Can a diesel car run on Heating Oil?
Discussion
Simple answer, is yes. It will run.
The next question is, for how long ?
If you were to dilute with diesel, say even 50/50, for sake of the 200 litres you have, I wouldnt be overly concerned about engine longivity.
If you were running neat heating oil for say 20,000 miles...it would be a different story.
Oh, and we cant go without mentioning HM Revenue & Customs wont be your friend if they find out
The next question is, for how long ?
If you were to dilute with diesel, say even 50/50, for sake of the 200 litres you have, I wouldnt be overly concerned about engine longivity.
If you were running neat heating oil for say 20,000 miles...it would be a different story.
Oh, and we cant go without mentioning HM Revenue & Customs wont be your friend if they find out
spot on Stevie,its not as good lubricating the systems mechanicals either so i would expect pretty rapid pump failure if used neat,including your common rail diesel pump I've known 'a friend' run a diesel on heating oil for guite some time (70k ish). It was an old astra van so it didnt matter if it went pop. It had a glug of oil in to make the oil the same yellowish diesel colour (in case of a tank dip) which may have helped. Never hurt it and it seemed to have a bit more go about it too. Dont forget you'll need to pay duty on it.
I have a relative in Essex who once ran a year old Mitsubishi Shogun on kerosine for the same reason as yourself.
He didn`t make it quite all the way to Alton Towers but took two days,organising and getting home with it and his family on the back of a truck,
the injector pipes looked like someone had put drill swarf in it.that was in 96/97.cost him £4k out of his own pocket to sort it.
HDI is a far more complex,fuel system and is far less tolerant of anything going in it that shouldnt be there.
most modern injectors are £200-900 each,thats with out programming,is it worth it?
He didn`t make it quite all the way to Alton Towers but took two days,organising and getting home with it and his family on the back of a truck,
the injector pipes looked like someone had put drill swarf in it.that was in 96/97.cost him £4k out of his own pocket to sort it.
HDI is a far more complex,fuel system and is far less tolerant of anything going in it that shouldnt be there.
most modern injectors are £200-900 each,thats with out programming,is it worth it?
dickkark said:
I have a relative in Essex who once ran a year old Mitsubishi Shogun on kerosine for the same reason as yourself.
He didn`t make it quite all the way to Alton Towers but took two days,organising and getting home with it and his family on the back of a truck,
the injector pipes looked like someone had put drill swarf in it.that was in 96/97.cost him £4k out of his own pocket to sort it.
HDI is a far more complex,fuel system and is far less tolerant of anything going in it that shouldnt be there.
most modern injectors are £200-900 each,thats with out programming,is it worth it?
That sounds about right to me He didn`t make it quite all the way to Alton Towers but took two days,organising and getting home with it and his family on the back of a truck,
the injector pipes looked like someone had put drill swarf in it.that was in 96/97.cost him £4k out of his own pocket to sort it.
HDI is a far more complex,fuel system and is far less tolerant of anything going in it that shouldnt be there.
most modern injectors are £200-900 each,thats with out programming,is it worth it?
hurts just thinking about it,and if that stuff can break up a Japanese diesel pump internally in that short of time then i think thats all the proof the O/P needs.Thanks for the feedback - Think I'll leave it then - purely as I don't want any fuel rail/fuel pump issues. I know they run at big pressures and were my main worry over pouring it into an old skool diesel.
Citroen Picasso HDI's are ok really - they're cheap to buy second hand, economical and relatively safe. Fine for the wife and sprogs.
Citroen Picasso HDI's are ok really - they're cheap to buy second hand, economical and relatively safe. Fine for the wife and sprogs.
Domestic Central heating oil and diesel fuel are exactly the same thing, come out of the same pipes in the refinery, come out of the same tanks and pipes in the distribution depot, share tanks in the retail customers yard and only differ in the amount of duty charged. Its an invoicing issue.
Try a couple of gallons and see if theres any difference. ( Told by someone who used to sell millions of pounds of derv/central heating fuel pa and now is infuriated that Lidl's corn oil in one year has gone from 54 pence per litre to 1.04.................bleeding pikeys....my diesel Vectra is not amused.)
Cheers,
Tony
Try a couple of gallons and see if theres any difference. ( Told by someone who used to sell millions of pounds of derv/central heating fuel pa and now is infuriated that Lidl's corn oil in one year has gone from 54 pence per litre to 1.04.................bleeding pikeys....my diesel Vectra is not amused.)
