# Used motor oil mixed w/diesel



## mohillbilly (Mar 24, 2005)

Anyone out there ever try mixing used motor oil and diesel?

I have been doing it now for about 2 months. In the past I have always added about 1 quart of trnny fluid at every fill up to help lubricate the injector pump. 

So, i figured i would try used motor oil. I am pumping it out of a used oil tank at my maint. shop. It is filtered 3 times and left to settle for about1 week before it is drawn from the barrel and put into the fuel tank.

I started with about 10% oil then moved up to what is now about 35-40% mixed in with the fuel. The ol truck runs fine with it so far. (84 ranger with 2.2 diesel) It does smoke a little more than usual now however!!!!!! But I knew it would so no big deal to me. So far the advantages i have seen are slightly more power and about 10% increase in fuel mileage! Plus, its FREE! every gallon of free oil is good for about 33 miles!

Anyway, what my question to yall is this, Does anyone know if there could be any long or short term effects that are detrimental to the engine?? burnt valves, injectors, pump,etc..........

So far I have not noticed anything out of the ordinary in day to day operation of the truck, Just a little harder to light off in the cooler mornings, but that is to be expected.....


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## Gideon (Sep 15, 2005)

Can see no harm IF and big IF you do filter it vey well. In cold climes you might want to use pure kerosene and a bit of oil(for the injector pump's lube). A worn engine would probably use it better than a brand spanking new one. Some folks are using cooking oil mixed with the fuel. It will burn by itself but cranking might be a problem. Our old USMC multifuel engines would burn any thing that you could light with a match. Glad to see folks saving $$$s and fuel by mixing, Gideon


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## james dilley (Mar 21, 2004)

In Realality theres A lot of Trucking Companies that Add About 10 gallons of Used oil from the trucks into the fuel tanks at the P M 's BUT they use A special filter to make sure that the super fines are removed. The one Company I know does this is C R England in Salt Lake City Utah. if you want to conntact them...


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## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

a lot of road grass cutting contractors in this area do it. when they change tractor motor oil,,,,it goes STRAIGHT into the fuel tank.. i guess it saves some EPA aggravation.


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## Esteban29304 (Apr 29, 2003)

I have done that too, but not as high ratio as you are doing. As you said, it is filtered WELL , also, make sure good filters are on the truck. Two filters, if possible. You want it to be as clean & moisture free as possible !!!! Seems like we used 20gal diesel, with 1 gallon used oil.You don't want to thicken it up much at all. I would also add a diesel fuel conditioner at times.I always suggest adding that even if running pure diesel ! U.S. diesel fuel is dirty !


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## dave85 (Feb 26, 2005)

for several years. percentage varies from minscule to 30%, depending on supply.
truck is 85 6.9 with 321k miles, pretty worn.
I replaced the original water separator with a Racor marine fuel filter/water separator, so I have 2 filters. the racor is finer than the Ford, don't remember the microns. Haven't changed in over a year.
My truck has 2 tanks and I always use the rear tank for alternative fuels in case I have any problems, just paranoid.
Truck smokes more, runs a shade hotter on the heavier percentages. And I always use fuel additive, no matter what.

What part of MO are you?
dave


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## james dilley (Mar 21, 2004)

I read in A Catapillar Mag. about 20 years ago that it was A popular thing to do but with out FILTRATION, you get fuel pump failure and clogged injectors, So the filtration needs to be the best possible.


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## mohillbilly (Mar 24, 2005)

Glad to hear that this is not an issue with the engine components.

I filter the fuel 3 times through a spin on type hydraulic filter adapted to an ARO air pump for tranferring the oil. I am not sure of the micron rating of the filter, but visual inspection shows pretty much no contamination, even under a 10x eyepeice. Then after pumping into the fuel tank the factory fuel filter doeslt the final filtration. So in reality it is filtered 4 times I guess 

This morning the ol truck didnt want to light off due to unexpected 45 degree temps, but with a quick shot of either she fired right up. So this is NOT a cold weather idea!


I hope that this technique for "alternitive fuel" works for a while. The engine is high milage (380,000) and is still in good running condition. Unfortunatly the vehicle is from up north originally and the salt damage is really taking hold of the thing right now!


By the way dave85, I am about 30 miles southeast of Joplin


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## WisJim (Jan 14, 2004)

I knew an older fellow that ran his stand-by diesel generator on used motor oil. First he let it sit in a 250 gallon fuel oil tank for a year or so, to let the heavy grit and water settle out, then filtered it good, and used it as fuel in his old Witte diesel. All his neighbors brought him their used oil.


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## james dilley (Mar 21, 2004)

You really should use W D 40 to start A diesel enginge As Eather has NO upper cylindaer lubrication, And W D 40 is A kerosene bases penetrating fluid. Also thoose weed eaters and chainsaws will start with W D 40 too.


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## opus (Sep 15, 2004)

Most ether now has an upper cylinder lubricant. I would still be wary of ether, dangerous stuff to an engine....if you dont know what you are doing.


