This is true for just about anywhere.

I have hauled many loads of fuel and you will see all sorts of fancy-painted "branded" fuel trucks, all waiting their turn in the same line, and all loading from the same barge; they may say there are extra goodies in their fuel, but you are mostly having your leg pulled.

 

I have religiously used one ounce/gallon of Walmart TC-W3 two-cycle oil in everything diesel around here, regardless of what else I may dump in the tank.

The wife just brought in a new gallon from Walmart and it has some information I had no idea what it meant, so I am right now reading from the jug:

Two-Stroke Marine Oil DFI & TC-W3

DFI = Direct Fuel Injection

It says it is Ashless

It says it can be used in a high variety of two-cycle engines including chainsaws and etc. (That is good to know as my old big Stihl has consumed many gallons of it over the years with no ill effects that I have been able to determine)

If and when I get to the Rural King, four counties over, they have Pennzoil in gallon jugs that is about half the price of the Walmart stuff; I have ran several gallons of the Pennzoil, but it says "Synthetic Blend".

In winter, I add white-bottle Power Service at twice the recommended dose as we did have several to gell one frigid morning with just a bit over recommended dose; I mean the fuel turned to lard.

The curious thing about Power Service is you cannot trust what you read from jug size to jug size; the jug will say "Treats XXX-many Gallons and it will not coincide from one size jug to another; a lot of discrepancy there.

I have often been guilty of dumping in used engine oil; only from my own vehicles and usually no more than five gallons mixed in my 52-gallon auxiliary tank; I used to be all obnoxious about straining and pre-filtering the used oil; but, there is something like ten filters between the tank and the engine so lately I just dump it in and run with it.

I don't often add transmission fluid, mostly as new is prohibitively expensive; but, if I run across a good deal, I will lay it too it without hesitation.

When I was a kid at our filling station, a good friend and genuine diesel mechanic, who could get everything there was to get out of a big diesel engine, was adamant about adding several quarts of transmission fluid to the fuel every time I filled his saddle tanks; I had to stab that chrome spout through the metal tops of those paste-board cans; three generations of you guys don't know what I am talking about.

A nearby injection pump and injector rebuilder guy is adamant about running at least an ounce/gallon of whatever transmission fluid is on sale; he says that the cleanest, least worn pumps and injectors that he sees have been religiously running a mix of transmission fluid; he has several 1st Generation Cummins in various trucks and says he has never had a pump off nor an injector pulled since the engines were new.

One thing I have to like about the guy is he refuses to work on a pump unless you also bring the injectors, which makes good sense if you think about it.

If I haven't lost my audience yet, I will say this about running a mix of used oil = always a problem but much more so with the low-Sulphur fuels, not "if" but hidden within the confines of your dark diesel tank(s) is a growth commonly mis-called "Algae".

This Algae can be either little globs clinging to the sides of the tank, or a thick blanket floating on top of the fuel; you can't see it but it is there.

A heavy dose of used oil will kill this stuff and then break it up/loose and it will then start finding it's way into your filter(s) and clogging them up; used oil does a better job of this than anything you can buy specifically for the job.

This is sort of a two-edged sword; it is good to get the stuff killed and out of there; but, it is quite expensive and unhandy to have filters stopping up at inopportune times and places.

But, once you get it killed, it is a long time in coming back.

So, if you try a generous dose of used oil and start having filter trouble, it ain't the used oil stopping up the filters, but the infestation of Algae that the used oil has killed.

 

Is your local diesel a mix? B5? B20? IIRC biodiesel will clean out the tanks too.

I have a few gallons of Honda gear oil, new. I poured 2 gallons into the tank one time. Maybe 1/2 a tank of fuel. People were tailgaiting me? Tip into the throttle and dose them with some smoke

 

I run the Stanadyne lubricity formula. Less treats more per gallon than power service etc plus all I care about is lubing the VE. It’s cheaper than running additives that have all the other additives like cetane boosters because you use less. Never tried the free solutions but if you replace your fuel filter regularly I guess that would work too.

 

So far as I know, Kentucky is not such a "green" state as to require mixing vegetable oils in the fuel; if they are, they are keeping it a secret from us.

My own observations of the bio-fuels is that - at least in older engines - they create a lot of problems, both in the short run and in the long run.

I can't speak as to whether bio-mix will kill "Algae" or not; my first thoughts were that it would contribute to the growth.

I know that real Algae is a huge problem here in ultra-humid Viet-Nam - err, I mean Kentucky.

I have a 30-gallon tub that the horse drinks from and it is a constant fight with the pressure-washer to keep it cleaned out; big long slimy scummy green stringy globs of the stuff will absolutely take over the small tub within a couple days of being power-washed and bleached.

I am sure that fuel Algae behaves in much the same manner.

As for the horse water, I have considered one of those small stainless automatic-filling bowls; but, the water standing in the supply lines will get near the boiling/scalding point and just a little squirt here and there in such a small dish would always be scalding hot --- or froze solid in the winter.

 

Bought my truck in late 2007. It had green stringy stuff in the separator/filter. Ran Howe's and never saw algae since.