Disposing of diesel fuel

silverstick

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2004
Location
Northern Ohio
TDI
'02 Jetta GLS (160K miles), and '05 Jetta GLS wagon (120K)
After installing a new fuel filter on our '02 Jetta, I wondered what to do with the diesel fuel that came out with the old fuel filter -- and the drib that flowed out of the new filter when I used a Mity-Vac to pull fresh fuel into it before reconnecting the line.

For now the old diesel is in a container where I normally put old engine oil after an oil change, to be conveyed to the nearest approved dumping point. I figure I'll leave it there, put the proceeds of the next oil change in on top of it, give it a shake and a stir, maybe drop in a couple of miniature onions, and just dump the whole cocktail into the KarParts recycling tank down the road.

Is this illegal or (except for the onions) immoral? Any other ideas?
 
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Naimanator

Veteran Member
Joined
May 14, 2007
Location
Davis, CA
TDI
Silver 2002 Golf GLS TDI
As long as its going to an oil recycling plant I think you're fine. It's better than dumping the whole mess down the drain or on the ground somewhere.
 

PDJetta

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 6, 2003
Location
Northern Virginia
TDI
'04 Jetta GLS TDI Pumpe Duce Platinum Grey w/ Leather
I pour mine into the furnace fuel oil tank at my mother's house. What's odd, that when I pour the old fuel from the fitler and into a quart jar, the fuel looks amazingly clean! I'm tempted to pour it into my fuel tank. There is quite a bit too with the CAT filter, about 24 ounces.

--Nate
 
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rdkern

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 21, 2004
Location
Humboldt Co CA
TDI
Passat 1997 silver (sold after 11 years), Jetta 2000 atlantic blue
The fuel came from the fuel tank, the area inside the filter is quite clean, and as long as it goes back through the new filter, I see no reason not to use it.

It's not like the dirt is "concentrated" in the fuel in the filter. If no water, why not put it back in the tank?
 

NegativeEd

Veteran Member
Joined
May 27, 2004
Location
Danbury, CT
TDI
2010 Jetta Dieselgate
Your local town or municipality may sponsor Household Hazardous Waste days. They'll take it at one of those for free, no questions asked. They'll also take any old paint (usually only oil based), aerosol cans, etc.

negative ed
 

Long_Range

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2004
Location
Arthur, IL , USA
TDI
Jetta Sedan GL 2004
Just put the fuel in with your used motor oil. It'll probably go straight into a furnace anyway. I personally keep mine for use as a solvent.
 

snapdragon

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2006
Location
UK
TDI
02 Passat 2.5 TDi Auto Variant
Our household waste goes to a municipal incinerator that produces heat and electricity. I wrap my filters and brake fluid bottles etc... in lots of plastic bags and stuff and let them take it. Try and find if yours goes to landfill or incinerator.
 

yadic

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 9, 2023
Location
United States
TDI
just looking
After installing a new fuel filter on our '02 Jetta, I wondered what to do with the diesel fuel check this Disposeitwell that came out with the old fuel filter -- and the drib that flowed out of the new filter when I used a Mity-Vac to pull fresh fuel into it before reconnecting the line.

For now the old diesel is in a container where I normally put old engine oil after an oil change, to be conveyed to the nearest approved dumping point. I figure I'll leave it there, put the proceeds of the next oil change in on top of it, give it a shake and a stir, maybe drop in a couple of miniature onions, and just dump the whole cocktail into the KarParts recycling tank down the road.

Is this illegal or (except for the onions) immoral? Any other ideas?
Anyone know the proper (not to mention legal) way of disposing of fuel... gasoline in particular? I have some 5 gallon cans in my garage filled with old fuel that was mixed with 2 stroke premix oil for dirt bikes. It's about 4 years old now (I know, shame on me) and I now need to dispose of it. I know that you can take old motor oil to auto stores and have them recycle it, but I've never heard of a legal and ethical way to get rid of fuels. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 

Lug_Nut

TDIClub Enthusiast, Pre-Forum Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 20, 1998
Location
Sterling, Massachusetts. USA
TDI
idi: 1988 Bolens DGT1700H, the other oil burner: 1967 Saab Sonett II two stroke
Coleman dual fuel lantern? But "...some 5 gallon cans..." will take time to consume that way.
I run my old gasoline in a push lawn mower.
Pre-mix, eh? Are you near to Mass? See, I have this old Saab two stroke.......

post it up on a local free-cycle / craig's/ facebook swap site. There might be a landscape outfit that will take it for their blowers or whackers.
 

