Kerosene that is 4 years old, is it still good ?

Hi all :

I have access to free fuel additive kerosene.
It was bought and stored in original 55 gallon drum , metal, container. They used to use it to clean their machine shop items, but later on used a commercial service. The kerosene sat in the cool parts of storage, in no light, in near full drum. Average temps between 40 deg in winter to 90 deg in summer. No sun exposure.

So is it still good as fuel.

I plan on testing it, seeing if it smells same, if it is still clear, any red or yellowing, any strands of growth, or any water on bottom.

Any thoughts or advice ?

I plan on using just a few quarts to mix with biodeisel, is that ok ? Or use with regular diesel.

Thanks

It should still be good to use. Mixing some biodiesel with it is a good idea to add lubricity.

bump.

I siphoned out the kerosene. I saw that it was light yellow in color,
I filtered it with a coffee filter and a thick 10 micron filter . It looks clear .


The bottom of the tank is full of water, and I was able to separate it. I also added some denatured alcohol and some other additive that claims to clean out the water , I imagine by dissolving the water also.

I put one pint into my tank , car running without problems.

I have a CAT fuel filter, so I may change it out in a few months and check it to see how dirty it is, and whethter it has any water.



Does anyone know if the CAT filter has a water drain plug on the bottom ?

If there was water in the drum, I don't think it's worth using it in your car. Probably ok for a kerosene space heater or mixing with heating oil.

^^^What turbobrick said. I'm not sure I would run it in anything new although I wouldn't hesitate to run it in a heater of some sort, especially as expensive as it can get during the winter season.

I've run some pretty caramelized fuel in my old Chevy TD but there was no water in it. I also pumped down a Rabbit diesel truck fuel tank that was full of fuel but probably a decade old. It's good to treat it when you do this though.

I will qualify this though, if you can tap the bottom of the drum and drain off the water it would be the same as a fuel filter. As long as you don't agitate the drum and blend the two components you can get rid of the water. Siphoning off the top is tough.

Steve

if you run it make sure that you throw some ATF or 2 stroke in the tank as well. BTW for the military folks Kerosene is JP-8

turbobrick240 said:

If there was water in the drum, I don't think it's worth using it in your car. Probably ok for a kerosene space heater or mixing with heating oil.

Click to expand...

if it's separated and you drain the water or only pump the kerosene, you'll be fine.

highender said:

bump.



I also added some denatured alcohol and some other additive that claims to clean out the water , I imagine by dissolving the water also.



I have a CAT fuel filter, so I may change it out in a few months and check it to see how dirty it is, and whethter it has any water.



Does anyone know if the CAT filter has a water drain plug on the bottom ?

Click to expand...

# 1 alcohol of any kind is not cool in a diesel engine.
# 2 No the cat filter does not have a water drain. If you are using one how could you not know that.

hughesjasonk said:

if it's separated and you drain the water or only pump the kerosene, you'll be fine.

Click to expand...

I guess my concern would be that after sitting for four years in a drum with water, there could be a lot of microbial growth and fuel degradation. He says it's clear though, so that's a good sign. It's his call really- though I would strongly advise him not to use it in the '12 tdi in his sig.

Why risk it to save a few bucks? Give it to someone with a kerosene heater.

I knew a guy whose daughter gave him a nice little diesel Rabbit. He was always bragging to us how much jet B he could run through it. I think in less than 2 years he had killed the engine. I don't know much about the make up of jet fuels except that maybe they are kerosene. You won't catch me using it in my car.

turbobrick240 said:

I guess my concern would be that after sitting for four years in a drum with water, there could be a lot of microbial growth and fuel degradation. He says it's clear though, so that's a good sign. It's his call really- though I would strongly advise him not to use it in the '12 tdi in his sig.

Click to expand...

so a diesel engine is a diesel engine. the 2 concerns that I have is the DPF and lubricity. they say kerosene is "clean burning" but it is not. it has way more soot than diesel #2 and has more potential for more regens and dpf failures. the military's fuel (aka JP-8 aka kerosene) sits for really long amounts of time with no real issue. they just drain off the water, test it, and move on.

as far as putting it in a 2012, I wouldn't do that.

vincej said:

I knew a guy whose daughter gave him a nice little diesel Rabbit. He was always bragging to us how much jet B he could run through it. I think in less than 2 years he had killed the engine. I don't know much about the make up of jet fuels except that maybe they are kerosene. You won't catch me using it in my car.

Click to expand...

Winter blend is diesel cut with kerosene. there's 10 different JP formulas. they are different blends of kerosene.

hughesjasonk said:

so a diesel engine is a diesel engine. the 2 concerns that I have is the DPF and lubricity. they say kerosene is "clean burning" but it is not. it has way more soot than diesel #2 and has more potential for more regens and dpf failures. the military's fuel (aka JP-8 aka kerosene) sits for really long amounts of time with no real issue. they just drain off the water, test it, and move on.

as far as putting it in a 2012, I wouldn't do that.

Click to expand...

I don't know about kerosene producing more soot- I tend to think not. I have observed more soot from diesel fuel burned in space heaters than when K1 is used. Maybe it's different when burned in a diesel engine. There might be more sulfur in the old kerosene- the ULSK standard may not have been around 4 years ago. That sulfur could be a good thing as far as microbial growth goes.

Jet B is a cold weather jet fuel that is actually more gasoline than kerosene. Definitely not good for a diesel engine.

I wouldn't want to take chances with questionable fuel- especially if the OP's drum looks anything like the one in this link :
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bellperformance.com/blog/kerosene-in-diesel-engine%3fhs_amp=true

In my view, I would just pass. It is just not worth the risk. These cars can be expensive enough if you even use the proper fuel and lubricants. Just don't.

leicaman said:

In my view, I would just pass. It is just not worth the risk. These cars can be expensive enough if you even use the proper fuel and lubricants. Just don't.

Click to expand...

Agreed

LOL! Skip it.... save your TDI.

i assume it's going in the alh
it'll burn fine, cut it 50/50 or lighter with normal diesel if you want to be real safe
idle sections of the maps really don't like low energy density fuel
kero is more stable than diesel even, it doesn't go bad

I run a 7.3 on waste oil and gasoline, ALH won't run on that garbage without huge nozzles, too much injection advance and very lean smoke maps
for a little background