Need A Diesel Mechanic !!

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by OneBoatman

In the States along the East Coast. Marine diesel has a red dye in it indicating it hass "lower Sulphur content" supposedly better for the environment. All other regular diesel at the pumps for road vehicles is rather yellow, so not pink. In the 90's I saw plenty of boats commisioned on the cheap without fuel water separators. I believe the correct term for the fuel filter on the engine is the primary filter even though it comes after a fuel water separator. Fuel polishing might be money well spent, if you decide to have it done, I suggest you do it before your you change your primary filter. Do not install anything less a 10 micron on the engine or you will find the life pretty short and I've seen instances where the owner puts in 2 micron primary thinking their doing themselves a favor and the result was it loaded up in less 50 hrs and fuel starved their engine. All filters increase in filtering efficiency as the media gets loaded up with debris. So they do a better job filtering until there is no flow at all. As I know it these filters are not like most automotive oil filters, which allows by pass when the back pressure exceeds a specified level.

I think this is true through out the US.
But?

On the west coast (red dye) indicates the fuel is non taxed recreational fuel use, and has nothing to do with sulphur content... Red dye actually indicate a higher sulphur content due to the fact it's off-road fuel use.
Quote:
Clear diesel – Clear diesel is a road vehicle-grade fuel that is available for sale at gas stations throughout the U.S. This type of fuel is meant for use by the vehicles that travel the roads every day – cars, trucks, SUVs, etc. – along with marine vehicles. When most people think of diesel fuel, this is the fuel they think of.
Clear fuel has low sulfur levels and is legally taxable. Any vehicle that has a diesel engine and is licensed by the state for on-road use must use this fuel.

Red-Dyed diesel – Most dyed diesel sold in the U.S. is colored red (with the chemical additive Solvent Red 26 or 164). By law, red-dyed gas is only for use in off-road vehicles, including farm tractors, heavy construction equipment, and generators, where higher sulfur fuel use is permissible.
Because it is not to be used for on-road vehicles, this fuel is not taxed within the United States.

Blue-Dyed diesel – Blue-dyed diesel is identical to Red-dyed diesel, except that it is used only for U.S. Government vehicles. Blue-dyed diesel is not available to the general public.

https://www.qdogfuels.com/what-is-th...d-diesel-fuel/
Boatyarddog

[Tortuga331]

Originally Posted by OneBoatman

In the States along the East Coast. Marine diesel has a red dye in it indicating it hass "lower Sulphur content" supposedly better for the environment. All other regular diesel at the pumps for road vehicles is rather yellow, so not pink. In the 90's I saw plenty of boats commisioned on the cheap without fuel water separators. I believe the correct term for the fuel filter on the engine is the primary filter even though it comes after a fuel water separator. Fuel polishing might be money well spent, if you decide to have it done, I suggest you do it before your you change your primary filter. Do not install anything less a 10 micron on the engine or you will find the life pretty short and I've seen instances where the owner puts in 2 micron primary thinking their doing themselves a favor and the result was it loaded up in less 50 hrs and fuel starved their engine. All filters increase in filtering efficiency as the media gets loaded up with debris. So they do a better job filtering until there is no flow at all. As I know it these filters are not like most automotive oil filters, which allows by pass when the back pressure exceeds a specified level.

A previous poster mentioned fuel polishing. Could you explain what that is and what it does. Thanks.

[Wolfe10]

Fuel polishers have high volume pumps and very large fuel filters. They suck fuel from the bottom of the fuel tank, run it through their fuel filters and send it back to the tank. And the speed/pressure is such that it does a pretty good job of stirring up any sediment in the bottom of the tank.

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by Tortuga331

A previous poster mentioned fuel polishing. Could you explain what that is and what it does. Thanks.

Wolfe10 has the procedure right.
Boatyarddog

[Tortuga331]

I do not have an oil drain plug and I pump the oil out. I have never heard of algae in the fuel. Is this a fairly common occurrece?

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by Tortuga331

I do not have an oil drain plug and I pump the oil out. I have never heard of algae in the fuel. Is this a fairly common occurrece?

All diesel has bio matter in it.

Treatment works, biocides, at some point it degrades further.
So, use it, run the boat and renew the tank periodically.

Say max of 3 years.
Boatyarddog

[Tortuga331]

Originally Posted by Boatyarddog

All diesel has bio matter in it.

Treatment works, biocides, at some point it degrades further.
So, use it, run the boat and renew the tank periodically.

Say max of 3 years.
Boatyarddog

Is there a product you recommend before I go on Amazon?

[Wolfe10]

As far as a biocide, Biobar JF is good-- been using it for decades when storing diesel fuel.

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by Tortuga331

Is there a product you recommend before I go on Amazon?

Not particularly.
Suggestion above is fine.
Just be sure to renew the tank occasionally.
Boatyarddog

[japarker11]

Originally Posted by Tortuga331

Is there a product you recommend before I go on Amazon?

Tortuga Bill,

Sorry, late to the thread. However, this past weekend was wandering boat yards in Central and Upstate NY which I haven't done in 50 years. It reminded me of the severity of the cold that winter haulouts are subjected, (well below 0°F). You described your addition of AF through the raw water inlet strainer, what measures did you take for the "fresh water" circuit? Check the specific gravity or coolant levels? All of the respondents to this thread are located in much more temperate climes.

I have lost a Perkins Genset engine to hydro lock caused by lack of a vented loop and have hauled in subfreezing locations, but nothing like your location. Consulting with the Kubota farm mechanic in that area seems like the most direct route to the problems. That block or head could have ice damage in numerous coolant channels and devices.

