Diesel

[fern]

Per Patriots, diesel engines were stressed yet never seemed that important throughout the books. It did stress that in the beginning, after all the gas is gone, there is still a good supply of diesel to evacuate. Is anyone preparing with this in mind?

[Watchman]

I may be wrong but I think the diesel aspect was stressed because diesel engines can be modified to burn oil from plants, waste, etc. Things that might be readily available or made without a big oil infrastructure.

[Toepopper]

Also, keep in mind that #2 diesel fuel will store or keep for about 7 years before it starts to degrade and revert back into crude oil. The current blend of pump regular type gasoline has a shelf life of 6 months before it turns into shellac. You can buy a diesel fuel additive that will extend its shelf life to 10 years. Bio-diesel can be manufactured at home but it takes a lot of know how and effort to produce the stuff. There is a 68 page chapter that explains how to produce your own biofuel in the book, "The Renewable Energy Handbook" by William H. Kemp. First requirement is to have access to a source of used cooking grease like from a french fry vat in a restaurant. It can also be made from seed oils. There is a new company in Saskatchawan that makes high grade bio fuel from canola seed oil that is not first grade and marketable as food because it is cloudy. So rather than dispose of it they turn it into fuel.
Diesel engines do have some drawbacks as opposed to gasoline engines. Diesels have a 3 -1/2 gallon oil capacity so every time you go to change the oil and filter it costs big bucks. They have 2 fuel filters which need changing. They are notorious for hard starting or flat out not starting in cold winter weather without first shooting some ether into the air intake.

[WillyPete]

I've seen numerous points about diesel engines and them being preferable to a gas engine since they could likely be "tuned" to operate on other fuel products unlike gas engines which require gasoline or a major overhaul to operate on natural or LP gas, even if ready supplies are available which I doubt.
I've also seen references to diesel engines being less susceptible to this EMP that too many are worried about but, I'm not too sure about that.
I'm going to be in the market for another more fuel efficient vehicle before I get back in school this fall. My old Bronco loves the gas and can't seem to get enough of it so, Ill find something not so thirsty to be my daily driver between school and work. I'll look for a diesel engine but I'll take what I can afford. If I can get a diesel truck or something I'll be learning a lot about how they operate and do my research on producing bio-fuels or converting a diesel engine to operate on fuel oils or other fuel sources.
I got to thinking about it and there may be numerous heating fuel tanks buried in people's yards that may have large quantities of #2 fuel oil just sitting in them waiting to be removed and utilized for some project. Finding and figuring out a way to use that for a vehicle fuel would help whatever you've got go for a lot longer than without. #2 is very much like diesel fuel, it just doesn't have all of the additives diesel does. We'll see what happens when the time comes I imagine. Meanwhile, I'm looking for another ride.

[Toepopper]

I asked the owner of the local bulk fuel plant, where you may purchase diesel fuel for "OFF ROAD" use without paying the road tax, if home heating oil will work in a diesel P.U. or car and he told me they were the exact same thing. The off road diesel fuel is dyed red to distinguish the 2 fuels and is also delivered to homes for oil heating systems. An underground fuel storage tank would be a million dollar find if you had a way to retrieve the fuel.

[WillyPete]

I figure I'll do it the same way I'll get gas out of the underground tanks. Take a 12v fuel pump out of a gas tank, attach long wires and a hose to it and lower it into the tank. Hitch up the battery and pump out the fuel. Can do the same thing with a diesel fuel pump to get that oil out of the tanks.

[Watchman]

Do you remember the article we read the other day about the compressed air water pump? I wonder if it could be adapted to fuel pumping?

[WillyPete]

I'm pretty sure it would work well as it is designed to handle fluids. My main concern would be having the power supply necessary to run the air supply to get the fuel out of the tank.
I had figured on using fuel pumps out of a gas powered vehicle for gasoline and one out of a diesel powered vehicle for diesel since all I need to drag around is a battery or two and containers for the fuel I manage to retrieve. Of course, this is completely dependent on vehicles being abandoned and having fuel pumps in them that actually perform.
No telling what could happen after the fact, there may be plenty to choose from or there may be absolutely nothing available to work with that hasn't been burned or otherwise destroyed.
Since it's all a big "IF", I'll plan on there being fuel storage tanks around and for vehicles with the fuel pumps I need to retrieve that fuel.
I'll also be making up plans for otherwise, like hand pumps for pulling fuel out of tanks. Maybe a portable pitcher type pump system, tanks aren't buried all that deep.

[Toepopper]

Here on the left coast, underground fuel storage tanks have been outlawed. Its for the children and the ticks and fleas. Most ranchers have 2 large fuel tanks, one for diesel and the other for regular gas, mounted up on a stilt type structure so you can use gravity feed to fill your tanks. I also see plenty of people who have home heating oil tanks next to their houses to supplement their wood stoves on unusually cold nights.
I have thought about using a 12 volt water pump for moving liquid fuels in a pinch. However, it says on the box of the pump to use for moving water only. Gasoline might be too risky with the possibility of sparks flying but diesel could probably be pumped without starting any unforseen fires or doing harm to yourself.

[WillyPete]

I imagine something like that would work just fine. I had originally considered using a pump like what you mention but thought about how might the gaskets and seals , etc. in that type pump be affected. That's why I choose to use a 12v pump from a vehicle, it's designed for that kind of use and, batteries and small solar panels are very portable versus a generator to power a higher voltage pump system.
At one point I had to replace the fuel pump in the tank of one of my old vehicles and I also was concerned about what may happen if something in the tank sparks, would i suddenly have a conflagration in my face.
The design on my particular fuel pump was such that the electrical connections were covered with small rubber boots over each terminal and the terminals themselves were screw terminals with locknut fasteners to prevent them loosening and potentially sparking. And I realized that the design was such that the pump connections are completely submerged in the fuel for the majority of the time so that any remote possibility of oxygen being in the tank cannot be near the connections should a spark actually happen. Plus, the fact that gasoline and diesel vapors are heavier than air and that the fuel liquid evaporates to fill its container, there is little harm in using any electrical pump to remove the fuel from its tank as air will b e pushed out of the container. With my pump system for PAW fuel gathering I would also wrap the terminal end of the pump with a fair thickness of rubber tape and maybe silicone sealant to completely seal off the electrical connections and as totally as I can prevent that conflagration.