How is diesel fuel graded in the states??? #1 fuel here id the best fuel you can get. We run it in all of our farm machinery and we have never had any fuel system problems.

 

In the US #1 diesel is kerosene and is used mainly in the winter to lower the gel point. Beside not having the lubricity of #2 #1 has much less btus and results in lower mpgs and power. Most stations in lower 48 no longer use #1 for an anti-gel additive and have switched over to additive instead. Much cheaper and easier, no need to pipe, store and distribute an additional product.

I've run into a few people at the fuel pump filling with #1 thinking it was premium grade #2. This is far from the case, you are paying more and getting less. Not sure in Canada but assume diesel fuel is rated the same as the US.

 

In Canada it is graded the opposite. #1 is the highest quality, #2 is the next step down. As far as winter fuel they do the same thing here just put an additive into the fuel.

 

Any new additives being used in the conversion to the clean diesel that's required fot the new 2007s and on? I'm told Irving and Exxon-Mobil have converted 100% and are not using kerosene anymore. My oil supplier says wait till the new rigs encounter their first rough winter. Happened to us several years ago when the gov't mandated no kerosene and a "friendlier" additive. Kids got several days off until the fuel in the buses became liquid again That was the end of that additive. I'm having a tough time this year also. Gelling at 20 degrees F. No problems last winter even below zero.

 

I copied this from another site,

explains some of the lubricity issues...

The need for diesel fuel lubricity has been recognized for many years. Most early concern focused on the use of #1 diesel fuel in place of #2 diesel fuel under cold weather conditions. Higher wear rates with #1 diesel fuel would be aggravated by #1 diesel fuel's lower viscosity. However, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandated that the sulfur content of on-highway diesel fuel be lowered from 5000 ppm to 500 ppm in 1993, fuel lubricity captured national attention. There is still disagreement about what specific fuel changes are caused by the sulfur reduction that result in lubricity reduction. Some have suggested that sulfur compounds themselves provide lubricity, others have suggested that nitrogen compounds or naphthenic hydrocarbons are responsible. In any case, there is general agreement that the hydrotreating process used by petroleum refineries to remove sulfur results in lower fuel lubricity. Recent regulations by the EPA to further lower the sulfur content of diesel fuel to 15 ppm are expected to make the fuel lubricity even worse.

The addition of small amounts of biodiesel (0.25% to 2%) to diesel fuel has a dramatic effect on the lubricity of that fuel. Pure biodiesel and high level blends have excellent lubricity.