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jdemaris
02-09-2004 19:54:58
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Re: putting oil in your diesel in reply to pat moore, 02-09-2004 17:29:14
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I can't say that I've personally run any controlled, scientific experiments on injection pump wear and fuel lubricosity. I do, however, have a background as a mechanic and pump rebuilder. Most of the rebuilding I did was for a Deere dealership, and I tried to keep up with the service bulletins we'd receive from Stanadyne/RoosaMaster, CAV, Bosch, and Diesel Kiki. I assume these companies DO engage in serious testing. There was general consensus on the following points: #1 The lubrication available in non-taxed fuel is adequate for all systems. #2 The lubrication in taxed fuel, i.e. low-sulfur CAN be problematic in distributor-type fuel injection pumps and premature wear can result. This wear can be offset by use of a lubricosity enhancer added to the fuel - or in some cases, the pump can have certain parts updated that are more durable. Stanadyne, for one, had (or has) what they called "arctic" rated repair parts. They were initially designed for pumps that are used in extremely cold environments where the fuel has a very high content of kerosene. Fuel with high kerosene content can cause the same problems as low sulfur taxed fuel. I did not read or hear of any concerns about lubricosity in regard to inline injection pumps; just rotary. I assume your Detroit would fall into the "inline" category since it uses plunger pumps with no camring, head, or rotor. Basically, an inline pump is a bunch of plunger pumps riding on a camshaft. Detroit uses rocker arms instead of a cam. I know a number of pump rebuilders, and they all have their own opinions, hypotheseses, and theories on causes of pump wear - but I don't believe any of them do their own testing. So, like many of us, we make guesses based on whatever information is available. I can say, that from hands-on experience, I've seen more metal wear - especially on distributor sections of pumps - on machinery that's been run on low-sulfur pump fuel. On the other side of the coin, though, I've seen more corrosion damage in pumps in industrial and farm equipment that was presumably run on heating oil/non-taxed off-road fuel. some believe that this is due to acid formed from water in the fuel, this water occurring because of the way off road fuel is often transported/handled (portable gas cans, pickup truck fuel tanks, etc.).
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