Diesel Fuel

[paultleach]

I have just bought a Newport 28 with a Universal 18hp engine. The boat came with about half a tank of fuel. I have been chugging up and down the ICW the last couple of weeks and I am down to about one quarter tank. I want to fill up soon. I was told NOT to put in diesel fuel from a gas station, only use fuel from a marina as there is a difference in the type of diesel fuel. Could someone shed some light on this for me.
Thanks, Paul.

[motion30]

Same fuel The road fuel had dye added

[donradcliffe]

Thats nonsense. Fuel from a gas station is cheaper and usually cleaner than marina fuel. There are some marinas which prohibit fueling at your slip, in hopes that you will use their fuel dock. Sometims offroad fuel (lower taxes) is dyed to discourage people from using in their cars, but this is more an issue in Europe than Floriduh--nobody is going to be pulling you over to check the color of your fuel.

[Ziggy]

No difference that I know. Make sure you have a good primary filter with water separator (e.g., Racor 500). You can also prefilter the fuel through a "funnel" type filter like the ones from West Marine or Racor, and add biocide (sparingly, in accordance with the manufacturer directions) to the tank.

[David M]

Sorry, but that's incorrect Motion, the marina fuel (not the road fuel) has dye added. If a trucker uses this fuel, it is apparent that they did not pay the road tax if the authorities choose to inspect what is in the trucks fuel tank.

#2 diesel is all the same, whether you get it from a gas station or a fuel dock...other than the color of course

[barnakiel]

We have used both marina diesel and road diesel. We have the impression that the road diesel seems better quality.

b.

[cfarrar]

The only times that we've found water and/or particles with our funnel filter have been when fueling from a marina. We usually use road fuel, instead.

[Astrid]

Aside from the dyes, the main difference between marina fuel dock diesel and the diesel you find at a truck stop would be the truck stop fuel is probably 'fresher' as the tanks get used up more quickly and fuel is replenished at a more frequent rate. Unless your marina has a very active boating population that will empty the fuel dock tanks as quickly as truckers on an busy interstate, diesel fuel might be of uncertain age.

[ViribusUnitis]

Is marina fuel ultra-low sulfur?

Road fuel in the US is now required to be ultra low sulfur. The process that removes the sulfure tends to lower the lubricity of the fuel. Some of the older diesel fuel pumps can't hanndle the lower lubricity, and prematurly wear out.

If the marina diesel is still the low suflur fuel instead of the ultra-low, then you might be better off using the marina diesel.

I'm not sure that there is a standard to the marina fuel, I think you'd have to check on the pump if it's low sulfur, or ultra-low sulfur. Also, if the fuel is a red dyed, non taxed, high sulfur fuel, it might be sigificantly cheaper than road fuel.