Furnace oil...
 

93 7.3 non turbo, I've been running furnace oil in the back tank, diesel in the front for a while now and it runs great. Question is, (and I've had many answers) what is the difference? I've heard road tax is the only difference, other say more parrafin in furnace oil, others say it'll blow the motor.
Curious what every one thinks

A big difference is sulfur. Furnace oil has 0.2% sulfur. Old diesel had .05%sulfur. 2007+ diesel has .0015% sulfur.

On a truck as old as yours, sulfur won't make too much difference, but on late model trucks with diesel catalysts, it will clog the catalysts.

Don't get caught!

Thanks for the reply, I'm not concerned about getting caught. Farm country and NOBODY has even been considered getting caught! haha. 67cents a litre instead of $1.17 is about $38.00 saved per fill up!
I'm just curious if anybody knows for sure the difference in make up or is it the same except road tax. Sulphur content is interesting, considering sulphur is what lubricates the IP, and everybody yelled when they started taking it out because of increased wear. I fire up on diesel, get on the highway to work and switch to oil, then switch back 5km's from work. (45 min drive each way) It's good practise for when I convert to WVO eh? Lol!

Again, thanks for the reply's.

That's pretty interesting!

Actually, it's not the sulphur that lubricates. I admit that I thought that but I found out otherwise.

However, when the process is done that removes the sulphur, it removes the compounds that do lubricate.

You can actually ad two stroke oil or some vegetable oil to get lubrication into the fuel with better results than using a commercial chemical that's more expensive.

Sulfur is an abrasive agent. It's the main difference between metal cutting oil and lubricating oil.
Sulfur won't 'clog' a catalytic converter any more than leaded gasoline would. The compounds coat the catalyst and render the beads incapable of converting, so the emissions go way up, but there is no change in air flow.
Your 93 wouldn't have a catalyst, so the non-existent conversion efficiency isn't changed.
But be wary, Is the heating oil blended to flow when it's in someone's 10C basement in a 1000 liter tank, or is it suited for a -30C night in the driveway?

Furnace oil and No.2 diesel are one and the same product except furnace oil has a little dye in it.

Diesels will run nicely on a wide variety of fuels.
Kerosene
Jet A
JP-8
Vegetable oil (Herr Doktor Diesel intended it to use peanut oil)
Used motor oil (cut it 20:1 with No.2 and filter it)
Propane
Butane
White gasoline
Alkane synthetic diesel (Fischer-Tropsch)
Transesterified biodiesel

The Germans have built diesels that start on No. 2 and then run bunker C until hot then run on pulverized coal.

High octane (low cetane) gasoline defeats them unless you use the No.2 injectors as spark plugs.

great idea, but more polluting
 

Your idea of using furnace oil or "red diesel" is outstanding. It is cheaper, but I am not sure if it would pass for emissions testing. One difference is that it more polluting and has a higher amount of sulfur than LSD: 500 ppm and ULSD: 15 ppm. However, if it's easier on your pocketbook then why not!?!?

Be aware, the "red" is red diesel is dyed specifically so that tax agents can tell it is diesel that has not been properly taxed for road use. If you get caught you'll have the IRS down on you very quickly. I know people have been caught many a times before, and with fuel prices being so high I'll be willing to bet they've stepped up their enforcement.

Aside from taking samples from your fuel tank, how would they know?

-Jay

I always assumed they enforce by spot-checking fuel samples from your tank during routine traffic stops and at highway weigh stations.

so, if its in a passenger vehicle and not required to stop at weigh stations, you in theory, **should** be safe. I've never heard of the state police or any of the "County Mounties" ever checking the fuel in the tank of a passenger vehicle.

-Jay

I have heard that the dye can leave a residue elsewhere in vehicle, such that it might be noticed by an auto shop or an observant officer. I have no first-hand experience with this.

Incidentally, the company I am about to stop buying oil from has recently been charging MORE for home heating oil than diesel costs at the pump. I seriously considered finding a way to transport ~200 gallons of diesel fuel. Presumably, I could have gotten it even cheaper by buying "off-road" diesel, used in ATVs, construction equipment, etc (i.e. diesel vehicles that don't drive on the road), but we don't have an off-road pump near enough to us for me to know the current price of off-road diesel.

It's just the cost of the fuel without road tax.

This will help give you an idea on day to day diesel averages state to state, including off road.
https://www.etrucker.com/apps/promiles/fuelprices.asp

I would say, as far as the heating stuff, if you are gonna run WVO, you might as well start installing stuff. The question about temperatures is a good one. Are you gonna use your 2nd tank for WVO? IF so, you might as well pop in a heated pickup. it will make sure that the fuel is warm.

Home heating oil isn't Waste Vegetable Oil.

My comment about heating was in reply to this statement. I know that home heating oil isn't waste vegetable oil. Just saying that if the furnace oil may not be as fluid as the dino, and a WVO system is going in, might as well start installing the heating part.

What I find funny is that the home oil is higher in sulfur and polutes when burned in the home a heck of a lot more because you burn a heck of a lot more of it in a month than you would driving a typical truck - not a trailer truck. The polution still gets created . . . does no one see the bigger picture?

The bigger picture is that oil heat, despite all the new marketing campaigns, is nasty, stinky, and just generally sucks and I wish I could afford to switch to propane.

Been gone a while. Well, I drove straight furnace oil from march 08 until about nov 08 then started diesel in the front/oil in the rear again for over winter. Forgot to switch it a couple times and although it rattles REALLY bad and smokes WAY more, it will start up on furnace oil at -15C. I have to check the glow plugs as it's getting harder to start (even on diesel) and when it does, it hits on only a few cyl's for the first 30-45 seconds before the others start lighting off.
Anyway, good to see the thread is still going. They have pretty much stopped using the red dye around here for some reason. Also, it was leaving a red tint in the filler neck but that's pretty much washed away now.
Filled up Saturday for 59 cents a litre instead of 90 cents for diesel! Woohoo!