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## ericjeeper (Feb 25, 2006)

I am not 100 percent positive.. But I do not think wd40 will start a diesel anymore.. I had heard that they stoped using propane as the propellant, I might be wrong.. A company I worked for used to have a large air compressor.. if you gave it the slightest hint of ether.. it would not crank over.. we always had to use wd40.. but that was 15 years ago


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## opus (Sep 15, 2004)

Quick, someone go try it!


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## james dilley (Mar 21, 2004)

W D 40 is A Kerosene based Lubricant. Thats why it is used to Start diesels, I had A moron try to use either ,On my truck ,He got nasty with me ,Short version he was FIRED. for trying to use A either ,When he was told to use W D 40 instead..


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## mohillbilly (Mar 24, 2005)

This last week I raised the ratio of oil up to about 50-60%. Tried it out and was VERY impressed with engine performance. Fuel economy jumped up slightly higher and noticed yet more power, especially in the hills. Truck fired off without any glow plug assistance or starting fluid. I LIKE IT!


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## opus (Sep 15, 2004)

I'd like to see how that works in this country. Mornings in the summer are always maximum, in the 30's or 40's. here.


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## james dilley (Mar 21, 2004)

The Detroit I was running would start up without A problem Even in Canada in the Winter. with the Temps' below Zero. depends onyour fuel blend too. If its to thichk in the winter try adding A gallon of Gas to every 100 gallons of mix. it raise the cetane rating. And burns hotter in the winter too.


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## Rob30 (Nov 2, 2004)

Has anyone ever added used oil to other oil burning devices? Like a furnace, lamps, appliances?


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## james dilley (Mar 21, 2004)

Rob There are Furnaces that will Burn used Oil but there the old Gun style burners, Now theres A new type calles A tri-Atery burn oil Furnace that will burn it, Just look At some of the larger Companies that have hundreds of Gallons of used oil every year.


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## djb473 (Oct 15, 2005)

whats the long term effect


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## oz in SC (May 13, 2002)

Not motor oil but I have been blending used fryer oil with diesel for a few weeks now with no problems beyond changing out the fuel filter(needed it anyway and I had already read that this might happen)

I am hoping it worls out well as I can collect about 14 gallons a week which when mixed will fill up my truck...


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

james dilley said:


> W D 40 is A Kerosene based Lubricant. Thats why it is used to Start diesels, I had A moron try to use either ,On my truck ,He got nasty with me ,Short version he was FIRED. for trying to use A either ,When he was told to use W D 40 instead..



i am pretty sure it is a vegetable oil based lube...even though i would not bet on it without research. i worked in a food factory and it used to be labeled for use as a "food grade" lubricant, which would allow for incidental contact with food.


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## djb473 (Oct 15, 2005)

what kind of a percentage are you mixing the fryer oil with diesel there oz


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## oz in SC (May 13, 2002)

Well approximately 50%....but remember I am in the hot and humid south.  

I pre-filter the VO and then blend it with diesel and THEN filter it again into the fuel drums and then pump it into my truck running it through a 10 micron filter that also removes water...

Although honestly as I am the one collecting the VO I know there is no water in it-it comes straight from the fryers at my jobs. :shrug: 

I am sure there are better methods such as biodiesel but it seems like a LOT of work to set up and make...

I might add something to heat the fuel a little AFTER the injection pump(there are covers for the injector lines that heat it up) to help IF there are any issues...

My truck has a very finicky IP so the fuel cannot be heated before going through the pump.

On a sidenote,it seems on the various forums devoted to alternative fuels peopel get carried away with filtering...filtering down to 1 micron and the like.

I don't understand WHY when 'regular' diesel is only filtered to 10 microns and the factory fuel filter only filters down to 10 microns...the manufacturer of the vehicle thought that perfectly okay so why go to great lengths for something that isn't needed??? :shrug:


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## Red Devil TN (Feb 8, 2006)

WD40 in the aerosol can is apx. 45-50% "aliphatic petroleum distillates" (per the MSDS) which include, but are not limited to, mineral spirits, kerosene, white spirits, naphtha, and Stoddard solvent. As happens, it is Stoddard solvent based (per current and previous MSDSs). Stoddard solvent smells, and allegedly tastes, like kerosene.

I would be concerned with the efficiency of the filter media. Maybe invest in a good synthetic fiber filter like mobil, or buy a true bypass filter set up (Amsoil) for the engine and get both great protection for the motor and ultra clean oil for the fuel mix.


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## Red Devil TN (Feb 8, 2006)

Oz, where did you get the 10 micron reference? I had not seen that before. If that's the case and the pump can safely deal with that, then it would be a good yardstick, however, the substances that they may allow through at the plant may not be harmful to the pump in terms of damage, whereas metal can have a sandblasting effect on the pump internals. :shrug: It's an interesting train of thought. I'll try and look into it some later.


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## oz in SC (May 13, 2002)

I did a search to find out what the specifications were for my particular truck's fuel filter.

So as anything smaller will go through you would think that the manufacturer considers that okay. :shrug: 

I was just out pumping some VO/diesel blend into the drums and was finished when the pickup tube on the 12V pump snapped off....  

Luckily for me Northern Tools sent two pumps instead of one and I haven't returned the other so I am going to use THAT pickup tube to fill my truck...

If it is not one thing it is another....


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