BobnOH

not-a-mechanic
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
central Ohio
TDI
New Beetle 2003 manual
Original post-
After installing a new fuel filter on our '02 Jetta, I wondered what to do with the diesel fuel that came out with the old fuel filter -- and the drib that flowed out of the new filter when I used a Mity-Vac to pull fresh fuel into it before reconnecting the line.
We're talking just a little bit of diesel. I'm definitely in the tree hugger category and I would just dump that wherever. Guessing less than 20 oz.?
 

burpod

teh stallionz!!1
Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Location
cape cod, ma
TDI
82 rabbit vnt ahu, 98 jetta vnt ahu, 05 parts car, 88 scirocco.. :/
if it's a small amount, i'd keep some old stuff, along with old gas, used paint thinner in a couple 1gal jugs. VERY useful for cleaning intake manifolds, other dirty car parts etc. why waste clean paint thinner or other such solvent for doing some rough cleaning? :)

as far as disposing it, our town once a year or so has a hazardous chemical disposal day where you can bring stuff like that....
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
I know a metal scrapper who gets the stale old gas they drain out of gas tanks at the scrapyard, and burns it in his beat up old square body. I saw some of the stuff he had picked up once- it looked and smelled pretty awful, lol. He said his quality test was to pour a little out and see if it would ignite with a match. If not, he wouldn't take it.
 

Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
Diesel is oil, mix it with your used oil and return it to Walmart, they take jugs of used oil. I have mixed engine oil, transmission oil, power steering fluid all in the same container. Also occasionally crud from the bottom of my drain pan gets in those used oil jugs. I figure they want it returned and recycled they can figure it out from there. Otherwise I used to dump it In the dirt road in front of my house, it helps with dust control. The township I live in uses oil on the back roads for dust control in front of people’s houses. That’s where some of that used oil returned to Walmart ends up anyway.
 

GP_RZ

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2022
Location
Alliston, Ontario
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon 5 speed
I would run it throught my chinese diesel heater thats where I recycle all my used oil and keeps the garage warm.
 

Wilkins

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2005
Location
British Columbia
TDI
05 Jetta Wagon 5sp, 10 Sportwagen 6MT
My municipal recycling centre guy told me any kind of petroleum distillate should go in the waste oil tank. He was happy with gasoline, diesel etc. NOT antifreeze, which gets its own container.
 

GlowBugTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2018
Location
Cambridge, MN
TDI
2001 Beetle GLS TDI (BIODSL). 01 original Glow Bug TDI (sold)
Original post-

We're talking just a little bit of diesel. I'm definitely in the tree hugger category and I would just dump that wherever. Guessing less than 20 oz.?
I'd just dump it back in the tank. Thats such a small amount. It Isn't going to hurt anything.
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
I hardly ever let an ounce of any fuel go to waste. The fuel filters for an MK4 (and others) will fit perfectly in the top of a clean Jif Peanut Butter jar. I remove the drain plugs and let them drain for a few days. Then, I dump the fuel into a five gallon container. Periodically, I dump some of the fuel into my Jetta, excavator or Dodge. I never dump the entire contents in (leave the settlings in the bottom).

Several years back, I had to pump out some gasoline/diesel fuel mix (about 12 gallons) and my brother brought me about the same amount up from Georgia when coming to visit. It has taken a while to burn that stuff ...... a few ounces here and there until it is all gone.

My ol' '52 Ford Tractor will burn that old stale gasoline pretty good.

And, like someone said, old gasoline will work just fine for a solvent (and it stinks).

Oh, and I just recently finished burning Katrina Era dyed diesel fuel that was purchased in 2005 (you know the story).
 

John Wesley Hardin

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2022
Location
Rockport Texas
TDI
2003 VW Jetta 1.9 Diesel GLS , Five Speed Standard Shift
After installing a new fuel filter on our '02 Jetta, I wondered what to do with the diesel fuel that came out with the old fuel filter -- and the drib that flowed out of the new filter when I used a Mity-Vac to pull fresh fuel into it before reconnecting the line.

For now the old diesel is in a container where I normally put old engine oil after an oil change, to be conveyed to the nearest approved dumping point. I figure I'll leave it there, put the proceeds of the next oil change in on top of it, give it a shake and a stir, maybe drop in a couple of miniature onions, and just dump the whole cocktail into the KarParts recycling tank down the road.

