Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Used Motor Oil Added to Diesel Fuel

I have a good friend who is no dummy when it comes to keeping equipment going. He has told me that lots of the bigger trucking and construction companies are straining their used motor oil and adding to the diesel fuel they use. I tried about a gallon of carefully drained and strained oil in my old 5600 Ford tractor and have run it several hours with no issues yet. The mix I've used is about 15/1. Diesel is $5 and used oil disposal is a problem (I usually burn brush piles with it).

What would those of you that have burned a lot of diesel think?

Is bio- diesel a big thing still?

I remember a few years ago….

Every redneck with the jacked up F-2Fiddy was wanting to get all the used oil from the Mescan places….

#powestrokin
#rollingcoal

I have read about people doing that in Turd World countries.

Ya know when you see some pos turnip tractor going down the road in Romania with dude’s fat ass old lady sittin on the fender with him, You KNOW theyre adding spent oil to stretch their fuel

Never tried it but my grandpa told
Me about doing it in his younger days to stretch diesel

Worked for a large trucking company when the switch was made to ULSD and even today - they fill up at the pump like everyone else. Nothing added by the driver. Not oil, not a treatment.

I had the injector pump and injectors rebuilt on my Ford 2600 a few years back, and the mechanic who did the job advised me to add a little cheap 2-cycle oil to my fuel. No mention of used motor oil. Considering how cheap you can get 2-cycle oil I would go with that before I would consider used motor oil.

This practice has been going on for years and years, especially in California where waste oil actually costs money to get rid of. I am not aware of any problems created in the injection system. I might go so far as to say the old Cummins engines using the PT injectors actually had fewer stuck plungers and bent pushrods. Newer injection systems and synthetic oils? I don't know.

Hastings, I know nothing about Ford Ag machinery, but if you have a Bosch style, CAV, or Roosa Master style pump...you may benefit from the addition of lube oil in your fuel. It has nothing to do with sulfur, when they decided on an environmentally friendly diesel blend in the 80's they removed a lot of suspended paraffins to clean up particulates...reducing the lubricity of the fuel...costing the public billions in injection system failures. But, 15/1 may be a little rich, you could be building carbon deposits that will cause you problems down the line.

Diesel mechanic told me Marvel Mystery and 2 cycle were good additives for the pump and injectors. I use Marvel and Yamalube when filling.

A friend gave me 5 gallons of Yamalube so that was easy enough.

Hastings, in the oilfield we did extensive running of gas turbines with light, sweet crude oil that was double filtered and then run through a centrifuge. These turbines were dual fuel, natural gas/diesel units, and we needed a dependable backup for long time power generation.

At work, we generally add 20 gallons or so per thousand to increase lubricity. Used hydraulic fluid as well.

OK, thanks, I'll top off the tank and that will dilute it some. The 24HCF is a wonderful place for information.

What ratio do you like?

How do you guys filter the motor oil?

I would have to strain the dead mice out of my mini LeBrea Tar Pits stowed under my mopar.

Use a turkey fryer cone

There is a lubricity chart online where someone compared different additives to increase the lubricity of ULSD. As I recall two cycle motor oil worked best. Used motor oil didn't increase lubricity very much. I have disposed of used motor oil in my 96 Ram and my 4020 tractor. Both have mechanical pumps. I would be cautious about burning used motor oil in something with electronic pumps and injectors. I burned 1 gallon of used motor oil to 5 gallons of diesel. I strained the oil through a paint strainer first.

In my feed truck that I have injector issues I run a bottle of Lucas cleaner/lube. Very little issues if I do that with every tank fill. Some guys will add a quart of ATF as well.

I've done it in my big trucks, little trucks and earth moving equip. It never caused any damage. I generally mix 1 gallon of used oil to 40 gals of diesel. You can go stronger if you need to get rid of more oil. The strongest I went was 1:10 and I did notice a loss of power when it was that strong. Thicker oil (gear and 50wt trans) I mix thinner (1:50 or 60).

The fuel tank on the tractor holds 13 gallons, and the mechanic suggested about a quart per tankful.

The use of 2 stroke oil is wide spread. 3 oz per tank of fuel. Motor oil would need more than just filtered, before I would mix it with diesel fuel, in my pickup. On line there are quite a few recycling motor oil and blending, for diesels. You might want to investigate how they accomplish the task!

In older engines from the pre-common rail days have at it, it won't hurt anything.

In a new computer controlled common rail system with electrically controlled injectors there's no way I'd put used motor oil in the fuel.

52:1 in a full tank. 2 stroke oil seems like the best option since it is made to lubricate and burn off. Do you need it with every tank or just like scheduled maintenance?