John Parker
S/V Odyssey

[GRIT]

JAPARKER11:

For the sake of posterity. I'm from PEI, on the East Coast of Canada, in what we call the Maritime Provinces. Probably very similar winter temperatures as the Great lakes region.

Cheers.
Paul.

[OneBoatman]

Boatyarddog is correct. The red dye in diesel available at marinas is added to designate it as untaxed and intended for recreational use only. Online search reveals it is illegal to use this untaxed diesel "on the road" but apparently taxed diesel which I sometimes use to top off the tank in my boat which is less expensive is legal. Good to learn I didn't commit a crime all these times. That helps all us boaters grasp why diesel purchased at a marina is so much more expensive than if purchased "at the pump". Thus, having pink diesel in the fuel tank and a failed diaphragm in his fuel pump, this allowed gravity to win and the level in his fuel tank was sufficient to allow fuel to top off the crankcase until thin reddish fluid is coming out the dipstick. No surprises, with the service of draining and refilling the oil I wouldn't expect it would run long enough to leave the dock so less need for Sea Tow coverage. I am going to guess the boat spent the winter in water or was towed to its slip or mooring, and that wasn't driven there under its own power. It would seem the owner would have been having issues before it was put for the winter. I can't wait to hear the end of this one.

[MikeHoncho]

Originally Posted by OneBoatman

Boatyarddog is correct. The red dye in diesel available at marinas is added to designate it as untaxed and intended for recreational use only. Online search reveals it is illegal to use this untaxed diesel "on the road" but apparently taxed diesel which I sometimes use to top off the tank in my boat which is less expensive is legal. Good to learn I didn't commit a crime all these times. That helps all us boaters grasp why diesel purchased at a marina is so much more expensive than if purchased "at the pump". Thus, having pink diesel in the fuel tank and a failed diaphragm in his fuel pump, this allowed gravity to win and the level in his fuel tank was sufficient to allow fuel to top off the crankcase until thin reddish fluid is coming out the dipstick. No surprises, with the service of draining and refilling the oil I wouldn't expect it would run long enough to leave the dock so less need for Sea Tow coverage. I am going to guess the boat spent the winter in water or was towed to its slip or mooring, and that wasn't driven there under its own power. It would seem the owner would have been having issues before it was put for the winter. I can't wait to hear the end of this one.

Red dlesel does not have state road taxes applied. Green ( clear) does. It is legal to use both for marine use. The actual cost of the two is not only dependent on the tax but local cost associated with its location. Fuel docks are higher due to the cost of having it there. So you can find red cheaper than green due to lack of taxes and you can find it more expensive than green even when not taxed due to location.

[OneBoatman]

Hello again Tortuga, This might help: Black algae is the algae that will grow in diesel over time. It is slimy and black. I have been using the Biobor JF biocide for at least 25years but before that I wasn't aware algae could grow in oil. Later I learned mankind began to use oil eating bacteria as one of their tools to treat catastrophic oil spills. I also had personal experience with fuel starvation the result of black algae clogging my fuel pick up tube in my first real boat, a Capri 26 which had Universal diesel. Its block was cast in Oshkosh, WI it being then the marinized fresh water-cooled version of the engine used in certain Kubota tractors. The engine itself was very reliable and self-priming, so no bleeding required when changing the primary filter. However, it had been commissioned with only a bronze screen at the end of its fuel pick up. The algae that caused starvation grew enough within the first 5 years of ownership. The quick fix I remember well I got for free while on summer cruise at B.I. from a more seasoned mechanic than I was to simply remove the screen, begin using an algaecide and install a fuel water separator. As a teenager, before I went Engineering school I had training at motorcycle mechanics school and almost no exposure to working on or maintaining a diesel until I purchased a boat. Anyway I followed his advice and owned it virtually trouble-free and without fuel issues and then sold it to a retired NYC policeman after owing it 18 years. It was completely reliant upon its primary filter and did not have a fuel water separator when I purchased it new in 1990. I removed the screen and jsut as he told me it ran just fine. On the same trip I stopped in Greenport, LI and bought a fuel water separator and installed it on morning while visiting Shelter Island before sailing back to my home port. There are any number of effective diesel biocide products, but do not ignore this as a possibility, or the advice for regular biocide use. With respect to fuel "polish" means filter. Fuel polishing is service available that uses a high volume pump right through your fuel filler. It sucks out the fuel and treats it to at least a two stage filtration and returns "polished fuel" to the tank. Thesee portable rigs consist of a high volume self priming pump, followed by a fuel/water separate followed by a 10-20 micron filter and then perhaps 2 or 5 micron. Ask the provider if you need to know more. The velocity of the fuel being returned is supposed to be high enough to suspend accumulated debris in your fuel tank for the suction line to capture it and the filter to "polish". This is quite the same as how today's automatic automotive transmissions are "serviced" because they are built without drain plugs. You get whatever is in your tank back minus any accumulated water and presumably most of the particulates.

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by MikeHoncho

Red dlesel does not have state road taxes applied. Green ( clear) does. It is legal to use both for marine use. The actual cost of the two is not only dependent on the tax but local cost associated with its location. Fuel docks are higher due to the cost of having it there. So you can find red cheaper than green due to lack of taxes and you can find it more expensive than green even when not taxed due to location.

The fellow I did query about the cost of diesel at fuel docks told me, that the location of the dock, and marine diesel has biocides added, and anti corrosion compounds.
Not sure I believe it.
Any way clear, red, blue, it's all diesel.
I wasn't aware till I researched it, marine off road use does have a higher sulphur content, at present.
This is changing however, due to the EPA.
https://www.bellperformance.com/bell...u-need-to-know
Boatyarddog