Is top tier diesel better?

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

RateNate

Joined
Nov 8, 2018
Messages
220
Location
California, United States
https://www.cumminsforum.com/threads/is-top-tier-diesel-better.2527709/#post-29280629
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!
attachments.webp
attachments-1.webp

And here is the link to the top tier website
https://www.toptiergas.com/diesel-licensed-brands/
 
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.
 
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.
 
Every diesel engine I have looked at be it a pickup[ late model]. semi truck, marine diesel and tractors have filters and water separators.
 
wpod said:
Every diesel engine I have looked at be it a pickup[ late model]. semi truck, marine diesel and tractors have filters and water separators.
Click to expand...
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.
 
wpod said:
Every diesel engine I have looked at be it a pickup[ late model]. semi truck, marine diesel and tractors have filters and water separators.
Click to expand...

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.
 
Donald said:
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.
Click to expand...
I never knew about synergy diesel, looks like they may actually have more cetane in it.
 
Jetronic said:
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.
Click to expand...
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 said:
the bacteria or algae live from the water in the fuel if I understood correctly.
Click to expand...
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.
 
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.
 
Jetronic said:
the bacteria or algae live from the water in the fuel if I understood correctly.
Click to expand...
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.
 
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
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

T
Change gas stations to get different detergent mix in top tier gas?
2
Replies
29
Views
4K
Kira
M
Are Shell/Exxon better than other Top Tier gasolines?
8 9 10
Replies
189
Views
18K
Carlostrece
1
  • Locked
Coming soon... TOP TIER+ fuels
2 3
Replies
52
Views
8K
Deo
R
Costco Renewable Diesel w/Pic
Replies
18
Views
3K
CleverUserName
M
Response from Costco, should I bother with adding fuel injection cleaner to my tank at all.
2
Replies
21
Views
5K
carl2591
Back
Top Bottom