Sorry if I have missed this. But I just read that the city council in Portland Or has just passed a mandate that by July 2007, all stations in town to sell diesel with 5 percent biodiesel. Now, I'm only concerned a bit as I travel to Port. every once in a while. But, I do have two questions.


1) Is/will bio-diesel made with the ULSD?

2) I recall a statement from Ford about bio-diesel,
but can't jog my memory. Did they OK it up to
a certain %?

The big concern in Portland is/will be supply and demand for this. Truckers aren't happy because most folks think fuel prices will escalate even higher due to the low supply. Then of course you have the negative trickle down effect that truckers will avoid buying fuel in Portland, hurting the economy. Then they pressure will extend to the outlying areas to follow suit.

 

My 05 owners manual states 5% is the maximum level of Bio-Diesel approved for that model year.


I haven't heard/read about the ULSD/Bio-Diesel combo.

 

Bio Diesel in July of '07 will be made with ULSD as that will be all that is available. I'd love to have Bio blends available closer to me. I travel 25 mi. round trip to fill up with B11. It's consistantly a few cents cheaper also, likely due to tax incentives. Quality Bio Diesel is a wonderful fuel that a lot of folks are afraid of due to lack of understanding. The misinformation about it reminds me of when ethanol was first coming around as an additive back in the '80's (?) Likely perpetuated by the oil folks, they said it would cause corrosion and 'eat your seals'. I'm not talking about E85, just the 10% blend.

I think Fords recommendation of no greater than 5% has to do with qualty standards (lack of) and not the fact that Bio is considered necessarily harmful at greater %'s. Lots of folks are using high %'s with great results.

 

Great info, thanks for the insight.

 

1) Bio-diesel is not made from diesel, it can either be a soy product or an animal fat product. Bio-diesel can be blended with petro-diesel as any blend, and designated by a "B" followed by a number. The number represents the % of bio that is blended into petro-diesel. B5 would be 5% bio-diesel, B20 is 20%, and so on. When ULSD is the only fuel available, then yes bio-diesel will be blended with it as an only option.

2) Ford stats they only warranty up to 5% for some of the reasons mentioned by Btravelen. The potential drawbacks of bio-diesel in higher percentages is that it can gel easier in the winter and it is a natural solvent and it will remove any deposits in your tank and fuel lines. I guess Ford doesn't want to handle any potential problems from drivers who forget to change their fuel filters, or stalled trucks in the winter.

 

I blend it to 5% myself and My 04 F-250 6.0 L with 45K on it is running just fine. I plan to raise that level. and I have not seen my mileage change on the new Fuel.

 

As said Ford OKs up to 5% bio-diesel. A station here recently put in a bio-diesel pump at 20%. All well and good except they charge 10 cents more than regular diesel for it. If I were earthy I might pay it but I'm worried more about what's in my wallet than how much ozone there is in the sky.

 

About the truck drivers in Portland, Jubitz (the only truck stop in the city) is going to be exempted from the all biodiesel law as long as they offer one pump that does contain the biodiesel. And it is not just diesel, they are requiring the gasoline to contain a certain percentage of ethanol also. The law should take effect sometime next year.

Matt

 

here in san diego pearson ford is selling b20. one of the sales guys has a f350 2005 has been running b20 since new.I have been running in 2004 f 350 sinse feb 06

 

Although I don't run a 6.0 (I have a 7.3 and drive a semi but I notice bio diesel posts) I run mine on B25 for the F250 and B20 in the semi (I make my own for the F250 from WVO) the B20 that is put in the semi is bought at a truck stop in council bluffs Iowa and is 2 cents cheaper than the regular diesel. What I have noticed is no change in performance on either truck, both trucks run quieter (not so much injector noise from either as biodiesel is a better lubricant and will replace some of the lubrication properties that are removed from the Diesel when taking out the sulfar), and the semi went from averaging 5.4-5.6 to averaging 5.7-6.0, and my F250 went from averaging 14-17 to averaging 16-19 (mixed town and hiway driving.

 

Well if you can get that improvment in your semi all truck stops will probably have it soon