Cheers,
Tony
That Daddy said:
Thats rubbish,it smells different too and its a known fact that heating oil as less lubricating qualities than diesel hence the concerns of damaging the O/P,s diesel pump it may come from the same crude oil but its make up is different 
And you're basing this on what knowledge?I was for a good many years in the retail and wholesale oils and fuel business selling many million quids worth per annum through retail sites and via fuel oil distributors.
Cheers,
Tony
Tony427 said:
That Daddy said:
Thats rubbish,it smells different too and its a known fact that heating oil as less lubricating qualities than diesel hence the concerns of damaging the O/P,s diesel pump it may come from the same crude oil but its make up is different
And you're basing this on what knowledge?I was for a good many years in the retail and wholesale oils and fuel business selling many million quids worth per annum through retail sites and via fuel oil distributors.
Cheers,
Tony
I don't know the lastest price for CHO , probably mid 50 pence per litre, but once you use it for road fuel the revenue will want its road fuel duty and VAT.
Of course if you have oil fired central heating you have a reason for the fuel to be in a tank within in your property , and then as there's no dye involved, unlike red diesel, it would be pretty difficult for the revenue to prove the provenance of your fuel.
Cheers,
Tony
Of course if you have oil fired central heating you have a reason for the fuel to be in a tank within in your property , and then as there's no dye involved, unlike red diesel, it would be pretty difficult for the revenue to prove the provenance of your fuel.
Cheers,
Tony
That Daddy said:
Ok Tony,then answer me this why does the heating oil stored at the end of my garden(for my central heating) smell different to the diesel that i come into contact with daily(garage owner see)?just interested and would like your opinion from a man that knows
You've got me there and no mistake for I have no idea why your Central Heating Oil you store at the end of your garden smells differently from the diesel you are in daily contact with. Perhaps your neighbour's cats pee in it?
Cheers,
Tony
Central heating oil definitely does smell different to diesel, I have had the rare and priceless opportunity of making a direct comparison with a diesel car parked next to a tank of heating oil 
Heating oil smells kind of sharper with a sort of faint suggestion of creosote. Diesel just smells... well, diesely, oily, apart from back when Esso decided it would be a great idea to put isobutyl acetate in it 
to persuade more people to drive diesel cars...
OTOH their fluid properties appear to be indistinguishable and I would happily run a diesel car on heating oil. Kerosene is a different kettle of fish, considerably thinner and after feeling what it feels like when you clean parts in it I certainly wouldn't trust it as a lubricant.
I'd come to the conclusion that diesel and heating oil were basically the same set of fractions but diesel had had more of the trace components refined out of it. This might make heating oil slightly more liable to leave deposits in the fuel system or to cause corrosion if you get water in the fuel.
On the other hand it may just be something to do with storing the heating oil in a big rusty iron tank which is slightly musty and diesel in fuel tanks where you take much greater care to keep the water out. Wrecked diesel fishing boats wet rusty iron stuff flung about tanks and pipes leaking around the shop do not smell of fish, they smell of diesel, very strongly, but it is not the clean smell of automotive diesel and has something of the heating oil sharpness about it. Abandoned stationary diesel installations in damp sheds with rusty stuff are somewhat similar.
Heating oil smells kind of sharper with a sort of faint suggestion of creosote. Diesel just smells... well, diesely, oily, apart from back when Esso decided it would be a great idea to put isobutyl acetate in it to persuade more people to drive diesel cars...OTOH their fluid properties appear to be indistinguishable and I would happily run a diesel car on heating oil. Kerosene is a different kettle of fish, considerably thinner and after feeling what it feels like when you clean parts in it I certainly wouldn't trust it as a lubricant.
I'd come to the conclusion that diesel and heating oil were basically the same set of fractions but diesel had had more of the trace components refined out of it. This might make heating oil slightly more liable to leave deposits in the fuel system or to cause corrosion if you get water in the fuel.
On the other hand it may just be something to do with storing the heating oil in a big rusty iron tank which is slightly musty and diesel in fuel tanks where you take much greater care to keep the water out. Wrecked diesel fishing boats wet rusty iron stuff flung about tanks and pipes leaking around the shop do not smell of fish, they smell of diesel, very strongly, but it is not the clean smell of automotive diesel and has something of the heating oil sharpness about it. Abandoned stationary diesel installations in damp sheds with rusty stuff are somewhat similar.
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