'smokey' red diesel (gas oil)

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mont

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\'smokey\' red diesel (gas oil)

Understand that MBM next issue are running a 'quality' test on what boaters buy at the pumps. i.e. grades of fuel.
My own experience is that my boat (twin ad41's) smokes badly depending on where i have filled up.
One marina fuel pump (boat doesnt smoke) says their fuel is expensive (53p) because its 'marine grade diesel' not an inferior grade of gas oil etc.
My last tank full at 42p (thought it was cheap ?) smokes like crazy. Used the saving for bucket, soap, sponges and launderette costs.
Conclude that without proper info at the pumps we / I may be getting duped into thinking all 'red diesel' is the same.
Apart from critising my speelling or experiences any thoughts to add forum ?

PS V.P. expert caused £1500 on injectors and pump o/hauls but found a fresh tank of the good stuff solved the smoke !
 
Re: \'smokey\' red diesel (gas oil)

Check the BS number of the fuel you are buying - Gas oil should be BS2869. I suspect their 'high quality marine diesel' is still just BS2869, because if it was anything else then it would be taxed at the higher rate.

As for smoking more on cheap fuel - could be anything from stale fuel due to lack of turnover to something living in the tanks and increasing sulpher levels in the fuel. Without doing a test on the fuels its not possible to pin it down to one thing.

my mates boat has TMD41b's and we have noticed a reduction in smoke by keeping his fuel treated with soltron (stands back from the lighted touch paper, and dons the tin hat /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif), although it did take a several months of treatments to cut it down.
 
Re: \'smokey\' red diesel (gas oil)

I used to have 41's and the only time they didn't smoke was when I filled up in the CI's with white.

I also changed teh injectors but it didn't make a scrap of difference.
 
Re: \'smokey\' red diesel (gas oil)

Last year my boat was in a marina which did not have diesel so I run it on road diesel from a local garage. It never smoked.

This year running on the red stuff it smokes a lot. So there must be some connection.
 
Re: \'smokey\' red diesel (gas oil)

I can definitely vouch for the fact that when I've filled my tanks up with road diesel, there's no smoke and when I fill up with gas oil, there's white smoke coming out of the back of the boat.



.
 
Re: \'smokey\' red diesel (gas oil)

arr, yes but - white diesel has a higher cetane rating than red, so some smoke reduction would be expected when using white, all things being equal, but they are not - turbo diesels have a lower compression ratio than non-turbo engines, and even this changes from engine to engine, direct to indirect fuel injection, injector spray patterns, ignition timing and the phase of the moon /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif (i.e. lots of other factors)

now AD41's i would expect to do better on white, as my mates engine did when treated with soltron (which raised the effective cetane rating of the fuel), i would also expect duncans yanmar to do better on white, but this seems not the be the case, now the yanmar could have a lower compression ratio / retarded injection timing compared to the volvo - but this is only speculation, and once warmed up and running i bet neither engine smokes
 
Re: \'smokey\' red diesel (gas oil)

Must be something wrong with my AD41P's - only a tiny bit of smoke when cold, and none at all after a few minutes. Mind, I've been using Fuel Set, and latterly Startron. No doubt someone will tell me I've been using the wrong stuff, and I've knackered the engines!! No worries, it goes in a couple of weeks..........
 
Re: \'smokey\' red diesel (gas oil)

My boat has run on 'white' for almost all of its life (Holland based) Still smokes like bug*ery. Still, thats Volvos for you.
 
Re: \'smokey\' red diesel (gas oil)

Diesels and smoke mmmmmmm now lets see, if you have a marine diesel its gona smoke, some more than others more when smoke when cold when hot even more if you push the throttles flat out from a standing start. Volvo make probably the best truck engines which run on DERV follow one watch it change gear or crawl up an incline, smoke!! Its the nature of the bussiness.
However to disagree with Layton C on a few points
You should be wary of the fuel you put into your vessels tank the correct classificationfor marine diesel oil is ISO 8217: DMB. (ISO 8217: DMA is fuel oil which will burn hotter and can in some cases burn of valve seats.)
 
Re: \'smokey\' red diesel (gas oil)

when the D4's and D6's first came out they had to be re mapped due to the poor quality of the fuel compared with the yellow Swedish stuff.

That was the fuel in Chichester.
 
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