Posted by Rick C. on April 09, 1998 at 17:53:05:
In Reply to: quality diesel fuel on LI, NY posted by Bill Sakoda on April 09, 1998 at 17:24:18:
: Pardon that this query is off group center,
: but I have been digging for the answer for many
: hours, and the archives here show expertise.
: I live in the middle of Long Island, NY. How do
: I buy, or concoct via standard fuel+additives, a
: high quality diesel fuel? I am feeding a new
: Turbo Direct Injected VW Jetta.
: From reading, a true premium diesel would do
: the job: eg Amoco Premier, BP, may Citgo premium
: or Mobil Power Plus. None of these are available
: around here. This makes sense: it does not make
: economic sense to ship an exotic fuel thru NY city,
: and pay NY taxes when your primary customers have
: a 1500 mile cruising range.
: What is avail: Texaco (Cetane 40; $1.20/gal);
: Hess (42; $1.29); Gulf Auto diesel (45, $1.45).
: Price is not a priority. I would like to car to
: run zippy and it would be neat to try for the
: 300,000++ miles some owners get.
: Is the best bet to spike a standard fuel like
: Hess; if so with what? Is standard Citgo or Mobil
: better than Hess? Stanadyne looks like a
: reasonable choice for additive.
: Any advice, opinions, links would be appreciated.
Bill,
Living on Long Island, I would be fairly certain that any diesel you buy is from a common source, namely the Colonial Pipeline, which runs from the Gulf Coast to NY City (actually Linden, NJ). Fuel of this nature is called "fungible". Oil companies put "X" amount in at the Gulf end, and take "X" amount out at various points along the way. What all this means is that it's all pretty much the same unless it's shipped segregated (very doubtful). There is no difference between one company's diesel and another on the East Coast unless it's marketed as a premium type diesel (then it would already be additized). There are a number of high quality additives out there which will give you high cetane, low cold flow properties, less deposits, etc. The Stanadyne New Performance Formula is a good one, Valvetect makes another -- lots. None of these additives will make it like the straight run fuels that are available in the MW, but it's the best you can do given your location.
Rick C.