$4 a gallon!

[gt1009]

With diesel hitting $4 a gallon, any alternative fuel is now welcome to me. Do I have to filter my used motor oil before I run it in my cucv? I was just gonna run about 1 gallon per tank so it would be ok in there. Any other cheep ones out there?

 

[Blood_of_Tyrants]

I have run a 50-50 gasoline used motor oil mix with no problems. You can also used waste vegetable oil in a diesel with no problems. And on the off chance you live near a commercial aircraft repair facility where you might get some contaminated jet fuel, Jet A jet fuel works fine in a diesel engine.

 

[tklm539]

No kidding!!!! 4.09 here today.

This really sucks!

 

[David_4x4]

It'll be $4.00 here by the end of next week.

Went up $.15 here overnight to $3.70.

 

[gt1009]

Ok Blood of Tyrants or anyone else that can chime in here...
What do you do to the motor oil or veggie oil before you put it in the tank? Filter or straight in? If filtered how do I go about doing so? I will be attempting biodiesel this summer but need to figure out exactly how to do it first.

 

[Blood_of_Tyrants]

I put the motor oil straight in the gasoline and allow it to settle over night. It had been sitting in one spot for months so I figured that the worst gunk settled to the bottom, and I left the last cup in the jug. As for WVO (waste veg oil), yes, definitely filter it. I would filter it to at least 10 microns. You can get filters off ebay pretty cheap. Ther eis a type that you can get the fits over a 6" PVC pipe (I think) and you can easily use reducers to get it small enough to go into your tank fill neck.

I wouldn't use WVO in the winter because it tends to gel but there is no problem with it in the summer. However, if you ttrow a little mineral spirits in with the WVO, it helps prevent gelling. It doesn't take much mineral spirits, just about a quart per 5 to 10 gallons of WVO. Take the quality of your WVO into consideration when you put in in your tank. Is it a good oil without signs of solidification (a sure sign of animal fats)?

 

[oldshep]

Diesel is $3.49 in clever,mo. gas is $2.90. what happened to the days when diesel was cheaper than gas?

 

[maddawg308]

For the life of me, I can't understand why diesel ISN'T cheaper than gas. It requires less refinement to be created than gasoline does, to me less work should mean less $$$. As far as I know diesel has less demand than gas does, in the USA and worldwide. Makes no sense to me....

 

[Blood_of_Tyrants]

It appears that they are gone forever. Instead of giving money to companies to burn our animal feed (corn) and make ethanol, which causes more corn to be raised, which takes land once raising wheat and soybeans and other grains out of service, which causes THEIR prices rise, which in turn drives up the price of meats and eggs and milk, bread and practically all food, they ought to be drilling for the PROVEN oil deposits off the coast of Florida and in ANWR.

You want to know why diesel is so high? You need look no further than the 'Rats in Congress and the Floriduh politicians who don't want a drilling rig off their coast. The funny thing is that the US can prevent a US company from drilling 30 miles off the Florida coast, but Cuba and China are teaming up to do that very same thing!

 

[oldshep]

transportation cost is driving up the price of grains. ethanol isn't bad it just isn't made out of other things yet( tech issues i think). It can be made out of wood or switchgrass which can be grown any where and is easy to harvest. oil companies have just seen the growth in diesels and found another way to screw us. they will pay for it one day.

 

[standardaero]

you can thank diesel prices to that giant jerk from tennessee AL GORE . he passed a bill 10 years ago clean fuel act environmently safe, that diesel now days is almost jet fuel due to refining. Also check prices increased on 2008 diesel trucks some are as high as 10,000.00 dollar mark up , look at mack trucks they no longer build their own engines because of AL GORE SPHINKTER HEAD ,the exhaust is rerouted again thru engine to reburn again to decrease emissions.

