Heating Oil 40 Yrs Old

[Todd M]

Do any of you fine fellas have experience using old heating oil in a diesel engine? This fuel has been sitting in an underground tank for roughly 40 years. It is brown in color and somewhat dark. When rubbed between fingers feels more like light oil than like diesel fuel. From my narrow view into the tank, through 2" pipe, I see no slug on top of the fuel and can feel none in the fuel until about 3/4" from bottom. The tank is approximately 3/4 full. The fill cap and vent are both inside a storage shed, so have been protected from the elements over the years. Anywho, I just got a sample tonight from the tank, and I am wondering how to test it for bacteria, and if it is viable to use in my 12v Cummins. What say you all?

 

[RicinYakima]

Send it to the recyclers! Ian will weigh in here, but it isn't good for anything as far as I am concerned.

 

[Chris]

I wouldn't want to run that in a vehicle. Friend of mine ended up putting all new injectors in a Chevy after using some old fuel. Expensive.

Can you run it in a furnace or heater?

 

[fiver]

I wouldn't run it in the truck.
I'd use it in a drip furnace, but not In the truck.

 

[Rick]

Recycle it. Were it me it would go no where near an engine, not even if I hated the engine.

 

[Ian]

No, Todd, forget it for motor fuel, even if it were fresh. Don't run straight wvo in your Cummins either. A rebuilt VP44 pump is about $1500, plus fuel filters, dropping the tank to clean it, and the fuel injectors are expensive as well if the fuel damages the tips.

 

[Todd M]

Darn it. I had a feeling that was the best route but decided to ask anyway. I could make a drip into my shop stove but I'm not set up to handle 300 gallons at a time of waste oil and don't want to spend the time. Wood is plentiful enough.

Ian, I'm sure the P-pump is even more than the rotary to rebuild. Mine is a '94 p-pump.

 

[Bret4207]

One of my "hobbies", besides enslaving myself to livestock, is repairing and resurrecting old equipment, like Caterpillar crawlers. One of the very common complaints or issues I hear about with others trying to do the same thing comes from attempting to get a diesel, even an ancient 70 year old diesel that last ran 15 years back, to work with any of the old fuel still in the system. Mind you, these are very simple injection systems designed in t he 30's and 40's that were meant to run a wide range of fuels or varying quality. The general advice is to drain the tank completely, rinse the tank with an algeacide, clean out the fuel hoses/piping and then be prepared to change filters 2 or 3 times within the first few hours of run time. In a modern diesel truck I think you'd be asking for a giant sized case of trouble with a hefty repair bill to go with it.

 

[JWFilips]

Isn't Oil ....Millions of years old?

 

[fiver]

it is in the ground.
what you get at home has been manufactured and cracked and blended, and treated.
oil isn't just oil from the ground either.
the stuff from North Dakota you could pretty much light on fire with a match, and the stuff from eastern Utah could be used to fill cracks on the highway straight from the ground.
time,temp, and pressure dictates what you get.
from tar to natural gas, it all started out the same, just like the different types of coal.

 

[Brad]

The 40 year old heating oil would be fine if, like crude, it was refined.

 

[RicinYakima]

It is always about the chemistry.

 

[Brad]

It is always about the chemistry.

Isn’t that the truth! And chemistry of organic compounds often changes with time. Matter of fact it almost always does. Oxygen loves organic molecules.

 

[Rally]

Sounds like a life supply of fire starter for the wood stove. Parts cleaner maybe.

 

[Ian]

The chemistry of my organic compounds is certainly changing with age and oxidation. Eight trips up a steep hill today packing tools had me missing my 25 year old body.

 

[Todd M]

Sounds like a life supply of fire starter for the wood stove. Parts cleaner maybe.

It would be, but I have to force my scrounger's mind to leave it there. I'm not in a position to "collect" like I used to. Our property will be a construction site for awhile and I'm really trying to keep it looking better/picked up than I have in the past.

 

[Pistolero]

Hell, Ian, I miss my 60 year old eyes, I could still shoot a 3" group at 300 yds with iron sights
then.

Bill

 

[Bret4207]

You might find someone with a waste oil burner, like your favorite auto mechanic, and let them know about it. It will probably burn, but not work good in an injection system.

 

[Todd M]

I do know people with waste oil burners, but they are all swamped with wmo. The guy who owns the oil is going to get it recycled I believe. It just costs and arm and a few toes.

 

[Ian]

They still pick ours up for free at work, it gets modified into heating oil. When prices are high enough we actuall get money back plus free oil filter and coolant disposal.