How old is old diesel?

[boatsisboats]

Hey All!
Bought a new (to me) sailboat with 240 gallons of topped off diesel. Nice, yes, but the previous owner sat on anchor for 18 months and was fastidious about keeping it full so less condensation would build up in the tank.

It seems to run fine. He ran the fuel scrubber whenever the gen set was running. Smells fine. Tastes fine. I was told that the fuel only came from 'clean' fuel docks.

No stabilizers have every been added.

What is the max time that diesel is still good?

Thanks for thoughts.

[Joh.Ghurt]

I had still good diesel that was over 10 years old. My bad diesel that was over 15 years old.

With 18 months don't even fret about it. If you're concerned about diesel-bugs, add some poison to the tank.

[BlueH2Obound]

If you think it is bad, I'll GLADLY take it off your hands! Seriously, add some biocide, and drive on! Keep an eye on your filter bowls, and have some spare filters on hand, but I would have absolutely no issues with using 18 mo old diesel.

[boatsisboats]

Ha ha! I know it sounds silly.

The fuel was last filled 18 months ago. There is easily diesel on there that is 5 years old.
There are no indicators that it is bad.

I will keep on sailin!

[moseriw]

If it is not bio-contaminated it can be 100 years old. If not + 6 month can be dangereous. Thank you green folks for killing our engines.

And to get rid of the problem we have to poison the diesel every year to keep it healty.

[sail sfbay]

Originally Posted by boatsisboats

.....Bought a new (to me) sailboat with 240 gallons of topped off diesel. Nice, yes, but the previous owner sat on anchor for 18 months and was fastidious about keeping it full so less condensation would build up in the tank.................What is the max time that diesel is still good?.

Ditto Joh.Ghurt............I will add that my Ford diesel truck and Hunter 386 diesel-driven sailboat sat idle for 3 years with some diesel fuel treatment (including biocide) while I moved overseas and when I returned they both started up and ran without any issues.

240 gallons on a sailboat is a lot of fuel capacity. You might consider how long it will take to turn that tank over. My Hunter 46 sailboat with 76 hp engine has a 100 gallon diesel tank and project is will take 6-7 years to turn the tank over. My Symbol 44 powerboat with two 300 hp engines has 530 gallon diesel capacity and project is will take 3-4 years to turn the tanks over. I keep the tanks topped off with periodic treatment with a diesel fuel stabilizer / biocide.

[roland stockham]

When I bought my boat the deisel had sat in the tank for 17yrs and was fine. As long as it is dry it keeps indefinitely. Unlike gas they are no significant volatiles evaporating off

[MicHughV]

hell, you can run a diesel on melted butter...

change oil and fuel filters....they run forever...

[moseriw]

..I will add that my Ford diesel truck and Hunter 386 diesel-driven sailboat sat idle for 3 years with some diesel fuel treatment (including biocide) while I moved overseas and when I returned they both started up and ran without any issues.

It is madness to add bio to diesel and to poison it out then.
How fast can this crazy society develop in future?

[Boatyarddog]

Here you go.
https://www.goldeagle.com/tips-tools...-last-storage/

[seabreez]

Originally Posted by roland stockham

When I bought my boat the deisel had sat in the tank for 17yrs and was fine. As long as it is dry it keeps indefinitely. Unlike gas they are no significant volatiles evaporating off

I had one for 15 years and it ran as if it was yesterday. Good old diesel...

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by boatsisboats

Hey All!
Bought a new (to me) sailboat with 240 gallons of topped off diesel. Nice, yes, but the previous owner sat on anchor for 18 months and was fastidious about keeping it full so less condensation would build up in the tank.

It seems to run fine. He ran the fuel scrubber whenever the gen set was running. Smells fine. Tastes fine. I was told that the fuel only came from 'clean' fuel docks.

No stabilizers have every been added.

What is the max time that diesel is still good?

Thanks for thoughts.

Don't worry about it! It is good for years even if not taken care of and it sounds like yours was.

[boatsisboats]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate it.

I will likely put in a little biocide as I can't imagine I will burn that off in the next 2 years.
But, I don't often put a lot of stock in 'blog posts' written by the manufacturers of their own product Still good to read though...

Thanks again

[surazo]

Hi , as all the sailors have coincidence in this topic , i appreciate any suggestion about how to treat and old diesel .In my case It have 7 years and are 280 gal with a dark colour .I Had decide to take out but reading your opinions I Changed of Idea .Thanks

[Rohan]

Originally Posted by boatsisboats

It seems to run fine. He ran the fuel scrubber whenever the gen set was running. Smells fine. Tastes fine.

Tastes fine??




And people running on 10 years, 17 years old diesel? I religiously add fuel stabilizer every year just to cover the idle winter months. Have I been wasting my money on that?