Interesting Question about MPG

[twotonevert]

Yes, there a difference in summer and winter fuels, especially if you live in a cold climate...

As we know, diesel fuel has 2 basic grades: #1 and #2 and as diesel fuel gets cold, it will thicken, or "gel"

#1 has a lower gel temperature than #2 does. So 100% #2 is fine if the temps are always "fairly warm" but if it gets cold enough, #2 will gel plugging filters and not allowing fuel to flow.

So if gets colder than #2 will stay liquid at, they will mix #1 and #2 (or maybe even kerosene) to make the gel point lower.

The other thing is, #1 has a lower BTU per gallon than #2 so it takes more #1 that #2 to do the same amount of work, thus decreasing MPG....

Also, if you buy fuel from a truck stop, ask them if it is winterized diesel or not, a lot of truck stops im my area of the country sell #2 year around, so you have to add a treatment to keep it from gelling, my local "auto diesel" stations sell winter mix.... but I still add treatment to be sure......

Thank you for explaining that to me, I seriously had no idea.

 

[jmkeck]

Pardon me for a silly question, so when my manual tells me to use different grades of fuel for different seasons, the filling stations automatically change the grades depending on the season? Thanks

 

[Yooper75]

Pardon me for a silly question, so when my manual tells me to use different grades of fuel for different seasons, the filling stations automatically change the grades depending on the season? Thanks

They dont change the fuel grades for the season they blend #1 and #2 diesel together to lower the gel point of the fuel. I run #2 diesel in my truck all year long and use Power Services White bottle additive in the winter months.

 

[DaveBen]

The stations add #1 diesel in the winter and leave it out during the warmer months. You don't NEED to do anything else, but you can if you want to.

Dave