Used motor oil for fuel in my IH 1066

[Dkc923]

We have several semi trucks so needless to say we collect a good bit of used motor oil from servicing the trucks. In the past we have allowed a local company to come get it and they do whatever they do to repurpose it. We both win because they get the oil and it cost me nothing to dispose of it. Lately I have been doing a good bit of reading on using it as fuel in my older diesels around the farm. From what I've read it seems to work great. I've even read of people using vegetable oil, brake fluid, transmission fluid... Anything that will combust really. Any of you guys done this? Obviously I have to make sure it doesn't have any water or debris in it. With the price of fuel every dollar you can save on it is a win especially when its something you are gonna have anyway. Just curious on yalls opinion.

 

[roy prins]

My Son burned a 50/50 mix of Hydraulic and deisel fuel. The Hyd. oil came from a Hydraulic cylinder builder so it was quite
clean. but he still had to run it thru a filter set-up so it was not free by any means -- it worked out real good till someone
else got wind of it and offered to buy the oil and made it unprofitable -- so it goes!

 

[Steve@Advance]

I don't know, think I would be afraid to try that!

It would take a lot of filtering and separating if there were anything but
really clean oil.

It might work in the summer, diluted and blended with diesel.

Still it would be a mighty expensive repair bill if it didn't work!

 

[Geo-TH,In]

My terramite uses 10 gallons of 10w30 in the hydraulics.
I change oil every 200 hours. If I let the oil sit in gallon
plastic bottle, after a few months all the sludge and metal
particles settle to the bottom. I use the used oil in my old
lawn mowers. Looks like new, clear, it doesn't smell.
I don't think I'll burn it in my Kubota.
I think the cost of filters may not be worth the chance of using
used motor oil. I only use it in 25-30 year old mower engines..

 

[dhermesc]

I would never run used motor oil through a fuel injection system.

 

[Bob Harvey]

Many moons ago, an uncle of mine had a re-refining outfit. He collected dirty oil from service
stations throughout the lower mainland (Vancouver etc.). And re-refined it. Sold the clean , non
detergent oil for $.25 per quart. I got it for free (fave nephew) to run in my old smoky beaters. He
messed around with a diesel substitute, but it cost too much to produce.

 

[showcrop]

This topic is on the schedule for discussion here every six months. The general consensus I would say is that many companies and individuals have done it or are doing it with no problems. It goes pretty much without saying that it needs to go through whatever filter your fuel is going through now, so you would want to pre filter it to avoid time lost changing filters outside of expected intervals.

 

[ss55]

There might be less risk of expensive repairs to burn it in a fuel oil shop furnace.

 

[Stephen Newell]

I don't know the formula but my dad was career military and they were taught that in an emergency they could mix motor oil and gasoline to use in diesel trucks. He said it wouldn't run
very good but would get the trucks on the road.

 

[Gene Davis (Ga.)]

Local earthmoving contracter tried it and eventually decided that they spent more on filters and time to strain/filter it than they saved so they gave it up.

 

[wore out]

So we drain and replace engine oil 'cause
it's dirty/gritty/acidic/abrasive/has
metal in it and moisture and is therefore
not good for the precision moving parts
in an engine, then attempt to filter it
enough to use in a fuel injection system
with exponentially finer/closer
tolerances and pressures? WHAT could
possibly go worng?

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 19:21:14 11/26/22) So we drain and replace engine oil 'cause
it's dirty/gritty/acidic/abrasive/has
metal in it and moisture and is therefore
not good for the precision moving parts
in an engine, then attempt to filter it
enough to use in a fuel injection system
with exponentially finer/closer
tolerances and pressures? WHAT could
possibly go worng?

Actually, it is well known that the filtering keeps the oil pretty much as clean as it needs to be for lubrication. The limiting factor is the loss of various additives. The downside is what everyone else has so far posted.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Zingo! Right on!!
Well said.
I paid too much for my tractors.

 

[John B.]

Well Said Wore Out!

 

[John B.]

I'm sure if it were a good idea everyone with excess oil would be doing it. I personally would use it in a oil burning furnace for the
shop.

