail or at the very least pay huge fines because you have dodged paying the road tax.

Uncle Sam takes a dim view of having to do with less.

Travis

The legality of of using off road fuel in pickup aside, there are reasons for using it in a pick up. If the truck is not operated on public roads it doesn't owe road tax. Some ranch trucks are never tagged and never see a public road. Like wise a vehicle in a federal park owned by the government doesn't pay road tax. I doubt that is the case here but it is not impossible. In the boon docks you can't always get tax free fuel without using farm fuel.

in Oklahoma we used to get two grades of diesel Red for summer and green for cold starts in winter. Our air temperature can range from 122 f to 30 below zero over the course of year. We usually shut down at over 115 f as the altitude density got too high[air too thin] and the radiator too inefficient to do much work with a tractor. The colder and harder then wind blows the more important is that something start to get feed to the cattle.

At the cost of fuel today I would be running the tractors at night to use less fuel. I don't know what difference in red and green diesel was but worked fine in 1980 pickups. I would find out the difference before I used it in a new engine.

Gordon

I assume your are in the USA. If so, it is illegal to use dyed fuel in any road vehicle, because no highway taxes have been paid on that fuel.

If you are in farm country, it is also highly likely that such fuel was stolen!

Please be a law-abiding citizen!

yes , we are in the new york area, the main question here was the possilble damages that may occur on two ford truck one is 2006 f-550 and the other is a 2008 ford f550 the newer one has the new ford twin turbo motor. thanks very much

This is an interesting issue. I have talked with different engineers within Ford and the answers vary considerably. The issues of concern centre around the particulate trap and sulpher content of the fuel used. Diesel engines from 2007 onwards use a regenerative particualte trap as well as a catalytic exhaust to meet emissions standards.

Fuel companies had to get the sulpher content in the fuel down to a maximum of 15 ppm from 500 ppm in order fo these emissions systems to work. In the US, the standard was set that the new Ultra Low Sulpher Diesel fuel would be available in 80% of the retail outlets in the country and 100% by the end of 2010. Off road fuel follows roughly the same schedule.

Off road fuel, aside from not having road tax paid on it is normally the high siulpher content fuel as most vehicles used for agriculture, forrestry, etc are older engines. The problem is that you can't tell which fuel is which. All the dye does is tell you that tax hasn't been paid on the fuel.

On the older engine, without the new emissions systems, the type of fuel doesn't matter. Either one will work without problem. In the new one, engineers seem to be split. I have been told that as little as two tanks of high sulpher fuel can ruin the trap and it is expensive to replace and that the motor will not work properly without it, so you just can't cut it out of the system. The next engineer claimed that all that will happen is tha the trap will cleanse itself on a more frequent basis and that the life of the trap, while reduced, will still be years long.

Who to beleive? That answer I don't have. If the people who design the systems can't agree, I suspect the truth is somewhere in between. The new F550 will run on "farm fuel" for a while and if you are lucky, there won't be a problem.

One other point to consider is that your red fuel may be low sulpher diesel, you need to check with the fuel supplier. Some stations find it easier to just use ULSD and add dye when the sale is for off road use.

Experience tells me you can count on U.S. Auto Designers to make it hard for the vechile owner to adapt for problems with fuel and anyother things life throws at us without taking the vechile in to service center so they can make a few bucks off you.

Strange that you pay $900.00 for a lawn mower and you get a manuel with a complete breakdown of the equipment with part numbers and a wiring diagram.

You pay $40,000 for a vechile and you get a owners manuel.

DOES ANYBOND KNOW ABOUT BIODIESEL AND CAN IT BE USED?

Not on the road, for the same use tax/excise tax reasons. Also biodiesel can be high in sulfur too, damaging the regenerative particulate traps. the particulate traps are similar to catalytic converters in that they have a platinum/palladium/rhodium catalyst in them and they filter soot deposits from the engine and periodically a heating element turns on to catalytically burn off the soot buildup. But sulfur poisons the catalyst and the filter trap will clog and not burn off.

Biodiesel will also damage o-ring seals in some vehicles leading to fuel leaks, and it will also dissolve the gunk built up in the fuel system and clog the fuel filters initially until the gunk is gone. for the first few months of running biodiesel, you'll need to replace the fuel filters often.

Wow, if you dont mind me asking how do you know so much about diesel motors?

Who is John Galt?

John Galt is the one who had the answers and the founder of Galt's Gulch.

