How long doe diesel last?

I've got a 14cents per litre discount coupon that I have to use by then of this month. I can use it to put 120 litres of diesel in my truck and save about $15 dollars. However, I'm not likely to use much of that fuel until the big trip to Alice in August. Does diesel go off like petrol? If so is their a stabilizer or conditioner you can use with it to make it last longer??

it should last for years ..some farmers use a stabiliser in diesel to keep it "fresh" for long periods

I heard that diesel gets a type of fungus in it. It's not green , but gets 'fibrous'. I haven't seen it myself, but friend with boats use a conditioner to stop it happening. as most of my treasures rarely get started, and some i haven't started at all since i got them, i wonder what effect it has on injectors etc & it it is easy to fix witha flush out of fresh diesel if it does happen.

How long does it last, hmm?

Depends on where it was distilled, like the stuff they bring into Brisbane was done in Malaysia, it's got a bit more wax left in it, because of the temperature that it will be sold/used at, mainly the tropics. OK, that stuff will be good for about twelve months in an above ground tank, longer in an underground tank. It will congele and then the filters get blocked up quicker when your using it. Cart this thicker stuff to Melbourne in bulk and wait till winter and try using it, wow, a filter every day.

What is made in Melbourne is a lot thinner and will last for a couple of years in an above ground tank, lots longer underground.

Buy the stuff NOW and just store it in a 44 gallon drum in the shed and it's good for a year easy, get two 44's and you should have enough for up and back.

It does have a fungus that can attack it, but for that to happen, means quite a few years just sitting around in a drum.

The worst thing that can happen is water condensation forming in a half empty drum left outside, so the sun can warm it up and then the night will chill it down, bingo water condensation and it will sink to the bottom of the drum. Water is the worst enemy of your filters, blocks them up so quick, so keep the drums stored real full up to the top.

Overhead tanks DO NOT draw from the bottom, but about a few inches above bottom, this allows the water to stay at the bottom.

regards greenie [smiley=vrolijk_1.gif]

also, if ya going too store ya fuel in a 44 gallon drum, sit the drum up un some bricks or timber, keep the drun off the concrete floor, as that can attract condensation too

Diesel is a big combination of chemical compounds, and all chemical compounds degrade and decompose over a period of time.
The fuel companies work on 12 months, at which point your diesel starts to degrade. It doesn't go off at the same rate of petrol .. which degrades quite quickly .. diesel is more stable, and has less volatile ingredients.
It's the volatile compounds that normally assist with easy starting and cleaner burning, that either evaporate, or commence to degrade, by chemical decomposition .. generally by reacting with either water or bacteria in the fuel .. and/or, with oxygen in the air.

There are already additives in diesel to help improve it, such as lubricity improvers, anti-corrosion agents, anti-foaming agents, and cetane improvers.
The fuel companies don't put in any more of these additives than required, to bring the diesel up to the required fuel standard .. which is ASTM D975.
As a result, additives that improve fuel performance are nearly always of benefit.
The original additives are the items that will decompose/degrade early on, in stored fuel, thus reducing the fuel quality.

Another big bugbear with diesel is wax content. Some years ago, a lot of the Bass Strait oil produced diesel with a high wax content, and it created a lot of problems with diesel fuel plugging filters and pumps in extremely cold conditions.
The companies blend diesel in Winter and Summer grades .. but they'll never tell you this. They do it as a matter of course, sending high wax content fuel to hot regions when it's Summer, and producing low wax fuel for Winter in the colder Southern regions.

Remember that the Interior of Australia can get bloody cold on Winter mornings, and it's not unusual to see temperatures 2 or 3 degrees below zero in Alice Springs on Winter mornings. I've seen -7

hi scout in short looks like diesel lasts longer than petrol & you should be ok for your trip to a town like alice

I don't know how they refine your fuels on the other side of this rock but Here in the America I have a truck that has a tank of fuel in it that is 14 years old and still runs fine.It did have fuel stabilizer mixed in.Pretty much every Gas station and store has the stabilizer here.THe best way to stop the alge from growing is keep the tank full so there is no room for moisture.It is the moisture that helps it grow.If you could afford it I would fill several 55gallon drums to the top and store them.With the junk going on over here with the oil rig sinking,I forsee global fuel prices skyrocketing.They will use this as an excuse.Some news agencies are already speculating on $5+ a gallon fuel here(currently $2.70 a gallon).

yeah diesel is usable for a long time ..i used 1o year old diesel on a farm truck .. and 15 year old diesel in a old allis chalmers dozer.. i just add some additive to it first ..

With the junk going on over here with the oil rig sinking,I forsee global fuel prices skyrocketing.They will use this as an excuse.Some news agencies are already speculating on $5+ a gallon fuel here(currently $2.70 a gallon).

WOW, $2.70 for a gallon, $hit, buy a bloody huge tanker full and send it over here for christ sake.

We get sold fuel by the litre, not gallons, now a US gallon is 3.785 litres, at that rate we should be able to buy fuel for US $ 0.713 cents per litre, which equates to Aust $0.769.

Yeh right, we get stung anywhere from a Aust $ 1-30 up to about Aust $ 1.60 per 'effin' litre, which works out to be anywhere between US $ 4.52 up to US $ 5.60 a friggin US gallon.

So you better stop bitchin' about your cheap fuel, you wont get any sympathy from this side of the pond with the cheap fuel prices that you lot been paying for decades. While over here and the rest of the world has been getting reamed up the ar$e with bloody outrageous rip-off prices set by them ar$ehole yankee oil companies and this bloody government.

Just my 3 cents worth, not necessarily the views held by the management of this forum.

regards greenie [smiley=vrolijk_1.gif]