Used oil to power our diesel boats

[sunchaser]

I am the OP and I carry 650 gallons of diesel so the oil would be well diluted. I'd try your suggestion but my generators draw from my 400 gallon tank, so then I'd be stuck with it. My big genset is rated at 1 gallon per hour under heavy load. My Cat twins get 10/hour at 10 knots. My reason for starting this was to see if it was a viable way to get rid of the oil since they closed our marina recycling center.

Is not the recycling center Knot Yet suggested acceptable?

 

[RickyD]

Is not the recycling center Knot Yet suggested acceptable?

Well it is an 18 mile trip up and back so about 18 gallons of fuel, maybe a bit less. That's about $100 bucks based on recent fill up. It does mean I won't have to transport it in my car. I wonder if I could pay a neighbor to take it away for $30 bucks?

 

[KnotYet]

Well it is an 18 mile trip up and back so about 18 gallons of fuel, maybe a bit less. That's about $100 bucks based on recent fill up. It does mean I won't have to transport it in my car. I wonder if I could pay a neighbor to take it away for $30 bucks?

I don't know where in Long Beach you are but that seems kinda far by X2.
With oil now sold in resealable containers (funnel) I can see no reason a reasonably
careful person should mess up their vehicle. Store the used oil onboard until you
buy the next round of fresh oil wherever that is and drop off the waste oil there.

 

[RickyD]

I don't know where in Long Beach you are but that seems kinda far by X2.
With oil now sold in resealable containers (funnel) I can see no reason a reasonably
careful person should mess up their vehicle. Store the used oil onboard until you
buy the next round of fresh oil wherever that is and drop off the waste oil there.

I'm in Shoreline Marina. Your spot is not far from Jankovic where I fill up. I just plotted it out. Course is 7.5 miles to there so up and back would be 15 x $5.19=$77.85. Add to that some idling time and My $100 was close.

 

[Portage_Bay]

I don't know anything about your area so my suggestion may not work. Here goes anyway.

Search out a 'real' fuel dock. I mean a fuel dock that sells oil and filters. Usually those are fuel docks that service the work boats. They often take oil back that was bought from them. Time a fuel purchase to an oil change. Buy fuel, new oil and dispose of waste oil.

 

[guy with a boat]

We try to get all our engine oil in the 5gal size container and always keep enough empties for the next oil change. Screw the cap back on, wipe it clean and take it away in the car or store on the boat until the next fuel dock run. The large (5gal) containers are a lot easier to transport since they are pretty stable upright. You can find online where the closest oil recycling drop off place is on land and drop it off on the way home.

Smarter people than me just suggested this upthread, so I suppose I’m just seconding the motion.

 

[DennisB1]

I have attached a picture of the proceedure out of the Cat Diesel manual for using engine oil. Highlite: max 5%max, mix with diesel first and filter with a 5 micro filter before dumping into fuel tank. Manual circa 1990

 

[psneeld]

Cat knows where it's engines are used throughout the world and the people who use them.

Plus the cleanliness and storage of fuel in general in developing countries/remote areas.

Their procedure sounds like the common sense procedure I would have used like I posted back in post #41 if I was going to do it.

Without a pretty good reason to mix oil/fuel or one of the newer engines out there, I probably would never do it.... never found storing one oil change was a big deal.

 

[Rusty Scupper]

I have attached a picture of the proceedure out of the Cat Diesel manual for using engine oil. Highlite: max 5%max, mix with diesel first and filter with a 5 micro filter before dumping into fuel tank. Manual circa 1990

Read 3rd paragraph of this post, then look at what I said in post #52. I stand by what I said. A.S.E. certified Heavy Duty gas and diesel mechanic and Kings Point Marine Academy, Marine Diesel graduate. 50 plus years experience Your boat, your choice.

 

[psneeld]

Burning use oil isn't the best for your engine but....

I will use my Lehman and typical fuel burn and oil change.

150 engine hours average oil change (based on oil analysis recommendation).

In 150 hours, my Lehman burned 300 gallons of fuel. So if I mixed 3 gallons of used oil to 300 gallons, that would be about a 1% mix....I think that's correct...if not set me straight.

That's 1/5 of Cats recommended max and my oil wasn't always dark and sludgy...

Can't say that it won't ultimately harm an engine or just leave greater deposits... but ever diesel I saw needing rebuilding wasn't from excess carbon on it's valves or pistons... on my Lehman carbon buildup happened without any oil added to the fuel.

Most diesels on rec boats fail in my experience from operator error or catastrophic failure of a material defect.

Again I will say that it's probably not the best idea to do regularly on older engines and I would never do it on a newer engine.... but when in an occasional pinch, I also don't see the sky falling if you follow some of the Cat and common sense advice given so far.

 

[Mainship Pilot]

Commercial guys running old two-stroke Detroits used to do that sometimes, believing with some justification that a Detroit will run on almost anything flammable. Modern diesels with electronic fuel controls might hiccup, though.

I've heard stories of commercial fisherman old timers with the old detroits coming back from the grounds on fumes, sticking their fuel lines in the bilge to get themselves home! Those old 2 stroke detroits are pretty hard to break!