Dyed Diesel

[RustyJC]

The red dye is only a marker. The dye that they put into the fuel also contains a chemical constituent that they can detect in the exhaust, so if they have any doubts about fuel color, they can verify if it's on-road or off-road diesel by sniffing the exhaust.



Insofar as probable cause is concerned, the Supreme Court has ruled in numerous cases that your vehicle operated on a public road is not your home - you don't have the same Constitutional protections on a public road that you do in your home.



Most of the "dipping" here in Texas is at farm machinery sales and livestock auction barns where they're checking to ensure that the farmers and ranchers aren't using their off-road fuel in their on-road trucks.



Rusty

 

[starkmr]

I've seen a lot of posts over the last year since I've been involved with TDR addressing this issue of untaxed fuel.

I don't quite remember ever hearing of anyone "getting dipped"... . Has anyone out there been fined. What justified reason would one be stopped for the check of untaxed fuel anyway... ( unless someone ratted them off).

Just wondering...

I've been pulled over in Arizona for the sole purpose of dipping my tank. I didn't have any red fuel onboard so they sent me on my way. Wasn't there 30 seconds. I live in a rural farming area and this kind of thing happens frequently. I have seen DOT set up in numerous places. The only justification that I can see is that they stop all diesel vehicles.

 

[steved]

I read that off road or dyed had 1500 to 3000 ppm depending on where you get it , so I was concerned about any possible effects on the motor.

As stated before, off-road is just dyed on-road fuel... I mixed the dye into the storage containers prior to blending when I was summer help at a Pennzoil refinery... and that was 1992-1996...



steved

 

[steved]

I've been pulled over in Arizona for the sole purpose of dipping my tank. I didn't have any red fuel onboard so they sent me on my way. Wasn't there 30 seconds. I live in a rural farming area and this kind of thing happens frequently. I have seen DOT set up in numerous places. The only justification that I can see is that they stop all diesel vehicles.

I too have been pulled over several times... both with my 99 and my 04. 5. Mostly when I pull into a rest area that DOT is occupying... you volunteer as soon as you pull to a stop...



steved

 

[BigEasy]

A tiny bit of red fuel will "show" and get you a fine, or much worse! Mark

The wool has been pulled over your eyes... tankers haul clear fuel right after red fuel all the time. There's always traces of red in clear fuel.

 

[steved]

The wool has been pulled over your eyes... tankers haul clear fuel right after red fuel all the time. There's always traces of red in clear fuel.

Yeah, you can have a certain "percentage" of red in your fuel before they fine you... albeit that is pretty small from what I heard. I think this is because you could potentially have someone running red in their truck at the farm for a few weeks, then switching to clear to run the road... you never get all the red out before the switch...



And I believe they do an analysis on it to determine that (either visibly or sniffer I don't know... )



I can tell you from experience the pure dye concentrate is VERY NASTY in its pure form... it is actually purple in the drum and thick like honey. It will stain your hands for weeks if you get it on yourself... and no, I didn't get any on my hootus... :-laf



steved

 

[SKneeland]

if you're going in for warranty work i would make sure its all flushed out of the system and replace the fuel filter.

one of the favorite tricks around here(ford & gm dealers too) is to deny warranty if they detect off road fuel usage. especially if its an injector or pump issue.



their arguement is that its known to become stagnant & be carried in questionable containers, etc and has a higher chance of being contaminated



last i checked, isnt that what a filter is for?... ... .

 

[ROCKJEEP]

I run red dye time to time depending on how low I run the truck and throw a few in to get down the hill for better diesel prices. I just had a new lift pump in and happened to have a empty gallon can of marlvil mystery oil in the bed. The service manager call me and said they saw red fuel in the truck, but saw the empty can. He said not to use marvil myster oil in the truck because it would dye the fuel red and I could get in trouble. (ps I paid for the work being done, not warrentied) So no problems here.

 

[Summit]

my local tech is replacing 6 injectors for the umpteenth time on a farmers truck that runs red fuel,,, he swears up and down that the third gens WILL kill your injectors. i saw the injectors myself and they look horrid!! the tips are all plugged up.

 

[steved]

my local tech is replacing 6 injectors for the umpteenth time on a farmers truck that runs red fuel,,, he swears up and down that the third gens WILL kill your injectors. i saw the injectors myself and they look horrid!! the tips are all plugged up.

Probably because the farmer is running fuel out of a farm tank with a bunch of garbage in it... red diesel should not affect a 3rd gen (not including the 2007s)...



Case in point, a former coworker of mine decided to drain his home heating oil tank into his 97 3500 CTD... needless to say that within 100 miles, he was replacing the ENTIRE fuel delivery system because the dirt and sludge in the bottom of the tank was too much for the filters and literally plugged up the pumps. He had a bill of several thousands of dollars for that very dumb move. They replaced the injectors, IP, LP, filters/screens, tank sending unit, and most of the lines because of the garbage IN THE FUEL, not the fuel itself...



As I said before, red fuel is onroad diesel with a dye in it...



I will also say that "flushing the system" might sound nice, but the red stains a lot of stuff... I accidentally ran a part of a tank of red through my 99... 150k later, parts of the filter housing were still red inside...



steved

 

[BigEasy]

SteveD, you are right, to a point. OffRoad LSD is simply dyed LSD... but Home heating oil (HHO) is still high sulphur

 

[steved]

SteveD, you are right, to a point. OffRoad LSD is simply dyed LSD... but Home heating oil (HHO) is still high sulphur

Again, working as summer help at a refinery (making this statement means I am NO expert), but the HHO came from the same blending tank as the offroad diesel at this refinery IIRC.



I don't remember them making specific batches of fuel vs HHO... but I may well be wrong as I didn't stand there everyday.



steved

 

[The patriot]

Low sulphur- high sulphur I believe depends on the refinery it comes out of.

Some of the older refineries are still running, and putting out high sulphur diesel/ #2 oil/ AKA home heating oil.

This was at least as of 3 years ago.

I cant imagine ALL refineries have upgraded since.

Eric

 

[BigEasy]

SteveD... were you at Rouseville?

 

[steved]

SteveD... were you at Rouseville?

Yeah... refinery isn't even there anymore...



steved

 

[MR.K]

Get the red out

Anyone know how to bleach red dyed fuel. . Hummmm. . We could get Billy from Oxy-clean or Ben Stine from Clear Eyes .....

 

[MMeier]

Anyone know how to bleach red dyed fuel. . Hummmm. . We could get Billy from Oxy-clean or Ben Stine from Clear Eyes .....

 

[CBrahs]

He killed the kitty.

 

[CBrahs]

I was told by an engineer at a gas mine that if you put a large (3 inch diameter or so) puck of brown shoe polish it changes the color. never tried it but he swore by it.

 

[Cummins724]

My truck been running fine with the red for 140k... . I can't remember putting regular in it. I got caught once & it was $1000 dollar fine, but I figure that I saved alot more than that after 140k. I ran a line from my auxilary tank to my motor & keep regular diesel in my stock tank... . should pass the dip test! What is the fine up to now in case it doesn't? I heard it was $10k, but I'm not sure.