I bought this truck about 5 months ago and parked it, did a couple things to it(oil change, etc), then got sidetracked. It's got under half a tank in it. Should I drain it or treat it with something or just run it?

I ask because my only diesel experience was with a 2 cyl Yanmar in my sailboat and I was told countless times that old and/or dirty fuel was the best way to kill the engine.

 

I have run diesel after it sat in 5 gallon jerry cans for 2 years or more, and you might say I live in a harsh environment...Mark

 

I was told that Diesel was good for 2 years.
Mark you live in the blowing sand belt. Your problem is air filters not fuel.

 

When I was younger, we had 2 or 3 sand storms a year, but they seemed to go away for years. They have made a return in the last couple of years. An old timer once told me the diesel can be burned indefinately. I have 10 gallons in jerry cans, that have been in there since 2005, when I installed the auxiliary tank. I'll put it in the tank tomorrow and we'll see how six year old diesel runs. At least it was a LOT cheaper......Mark

 

Mark, you better check it for Fungus if its that old.

 

go fill it up and take a long drive, you'll be fine

 

It is my understanding that a bunch of Poland-China hogs died tens of millions of years ago and got buried under the earth by ice-ages, volcanos, earth-quakes, and other such catastrophes.

These hogs rotted under extreme heat and pressure and turned to diesel fuel disguised as crude-oil.

After tens of millions of years, what's a few decades one way or the other ??


I have ran fuel that was older than me with no ill results.

If it ain't no more than four or five years old and already in the tank, I would dump in a gallon of TC-W3 two-cycle oil and drive the whiz out of it.


For old or questionable fuel that is not already in the tank, I pour it through my MR FUNNEL.

 

That's pretty unanimous.

I know diesel USED to last a long time but it was my understanding that after the Waco, TX incident, the govt. made them start adding something to the fuel to make it start breaking down after 6 months to prevent people from stockpiling large amounts.

Also, when I had my boat, I had to put stuff in the tank to prevent biological growth like algae or something from growing in the fuel. Is marine diesel different?

 

If its any percentage of biodiesel its probably bad but if its just plain fuel its probably fine.

 

Diesel itself takes a long time to break down(long chain hydrocarbons last a lot longer than short chain ones). That said though, diesel sitting in a tank will attract water through the normal heating and cooling of the day. As well diesel can support certain forms of fungi/bacteria that will make a black sludge.
As far as the Waco incident ... sounds like it came straight from the tinfoil hat brigade.

 

X2 There may have been a whacko in Waco, but there are many more elsewhere...

 

What happened in Waco ??

 

The whacko that shot a bunch of federal agents then burned down the place with all the people inside, David Karesh I think. It was during the Clinton administration. There are a ton of conspiracy theories and I think everyone involved has something to hide...Mark

 

There is a sludge of living organisms that thrive in DARKNESS and in the layer of water that is in ALL fuel-tanks, EVEN YOURS.


Most call it algae, but it is not algae; this stuff thrives in darkness; whereas, algae MUST have sunlight to exist.


The older the tank, the higher the population of this crud, sometimes so high as to create a floating "mat" that floats on top of the water and below the diesel.


Many is the redneck that has ran their tank down low, stopped at their favorite fuel-stop, poked the fast-delivery nozzle in the neck, and stirred all this crap up.

Then, on leaving the fuel-stop, sometimes while still in the parking-lot, a wad of this gook gets sucked into the fuel-line and clogs things up.

Then, they jump on here and bemoan to everyone, warning them to be sure and never buy fuel from station X, when they had been hauling the problem around with them for years.

 

There just isn't any moisture here in the desert, I bet diesel lasts 100 years...Mark