Old fuel. Should you run it or pitch it.

[Ronw435]

I had fuel in the rear tank for about 3-4 years. The FSV is bad and was wondering if I should run the fuel after cleaning out the tank or pitch it? The fuel is a yellow/green color and is clear. Doesnt smell real bad. If I put some diesel extreme in it would it be safe to run it?

Thanks
Ronw435

 

[WrenchWhore]

With the fuel prices the way they are I'd strain it, mix it 50/50 with good fuel and put some two stroke oil in it and run it.

 

[Ronw435]

Thanks WrenchWhore. It actually looked good but the smell was a little off.

 

[rvitko]

I had the same thing when I got my truck and I ran it. The old owner had a blow out which ripped the rear tank neck off and the switch over valve died as well. That tank was full. I drained it and just blended in some diesel preservative and stanadyne additive and used it up 5 gallons at a time with fresh fuel. It just smelled stale like kerosene, not much smell at all, but looked ok.

 

[Big Bart]

Some more thoughts -

1) If it was straight #2 diesel, agree 50/50 new and old and send it.
2) If bio diesel send it to the hazzardous waste collector.
3) If you had a algae bloom, also ditch it. You would see gunk in the tank and likely on the sides too.

 

[Ronw435]

Thanks all for the replys. Im going to mix it with fresh fuel and burn it.

 

[Selahdoor]

Yep. With the cost of fuel now, I'd run it through an old tee shirt. Or coffee fliter. Mix in some diesel kleen. Then run it as much as 50/50 with new diesel.

 

[Greenie]

Run it. The northeast is largely heated by #2 oil - which usually sits in a basement in a 275 gallon tank and never is completely run empty, rarely, if ever gets bacterial or other issues but is sprayed into a chamber at 100psi with tiny passages and doesn't clog.
Master oil burner technician, licensed since 1986

 

[teletech]

Another vote for add fresh and run it.
I own several trucks that get run just a couple times a year, so old fuel is *very* common and I've never had an issue. I do find adding fresh sometimes helps things run a little better.

 

[Joezam]

Just mix some Marvel Mystery oil additive and run, only thing you need to worry about is algae. I was a truck driver for 30 years, we never wasted used fuel.

 

[1mouse3]

Old diesel fuel has a chance of getting algae and a overdose of Power Service Products Clear Diesel will brake it up so you can get flow out it. Just it was clogging filters when I got it runing last year after sitting some time, it has to make a run so drained it. It could not rung the tank all the way down without the ufo, was a factor of lingering unkown left in the tank. This what that looked like after a dran mixing some time, this might fiter out and could be back in. If it dont look like this after a full drain, you should be good to go with the fuel.

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[SultanofNACL]

I have a fuel transfer pump that I attached a 10 micron fuel filter to, so whenever the weather cooperates I just hook the pump up to pull through the metal fuel lines that run along the frame to the engine mounted lift pump. The pump sucks through the FSV, pushes the fuel through the filter, and the fuel gets dumped into the tanks.

Not the best way to filter junk from the old fuel, but certainly helps splash blend old and new diesel.

 

[Knuckledragger]

I bought my truck with 10 year old fuel in it, had no issues running it. That being said, it did live those years in the high desert in CA with low humidity, so no algae bloom (and probably no additives). Pump some out and look at it. If it looks clean and without much color, it is good to go.

 

[Ronw435]

Just an update. I put the old fuel in the rear tank and fresh in the front tank and switched back and forth and noticed no difference.
Thanks for the advice.