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Fuel for M35A3

DIESEL PULLER

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I am picking up a vehicle and I wonder if there is anything I should be checking besides the oil level, transmission fluid, brake fluid. I will be driving it about 500 miles to get it home. I will be picking it up in about 60 days, when it is a little warmer.
Separate question: When I am driving off-road will this Catapillar engine and exhaust system work well with high sulfer fuel? Like #2 heating fuel?
Thanks for your help!
 

Westech

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boy I dont know.. JP8 is on the thinner side of diesel. you might be able to mix it 50% with ULS diesel but I dont know about 100% home heating oil. And if you have the $$ for a A3.... just use diesel to be safe. you got the cash.
 

Westech

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strapped for cash and just got a A3? might as well park it. your going to have PMCS up the rear! There not a get in and drive for 100K miles with out MAJOR service. I dont want to sound like a *******.. but really there not a cheap truck to drive.
 

rwoods

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Be sure and check the air pressure in all of the tires. As you can see from the GL pictures a lot of these babies leak; I would take a chuck and air hose with a glad hand with me if I were you.

If you haven't driven an A3 then prepare yourself for a long ride. It may redline at 56mph, but it doesn't like it nor will you.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do mine. :-D
 

wreckerman893

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Anything with a Cat engine in it is going to cost you money when it breaks.....that is a fact.
Everything is propriotary and with a few exceptions you are at Cat's mercy for parts.
Unlike the multi-fuel engines the Cats have electronics on them and anything electrical is a potential problem.
The Cat is not going to tolerate bad fuel.....keep the crud out of the tanks and watch the filters.
I am old school and love the A2's......I just wouldn't want the headaches of an A3.
Your milage may vary.
 

swbradley1

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Geez, I'm glad I didn't put a mortgage on the farm to buy that A3 in Sparta this week.

;-)

sw
 

Keith_J

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High sulfur fuels won't hurt the A3 but dirty fuel will. But that is only filters. #2 fuel oil isn't rated for injector pump wear.
 

xm708

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cat fuel

I agree with all the other posts and will add this. Don't get caught running the home heating oil over the road as it is not taxed and if they dip your tank DOT that is you will be paying a hefty fine....
 

stumps

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Purely an intellectual question, but has anyone tried to wash the dye out of off road diesel?

The reason I ask is I was very surprised at how easy it was to wash the dye out of DOT 5 with water... And I find you can easily wash the ethanol and MBTE out of the new gasoline with water.

-Chuck
 

saddamsnightmare

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January 09, 2010.

Diesel Puller:

You just bought an A3 and yo're squawking about having to use diesel in the Cat???
The Cat 3116 would be an ill tempered and unreliable beast on heating oil, and I wouldn't even think of anything else other then Diesel or JP4/JP8. The Cat will break you anyway when it acts up, and if its in an Army truck and has more then a coupla hundred hours on it.....you are going to know and love your Cat dealer. Besides, when the CTIS o rings fail, its gonna have six flats instead of one. The nice thing about the M35A2 is that they are a much simpler machine, easier to fix, and the parts are common, plus you do have a limited alternate fuel capability with the multifuels. Even the youngest of these trucks is gonna be 25 years old, and for them to run at all, they are going need lots of maintenance and parts.....
If I were you, I'd sell the A-3 and stick to an M38A or something easier to fix and more reliable.... Just my .o2 worth...

Good luck and cheers,

Kyle F. McGrogan:-D
 

Farmun

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Ashland City, TN
Anything with a Cat engine in it is going to cost you money when it breaks.....that is a fact.
Everything is propriotary and with a few exceptions you are at Cat's mercy for parts.....

Amen Brother Wreckerman! We have 3 firetrucks with the Cats and Allison Automatics. Needless to say, our mechanic on staff just shakes his head and schedules a trip to the dealer when something goes awry with them. Spent $800+ on a lift pump last fall on one. That's tough on a volunteer fire department shoe string budget... :cry:
 

emr

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Hard but very true words about the A3, the ctis is the most silly idea in these trucks one ever came up with,It is there design I am talking about... It is hard to beileve when realizing where it goes and it is easy to understand why it does not work and is rediculous to work on, As for off road fuel or home heat oil, the only diesel u will have a problem with is dirty oil, It is all the same , My nephew is a pretty big excavating company, and he has alot of new sweet trucks, when they are on site they all use off road or heat oil, I will get the new low down tonight on the difference Only is over the road brand new trucks only use the new ultra low sulpher.I will post why next....
 
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stumps

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stumps that would be illegal and you can go to Jail for tax evasion.
Really? I can't imagine how it could be illegal for me to clean the color out of fuel that I bought and paid taxes on. The point where a law _might_ be broken is if I used it to fuel an on road motor vehicle... but I said nothing about doing that.

Besides, where is all the drama when you burn WMO, or WVO, or hydraulic oil in your deuces, or when Prius drivers plug their cars into the wall and charge the batteries off of the power grid. They are all using untaxed fuel to drive licensed motor vehicles on the road.

-Chuck
 
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emr

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clarification ALL three fuel are diesel #2 '''Kerosene is # 1''' ....The diesel fuels today rate 3 times and it is by sulpher content only all else is an opinion. there is home heating and is dyed non taxed and is high sulpher, there is the old at the pump that is low sulpher and is now off road non taxed and dyed, there only used to be 2 fuels before the new at the pump now the "ultra low sulpher, that is at the pump now, and 2008 and up trucks are designed to only run on this, it will NOT ruin your motor but will clog injectors and filters, and then cause havoc with electronics, these are the facts. Your a 3 will run on it all, and be just fine, that motor is old. My diesel expert also just told me CAT left the engine business because of this mess also. These are the facts, I have heard guys call winter fuel # 1 i new this was not true and a misinform but double checked with my 2 sorces, ex brother in law engineer in a Exxon refinery in texas, and My nephew, he is on whats all new and has the business and fleet of equipment to back it up, both say the same, I was not in the loop on the new fuel yet, but now am, Diesel sellers have to haul 3 separate fuels now, and are complaining My nephew says, he uses tons of fuel a year. As for winter fuels it is an additive not a new fuel . He has a medium fleet of new diesel pickups every 2 years or so and runs the low sulpher dyed in all the trucks not lettered. they are fine also. there were stickers on pumps saying old truck motors could be ruined from new fuel, not true. That a3 will be just fine on heat oil forever, period.
 
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Westech

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stumps.. you dont pay taxes on off road diesel. And you DO pay taxes on power.. look at your power bill... o that right if **************************************(Radio Edit by management) know that. And I would bet my pay check that if you were running a bunch of WMO or whatever in your deuce a cop wont give two cents.. but if you go out and try to hide it he going to nail you.
 
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emr

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It could be said the prius is not paying over the road taxes on the plug in? they will catch up on that one if electric catches on, another tax increase on the way...thanks for bringing it up...:-D
 
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