 

[MARK ROBKE]

I worked for a major truck leasing company for 40 years as a tech in the shop. In the late '80s, we
started 'blending' the used oil back into the fuel tanks at oil changes. This was before electronic fuel
injection- just the old mechanical style. We had a machine the that sucked the oil out of the oil pan. The
oil went thru a couple of filters on the machine as it was pumped into the fuel tanks. The tanks were
supposed to be almost full when we did this. The whole idea was to save fuel for the customer, and oil
disposal costs. But on the whole, it did not work well at all. The truck fuel filters would need changed
prematurely, and much more often. The fuel filters would be coal black-and black equals dirt. After a
short time the idea quietly got abandoned. With electronic fuel injection, tolerances are much tighter and
using used oil would never work. Mark.

 

[Leroy]

Back in the 60's thjey were doing that here> did not realize at the time what would happen using that. Ended up pluging the oil lines on my car and dammaged the rocker arms and shafts. About thetimer I found out what it was doing it was removed from the market but it was too late for me. I got things cleaned out enough I could drive the car but dammage was already done. This was on my second car and was a 49 Cadilac.. Wish I could still have that car in good shape.

 

[caterpillar guy]

I know trucking companies used to put the used engine oil in the fuel to burn it got rid of a waste product and worked till the clear road fuel deal came along and ruined a good thing. one was a big MI based company according to a friend of mine.

 

[504]

It will not pass a tank dip test by the DOT. They claim it is
red fuel. Off road nobody cares.

 

[rustred]

Not a chance I would put it in tractors. Even though they
are old. Its like save now pay later. Pretty sure just
because it might be filtered with those oil filters the fuel
filters are a smaller micron too.

 

[Bill in Colo]

Older IH crawlers had a section in the operators manual about using used motor oil in the
fuel during the summer months. Storage and filtering and mixing amounts were covered.
TD20 201 series mid sixty's I think.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

To answer your question, NO. I have not tried it.

It's not as simple as dumping used motor oil, vegetable oil, etc. in the fuel tank, and turning the key.

With veg. oil you need a separate tank, a system to heat the oil, multiple filters... You need to start the engine on pure diesel and shut it down on pure diesel. If you let the veg oil get cold in the injection pump, you get a repair bill.

Engine oil should mix readily with diesel, BUT dirty old diesel oil is probably not a great choice to run through your expensive injection pump. You would need to figure out how to filter the oil and get it clean before you even consider using it in the tractor.

 

[Dkc923]

I personally would be using motor oil only. Wouldn't even try the other because I do not have an excess of it. Kind of surprised at the answers in this thread considering all the reading I've done away from this site and the info obtained there. Would you guys still consider the oil dirty if its drained straight out of the truck into a clean 5 gallon bucket after being constantly ran through a filter on the truck? After that it would be filtered twice by the 2 fuel filters on the tractor before it reachers the injection pump. Would also be much thinner than just regular because of the 50/50 dilution with the diesel. Its not gonna make or break me either way it was just an idea after reading and watching videos of others doing it with success.

 

[Dkc923]

(quoted from post at 20:58:57 11/27/22) Older IH crawlers had a section in the operators manual about using used motor oil in the
fuel during the summer months. Storage and filtering and mixing amounts were covered.
TD20 201 series mid sixty's I think.

I would love to read this info to see how they advised doing it and the diesel oil mixture suggested.

 

[timcasbolt]

Cummins used to offer an extended oil change option on their long haul engines. At regular intervals it would pump oil from the crankcase into the fuel tank and replace it with clean oil kept in a storage reservoir. This was a few years ago, don't know if it's still offered.

 

[Dkc923]

(quoted from post at 19:01:28 11/28/22) Cummins used to offer an extended oil change option on their long haul engines. At regular intervals it would pump oil from the crankcase into the fuel tank and replace it with clean oil kept in a storage reservoir. This was a few years ago, don't know if it's still offered.

Very interesting. A lot of the videos I've watched were actually people putting in dodges with cummins engines.