 

[littlebob]

I don't remember where I saw it, but Diesel is cheaper if it wasen't taxed at three times the rate of gasoline in road taxes. I would love to get a VW diesel if they would do away with the road tax penalty for non-commercial use as they did or do for agricultural use. I can't see paying extra for a diesel vehicle to commute if it takes years to break even.
littlebob

 

[JasonS]

There was an article in a newspaper recently that studied the affect of grain prices on food: the increase in cost due to grain was a few pennies on the dollar. How many boxes of corn flakes do you think that they make per bushel of corn? Farm commodities have been EXTREMELY undervalued for decades. It is about time that the farmers get to share in the good economy that the rest of us have enjoyed. Think about this, corn is still cheap enough that it can be cost effectively burned for heat (I use it). If you want someone to blame, blame the very low value of the dollar. This makes your imports (oil) and your exports (grain) expensive.

 

[WillWagner]

Here ya go. This station usually has prices .20 to .40 higher than most of the others around. I paid $3.79 today at Arco, for diesel. I can't believe the way prices go up over night. A friend of mine used to own the Arco station by Jack Murphy stadium in San Diego. He said they would deliver a load of fuel at one price, then send another invioce, upping the price of the stuff in the tanks that had already been delivered. How do they get away with that? Wonder why the oil companies have record profits? Anyone have Mr. Bushs' e-mail? He says he has never heard of $4 a gallon fuel. Glad the deuce runs on FedEx gas. C'mon FedEx, I need more fuel!

 

[rdixiemiller]

Gas is $3.09 at the Racetrack station in Carrollton today, diesel was $3.69. Diesel is $3.52 at a big truck stop in Villa Rica Ga.
At the last GMVPA meeting Clinto and I were discussing gasser 5 tons. Clinto said he would have to put in a multi for the fuel economy. Heck, a 5 ton prolly gets 4mpg on gas, 6 or so with a multi. After you spend $1500 or so to make the engine swap, you will have to drive 8500 miles to break even on the conversion price. I remember the days when a diesel Rabbit was the cheapest way to go, now with diesel so much higher than gas, I can't see diesel cars as a viable alternative.

 

[cranetruck]

Guess sombody discovered that diesel has higher heating value (more BTUs/gallon) than gas and decided to charge accordingly.
Those prices makes a person ill. (barfing smilie here)

 

[m16ty]

There's a local guy that started running WVO in his Dodge Cummins. After a few tank fulls this truck won't hardly start anymore without either ( even in warm temps on strait diesel). This has given me some reservations about running WVO in anything but a mulitfuel. Anybody have any idea what he did wrong?

Blood_of_tyrants, Was your 50/50 mix of motor oil and gas run in the mulitfuel or another engine. I know the oil/gas mix will run in the mulitfuel but I don't know about a CUCV.

 

[steelandcanvas]

I've watched the price of diesel jump .40 cents this week from $3.39 to $3.79! New price (higher) almost everyday, I'm afraid to look at the sign today.

 

[underdog]

http://www.eia.doe.gov/bookshelf/brochures/diesel/index.html

 

[tjcouch]

Here are a couple of thoughts:

First it is interesting to note where our petrol come from; you might see a few surprises: http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/...ons/company_level_imports/current/import.html

I think the price of Diesel has to do mostly with the economic concept of price elasticity - which is to say, how does a change in price affect demand for the fuel?

In the case of gasoline consumers are now at the point where they are looking for ways to conserve. Any further increase in price will result in consumers burning less fuel, and thus, a decrease in revenue for the energy industry. (People will drive less, carpool, mass transit, etc.)

Demand for Diesel is less elastic - the demand stays the same regardless of price since Diesel fuels the movement of commercial goods. It does not matter how much the price is - the trucks still need to roll with the consumable goods. The price increase is merely passed on to the end user (eventually.)

On the subject of taxes: I wish there was a chart on the pump with the price/gallon broken out by crude cost, refinement cost, and taxes assessed.

OK . . . I'll take off my M.B.A. hat now and get back to sanding, priming and painting the truck.

P.S. PLEASE do not forward (or believe) emails that suggest boycotting a certain brand, or alternating purchasing intervals, etc. will lower prices . . . . these schemes that are passed around the internet would actually cause an INCREASE in prices! The only viable way to lover fuel prices is to A. increase the supply of fuel, or B. burn less.