Re: Furnace oil...
 

Up here in the great white north if one uses coloured diesel fuel in an on road auto etc., I heard it is a $50,000 fine for both the owner of the on road auto truck etc., and the driver also so not worth it.

Re: Furnace oil...
 

Might as well update. Lost the site as my old computor went poof and just got the e-mail the the site is back up. Cool, because I forgot about it (as well as a bunch of other sites)
Anyway, -5 here and again, there is a difference when cold. Lots of smoke and rattling when starting/driving cold on furnace oil. Once the engine is hot there's barely a difference in noise, no smoke. When the engine is cold though, if you switch back and forth between the two on the highway, the engine is quiet..after 3-4km's it gets louder and louder. Switch back and it gets progressively quieter.
It's about $.30/L cheaper consistently.
The red dye does NOT leave a residue or stain.

654,000km's on the original engine so far, never been apart. (that's why I should replace the injectors..nope still haven't, glow plugs either) New alternator and belt tensioner, replaced the tranny....damn I love this truck!
Just usual stuff, brakes,shocks,exh,changed out one battery two years ago...Yay Ford!

Re: Furnace oil...
 

here in california, they do roadside stops every so often on any diesel powered vehicle to test for dyed diesel. from what I hear, it is a hefty fine.

Re: Furnace oil...
 

And yet another reason I don't want to live in California...LOL!

Never even heard of somebody being stopped/checked around here.

Re: Furnace oil...
 

Update..just because.
-21 last night and it was shut off with furnace oil in it. Rattled and clattered but fired right up.
656,000km's on it now.
Furnace is $.86 and diesel is $1.30!!!
Inventories are way up but speculators are jumpy causing the spike. Screw the middle east, drop a nuke on them then dig new well's! LOL!

i worked for a few fuel company and we took fuel out of the same tank for both products, so it is the same just named diffrent for taxes. also jet a can be used for the colder months as it is the same as number 1 (arctic stove oil)

Tax violation. They spot check in NY.

Yes, the untaxed fuel is supposed to by dyed. I believe it also leaves traces of dye on the filler too so just a quick look under the fuel cap will reveal if untaxed fuel has been used recently.

Doesn't the dye also linger in spots? So you might get busted even if the recent fill was road diesel.

Probably mentioned before(maybe by me), but heating oil contains a lot more sulfur than road diesel. Around 30 to 50 times more than ULSD. This means more particulates and other nasties out of the tailpipe, and it will wreck the pricy catalytic convertor on newer diesels.

people complain about the EPA but this thread is proof we need them

Yes, the dye does linger. For exactly how long, I do not know.

Lost everything so now I'm dieselmech2! LOL!
Anyway, thought I'd jump in here again, you guys that say "I think" this and that are stating your OPINIONS. I'm telling you from first hand knowledge that the dye DOES NOT leave a "residue" anywhere, that's a wives tale. I have a 8.2L turbodiesel in my converted schoolbus (motorhome/racecar hauler) as well as my old 93 f-350 (now with a bit over 800,000 km's on it) as well as working with off road diesels every day. The off road vehicles run dyed fuel daily, everything I rip apart to fix...has NO RESIDUE! Unless they dip your tanks and find the coloured fuel in there, there is no "stains" or "residue" left over in the inj pump or lift pump etc.

I already spoke of the dye, as far as the catalytic converter, diesels don't have one. Since 2007 they've had to have DPF's which are Diesel Particulate Filters. Furnace oil or dyed fuel or anything else doesn't "wreck" them but if not regenned when required will build up and plug. The main concern is heat, they are made to stand re-gen temps of up to 1300f but a plugged one will go even higher and more importantly, for as long as you're driving. Stop, do a regen and it gets hot for a few minutes then cools to operating temp (5-800f) Don't do a regen and you're driving down the road for an hour at 1500f and then various things melt and catch fire....not pretty...
Regardless, running straight diesel without doing a regen will do the damage the same as burning furnace/veg/whatever.

Diesels do so have a catalytic convertor. Even before the sulfur limits were lowered on diesel fuel, they had two way ones for hydrocarbon emissions. The sulfur content was just too high for 3 way convertors for reducing NOx emissions. The entire point of switching to ULSD was to reduce emissions in general, but mainly to allow the use of NOx reducing convertors.

Holy crap trollbait, I stand corrected! Around here the common term is DPF which includes "all that crap I wanna yank offa my truck". But actually there are two seperate items in the exh system, one being a "catalytic converter".
Look at that, I'll go to bed tonight a little less stupid!

I think some referred to the basic 2-way cat as a 'resonator' not knowing what it was, but knowing diesels had fewer emission controls than a gas vehicle.

Hi guys - UK perspective here.
Untaxed agricultural diesel is dyed red, spot checks crush road vehicles using it - it costs about half regular diesel.
Heating oil is not dyed, nor taxed, and costs about one third of regular diesel.
I ran several cars exclusively on heating oil for 5 years, with no ill effects.
I am ignorant to the exact constitution - sulphur levels etc.
All the best!

Ben, what do you mean by" spot checks crush road vehicles using it " are you say literally? If so, that's really vindictive, nannystate government control! A fine or even prison time.. but crush a vehicle? That's really petty and vidictive.

US heating oil used to have sulfur levels up to 500ppm; which wouldn't be a problem with a diesel without a catalytic convertor for NOx. Oils changes may need to be more frequent.

It, and off road diesel, all should be ULSD by now, but it is dyed.