I have just replaced my VP44, and filled the tank with BP Diesel, I got on average 20 to 21 mpg at 75 on the interstate, that's a bit higher than usual for me.

Does diesel brands/types effect mileage? I try to stay as far away as I can from 'Bio Diesel' I am told it's not good for our Dodges

 

When a VP slowly starts heading south it seems like the first thing you notice is a slow loss in fuel mileage. So a new pump almost always brings it back up.
Yes different fuel can and will effect mileage. Up here in Alaska, it depends on who's refinery you get it from as you travel across the state.

 

Up in Alaska, life with a Diesel truck must be a lot different than down here in the hot south. I never use fuel additives, I run 15/40 Rotella, I don't even have to buy antifreeze type washer fluid.

Is there one brand of fuel that's better than the rest?

Or a brand/brands to stay away from?

 

It's the new vp.

Sometimes I get better than average mileage, but the fuel is pretty much standardized. I guess you could get some "hot" fuel occasionally but I am pretty sure it is tested at the refineries for certain standards before it ships...I know a few guys I could ask.

 

I think it is your pump also, the only fuel that changes my mileage is winter fuel. I use power service all summer up North and all winter in AZ, dont know if that helps my mileage.

 

I agree with this, the winter fuel around here is less potent...

 

Do you see the 'Bio Diesel' up north in cold country and Alaska?

 

We have no Bio up here, but I buy mine at a bulk plant Co-Op the other day I noticed that the pump had a tag on it saying low sulfer diesel, not ultra low, seems to run quieter.

 

Life is a little different, but not a whole lot. I run 15W40 Dello year round in the engine. I do run synthetics all around in the running gear though. I have yet to see bio at the pump up here, though there are a number of people that make their own. On "winter fuel", I loose an average of 2 mpg. Mostly from the fuel, the rest from warm up time.

 

"Warm up time", it's hard to imagine when it's 100 degrees today here in North Florida.

How long do you have to "warm it up'' before you can drive.

My wife's version of Warming it up is using the seat warmers.

I did drive my 1992 w/Cummins cross country one winter and as I registered in a hotel in Wyoming I asked how cold it was, he said it was -13 and expected it to get to -17 before sun up. That was the first time I ever used the block heater.

 

Anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes depending on how cold it is. I do it mainly to get the oil circulating.

 

How cold does it get up there, and is the block heater sufficient?

 

In my area, it can get to -30° without the wind chill. As I don't have a garage, anything below -10° starts getting iffy with the 91 and 92. So I have an engine blanket to hold in the heat and block any wind. This will be the fist winter with the 01, so I don't know how well it will fair yet. The coldest my 91 has seen is -70° in East central. I left it run with the heater plugged in overnight.

 

-70 F is COLD!

I see -25 to -30 F here in northern VT fairly often in the dead of winter.
The truck start fine with an hour of using the block heater and a cycle or two of the grid heaters.
I then let it idle for about 6-10 minutes before driving down the driveway.

The power steering pump sounds angry when it is that cold, for a minute or two.

I see a mileage drop with winter blend as well.

 

Last year here in Tallahassee it got just cold enough to make ice on overpasses, they closed Florida State University and most of interstate 10 from Alabama to Jacksonville. It seems there are two shortages here, the first is people who can drive on ice, the second is trucks with ice melt and spreaders.

I was soo embarrassed when things shut down, most of the rest of the country was laughing at the locals...... (I am from snow country originally, I nearly put my Missouri or Virginia license plates back on the Dodge)