Is top tier diesel better?

[RateNate]

Is Top Tier Diesel Better?

Hey everyone I just wanted your opinions on this and hopefully it helps others too! So I used to always fill up my truck at reputable gas stations that had diesel and no problems with that, but recently since I am in California and diesels $$ here I ran into Costco having diesel as well. The...

www.cumminsforum.com

I had a thread in a cummins forum regarding this, from what research I've done it does look like top tier diesel does offer one real benefit and that is filtration and quality management of the diesel fuel. I got a direct email from a costco fuel manager telling me that the fuel is filtered at 10 microns at the pump! This is a big plus for me since its a common rail diesel and micron ratings are very important. If anyone has any more info or thoughts please post them!

And here is the link to the top tier website

Diesel Brands - TOP TIER™

TOP TIER™ detergent reduces deposits, increases lubricity, and improves fuel stability for a cleaner diesel fuel.

www.toptiergas.com

 

[sloinker]

Doesn't the top tier diesel also offer a better cetane rating?

 

[RateNate]

Doesn't the top tier diesel also offer a better cetane rating?

Not 100% on that, I would have to email the costco rep or the toptier website to find out.

 

[Donald]

I will stick with Mobil branded Synergy diesel.

The bad load of diesel will probably come from a mistake where someone did not follow the company's policies and procedures for fuel. Or a defect in equipment that did not alert the station to something happening.

I have never truly examined the tanker trucks, but they carry the hoses used to fill the underground tanks on the truck and I do not see any attempt to keep the hoses from getting rain or snow or road spray on the hose and a little inside the ends of the hose.

 

[BeerCan]

As far as I understand toptier does not address cetane in diesel, only water, filtration and lubricity. I wish we would get some higher cetane diesel readily available in this country.

 

[wpod]

Every diesel engine I have looked at be it a pickup[ late model]. semi truck, marine diesel and tractors have filters and water separators.

 

[BeerCan]

Every diesel engine I have looked at be it a pickup[ late model]. semi truck, marine diesel and tractors have filters and water separators.

Agreed, but it's still nice to know that the fuel you are buying is clean. I had one filter change where there was a ton of sediment in the filter housing. The filter did its job but I would much rather not have that happen. Same with water, sometime when I drain I get some but still would rather the fuel come out clean. If that is assured at POS then I can feel a little better.

Sometimes on the road I will get a pump that is really slow and I instantly think clogged filter. I stop fueling and go somewhere else but I would much rather have a costco type place to buy from all the time. I now have started to look for toptier diesel on the road. Few and far between in my experience.

 

[Jetronic]

Every diesel engine I have looked at be it a pickup[ late model]. semi truck, marine diesel and tractors have filters and water separators.

good luck with that... The water doesn't seperate out completely and clogged filters can ruin your day if you have to be somewhere. That's why you get a choice of demuslifiers (to help seperate the water) or emulsifiers (to keep it from seperating and causing problems) in additives.

 

[MNgopher]

Top Tier Diesel standards do not address cetane. Lots of cleanliness issues addressed, but not Cetane.

 

[RateNate]

As far as I understand toptier does not address cetane in diesel, only water, filtration and lubricity. I wish we would get some higher cetane diesel readily available in this country.

So then using the edt additive or diesel kleen or any other cetane booster at fill up will work

 

[RateNate]

I will stick with Mobil branded Synergy diesel.

The bad load of diesel will probably come from a mistake where someone did not follow the company's policies and procedures for fuel. Or a defect in equipment that did not alert the station to something happening.

I have never truly examined the tanker trucks, but they carry the hoses used to fill the underground tanks on the truck and I do not see any attempt to keep the hoses from getting rain or snow or road spray on the hose and a little inside the ends of the hose.

I never knew about synergy diesel, looks like they may actually have more cetane in it.

 

[wpod]

good luck with that... The water doesn't seperate out completely and clogged filters can ruin your day if you have to be somewhere. That's why you get a choice of demuslifiers (to help seperate the water) or emulsifiers (to keep it from seperating and causing problems) in additives.

I drove trucks for years and never has a fuel problem from water or debris. Though some of the vehicles we worked on , yard tuggers did have biological blooms the were a problem.

 

[Jetronic]

the bacteria or algae live from the water in the fuel if I understood correctly.

 

[RateNate]

the bacteria or algae live from the water in the fuel if I understood correctly.

Thats very true, although I have seen that biodiesel reduces that risk possibly? I do know that power service offers a clear diesel product that removes water. This is a problem for storage tanks of diesel and even caused by bad management of fuel too. Thats why you always see people saying you should go to a station that has a high refill/return rate since the fuel is always fresh.

 

[Jetronic]

i Believe it was Molakule who said he prefers emusifiers, to keep the water in the fuel and out the tailpipe. But that was a while ago. Doing nothing is no doubt worst though.

 

[Donald]

the bacteria or algae live from the water in the fuel if I understood correctly.

These are the same bacteria that cleaned up some of the oil from the Valdez oil spill in Alaska. And for people with oil heat, they live in the oil and pooh in the oil. After many years its sludge at bottom of tank. I am not sure how much it has to do with water in fuel vs warm temps and/or humidity.

 

[Jetronic]

they live on the edge of oil and water to be more precise. If the water is in the oil, that's probably where they will be...


On another note. The diesel fuel I routinely buy comes from the USA. At least, that's the latest I heard about it. I buy at a local GULF station owned by a company that sends tankers to the USA for fuels. No doubt they have to add stuff to increase cetane to european standards, or there's special batches made for Europe. In any event, I prefer how the engine runs on this fuel, from the sound it makes and the distance between regens which is probably the most objective measurement I have. I need to buy the top tier fuels to have any chance of matching the DPF regen range but some make the engine sound harsher. The Gulf fuel is priced closer to the cheapest stations... Win/Win