Motor oil mixed with diesel?

[darkroad]

I have been using about 1 gallon of used motor oil per tankful in my 1990 v2500 6.2 suburban for a while now. I ran across an article from the late 90's where the military did some testing using up to 7% used oil mixed in their diesel with good results. My question is this, I have access to quite a bit of other types of oils at the factory where I work. Are any of these usable also? Mostly have used hydraulic 46 weight available. We do oil analysis and have additional kidney loop systems for extra filtering so we hardly ever change the oil but sometimes due to mechanical breakdown we go ahead and change it out. Most of the time I could get 3 or 4 drums at a time. With the high cost of diesel I am looking for any way to save some money. Thanks for all the good info on these pages. I went ahead and joined for 3 more years. Am hooked on diesels.

[NH2112]

I ran about 10% used engine oil in my truck for several tanksfull late last summer, and experienced hard starts at temps around 40F. This cleared up completely once I purged the last of the engine oil from my system by filling with diesel fuel only. I figure it also clogged my secondary filter more quickly than pure diesel fuel would.

[dieselbegreat]

Every once in a while I dump a gallon of used motor oil in my 40 gal tank. The exhaust gets a little stinky but it runs very well with a slight power increase. But I would hesitate burning oils that might have chemical additives harmful to humans like transformer oils, etc.

[darkroad]

So far (cross my fingers) I haven't had any hard starting yet. Started fine at 8 degrees the other day without plugging it in cranked about a short turn or so and fired right up. Mostly was wondering if you could run the hydraulic oil mixted with diesel or would it leave gummy residue etc. Am working with an engineer buddy at work on making some biodiesel. Lots of used restaurant oil free here in central Ky as most aren't trying it yet.


Thanks Phil

[dieselbegreat]

Wow, that's great about the biodiesel, even if only used as an additive because it's lubricity and detergent quality is so high. Beware that in cold weather it will cloud easier than petro. I wouldn't think the old oil would gum things up as long as you use as and *additive* and don't go crazy with the percentage. I wonder about the effect of suspended soot and dirt on fuel socks and filters though. It might help to let that stuff settle out as much as possible in five gallon jugs of fuel/kero first before dumping it in your tank. Or hook up a hand pump/filter yourself to fill your tank with.

[britannic]

Check that the hydraulic oil is petroleum based and not derived from minerals.


Originally posted by darkroad:
I have been using about 1 gallon of used motor oil per tankful in my 1990 v2500 6.2 suburban for a while now. I ran across an article from the late 90's where the military did some testing using up to 7% used oil mixed in their diesel with good results. My question is this, I have access to quite a bit of other types of oils at the factory where I work. Are any of these usable also? Mostly have used hydraulic 46 weight available. We do oil analysis and have additional kidney loop systems for extra filtering so we hardly ever change the oil but sometimes due to mechanical breakdown we go ahead and change it out. Most of the time I could get 3 or 4 drums at a time. With the high cost of diesel I am looking for any way to save some money. Thanks for all the good info on these pages. I went ahead and joined for 3 more years. Am hooked on diesels.

[Peter J. Bierman]

Hydraulic oil is disigned to clean and keep contamination floating so it can be transported to the filters.
Using large quantities off this in your fuel can soak stuff loose and plug the fuel filters.

Just a warning ;)

Peter