Is this illegal or (except for the onions) immoral? Any other ideas?
Just pour it into used motor oil when you change your oil . Or just dispose of it at any repair shop . Or pour it on your cat it . Gets rid of fleas. Ive eaten raccoon cooked on a diesel fire . Scrumptious
 

CantWrite

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2021
Location
Placerville CO
TDI
2005 Passat Wagon (BHW/5-spd conv, 03T). I keep in touch with the (2) ALH's I sold.
I recommend cardboard cut-outs in the shape of batteries with a few drops of that 1202. Hand them out to EV owners to remind them what was used to create their car, and what is still used to charge their car.

and I am a tree hugger/pro environment. I choose conservation over consumerism
 

John Wesley Hardin

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2022
Location
Rockport Texas
TDI
2003 VW Jetta 1.9 Diesel GLS , Five Speed Standard Shift
Just pour it into used motor oil when you change your oil . Or just dispose of it at any repair shop . Or pour it on your cat it . Gets rid of fleas. Ive eaten raccoon cooked on a diesel fire . Scrumptious
I can NOT believe this thread continues. Wow....what a world.
I simply put my extra diesel in the neighbor's dog dish. There's a lot less barkin' now!
Got a laugh out of that! I gotta tell this story . When we lived in Florida ( 25 yrs) In Okeechobee hunting and trapping feral hogs was a way of life for a lot of folks. Sometimes we would put them in a holding pen and purge them out . My brother in law penned a 200lb red hog and it was pissed . Right outside the pen was a five gallon bucket of old diesel fuel. That hog drank the whole bucket! five minutes later it was running all over the pen spewing diesel out its ass like a fire hydrant . Thats Bio-Diesel !
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
Got a laugh out of that! I gotta tell this story . When we lived in Florida ( 25 yrs) In Okeechobee hunting and trapping feral hogs was a way of life for a lot of folks. Sometimes we would put them in a holding pen and purge them out . My brother in law penned a 200lb red hog and it was pissed . Right outside the pen was a five gallon bucket of old diesel fuel. That hog drank the whole bucket! five minutes later it was running all over the pen spewing diesel out its ass like a fire hydrant . Thats Bio-Diesel !
Well, if that hog quit running all over, you can rest assured it ran out of fuel!
 

John Wesley Hardin

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2022
Location
Rockport Texas
TDI
2003 VW Jetta 1.9 Diesel GLS , Five Speed Standard Shift
I recommend cardboard cut-outs in the shape of batteries with a few drops of that 1202. Hand them out to EV owners to remind them what was used to create their car, and what is still used to charge their car.

and I am a tree hugger/pro environment. I choose conservation over consumerism
There has never been a poorer man that has not heard cackle of a Sand Hill Crane on a fog shrouded Cypress Swamp as the dawn approaches. Then hearing the chattering clutch from a TDI, damn
 

CantWrite

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2021
Location
Placerville CO
TDI
2005 Passat Wagon (BHW/5-spd conv, 03T). I keep in touch with the (2) ALH's I sold.
I wish you the best with your clutch chatter!! I’ve never heard the sand hill cranes, but driving through NE read the signs about then wanting to build wind towers on the sand hills. Shame. A calm morning as you describe sounds amazing. We had an owl return and I heard it last night on the north side of my house, very pleasant and I hope the critters are fewer.
 

John Wesley Hardin

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2022
Location
Rockport Texas
TDI
2003 VW Jetta 1.9 Diesel GLS , Five Speed Standard Shift
Im a tree hugger with a diesel spewing car. You dont want windmill farms . Eleven years ago when I moved to south Tx there were a few windmills you could see off in the distance driving from Rockport to Corpus Christi. Now there are hundreds ! they are a blight on the landscape and in my opinion are a crime against nature. These windmills are all on farm land. What is known as the Coastal Plains. Can you imagine owning and farming that land in your family for years and now its covered by windmills as far as you can see
 

John Wesley Hardin

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2022
Location
Rockport Texas
TDI
2003 VW Jetta 1.9 Diesel GLS , Five Speed Standard Shift
Im a tree hugger with a diesel spewing car. You dont want windmill farms . Eleven years ago when I moved to south Tx there were a few windmills you could see off in the distance driving from Rockport to Corpus Christi. Now there are hundreds ! they are a blight on the landscape and in my opinion are a crime against nature. These windmills are all on farm land. What is known as the Coastal Plains. Can you imagine owning and farming that land in your family for years and now its covered by windmills as far as you can see
I wish you the best with your clutch chatter!! I’ve never heard the sand hill cranes, but driving through NE read the signs about then wanting to build wind towers on the sand hills. Shame. A calm morning as you describe sounds amazing. We had an owl return and I heard it last night on the north side of my house, very pleasant and I hope the critters are fewer.
Im guessing they probably burn 20'000 gallons of diesel per windmill installed maybe more. They ship by diesel freighter from Germany or China . Then unloaded with aa diesel crane . Then transported by diesel truck. Then erected by diesel cranes . So they have already fouled the environment long before the produce their first Kilowatt
 
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