With a government that resembels that depicted in Atlas Shrugged more and more every day I would jump at the chance of moving to Galt's Gulch.

If you find it, say hi to Fransisco, Dagney and Hank for me.

Travis

PS
Some time ago I ordered a toner refill kit for our laser printer. The name on the package was John Galt. I called them and asked for Dagney. They got a chuckle because they have only gotten a few calls from those in the know.

Based on what I have read over at fordtrucks.com and thedieselstop.com I would think to stay clear. Fords old 7.3 and 6.9 liters had no EGR or particle filters seen on the newer trucks and could run on anything including waste fluids. These new trucks require (unscheduled) emissions system maintenance even running 15ppm ULSD. I'd expect to see high sulfur diesel kill the new engines fast. Not that you'd be creating harmful damage, you'll just be adding frequent work to keep things running.

If you do that, you'll be hard pressed to pass the emissions tests that new diesels will be required to pass in most states in the coming years. replacing that catalytic particulate trap will be expensive too since they are full of platinum group metals.

I agree. It's a bad idea to run anything besides ULSD through the new diesel's.

Currently there are no "real" emissions tests on diesel vehicles in the USA. Only visual inspection to make sure the OEM emission equipment is intact and the exhaust gases pass a subjective clarity test (ie. no black smoke.) The exact details of the test differ from state to state.

Newer vehicles will be required to pass new tests that are in development now. Old existing vehicles will still be subject to current requirements. There is no way an old IDI could pass an emissions test of any kind. It would likely clog up the test equipment.

The fuel won't damage the engine. It will damage the catalytic converter. So if you can find a way to bypass/cheat/remove that, you could use the fuel. Since you don't care if its legal or not.

Any fuel to be used in cars, trucks, boats, airplanes, etc, must meet the ASTM requirements. Diesel fuel must have a good cetane number, low sulfur content, the right viscosity, etc. Fuel #2 looks like diesel fuel but do not meet ASTM specifications, therefore, you should not use any fuel (red or any color) that does not meet ASTM specifications. Only authorized dealers can give you a good diesel. The same for biodiesel, if your truck is old you can use a mixture of diesel and biodiesel, but if they are not within specifications, you will have problems (gum, sulfur, bad cetane, etc).

Is there a Biodiesel that works with new 2008 Low sulfur diesel engines that will not KILL the catalytic Converter in the Long Run?

Sure there are. The problem you will run into is again the over the road taxes. The state of Texas lists several manufacturers of B5 Biodiesel that are approved for sale. One company just got through building a production plant that converts restaurant waste fryer oil to biodiesel over in El Campo TX. and another was built near the Houston Ship Channel next to the refinery complexes. Another was built in Galveston.

I don't know about your concern with the particle filter clogging but here is an interesting article on how it works.

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060714/FREE/60710004&SearchID=732507777206

I would be additionally concerned with moisture or fuel viscosity hurting the injectors or HPOP. These new engines rely on enormous amounts of pressure to atomize the fuel. Any moisture will vaporize instantly and corrode the injector parts. I don't see the extra high viscosity of the bio having kind effects on the HPOP.

I wish "someone" would develop aftermarket injectors and high pressure oil pumps that could be impervious to damage or at least easily rebuildable. A remote HPOP that doesn't require taking apart half the truck to get to?

2007 and back have a HPOP or high pressure oil pump.Common rail diesels have a high pressure fuel pump not oil.The 2008 is a common rail as the duramax and cummins have.I Have logged hundreds of thousands of miles on powerstrokes on dyed #2.I had no problems with 6.0 injectors when lots of people were.Two trucks and 600000kms,absolutely no problems.On the 2008 buy an sct tuner with the dpf delete and a delete pipe kit from elitedieselengineering.com and have fun,literally double fuel mileage,and 120-200hp on cheap #2 diesel.The high sulphur content is alot like the lead in gasoline used to be,its a cushion and a lubricant for top end of motor,fuel system,etc,but does make more emissions.So you guys that keep giving advice,know what you are talking about or turn off the computer,youre not helping anybody.A HPOP ON A 2008 COMMON RAIL.HA HA.GET A CLUE OR BUY ONE PLEASE.Oh yeah the water and moisture comment.These trucks have a good water seperator and an IDIOT LIGHT on the instrument panel.If thats not enough a fass fuel system will solve that with industrial style filters.And up here in alberta you are going to get more water in fuel from climate than type of fuel used so cut that stupid crap out.Its as annoying as ridiculous and stupid