Testing for “off road” or “red dye” diesel?
Having engine work done on Dodge Cummins for possible fuel restriction or lack of fuel problem. The garage has had to do several “bucket” tests. Probably 15 up to 25 gallons of “red dye” diesel has ...
Forum Discussion
Op here… Some of you guys had me scared.
The garage didn’t fill my tank with red dye diesel. They disconnected my fuel tank and hooked me up to another fuel source when diagnosing my fuel problem. They wanted to see if there was a fuel restriction in my tank and they also ran several “bucket” tests. Bucket tests are common in the diesel world to determine if your fuel system is working ok or not.
Took a long time, but I called my state and finally got right department. The “Fuel Tax Evasion Unit”. I explained what happened and they said “no problem, it happens all the time. After 4 or 5 tanks there shouldn’t be any residue that is “visibly” detectable.
WA state still “dips” the tank. Don’t know what other states do. If you are ever get “dipped” here is usually what happens. They take a sample from the fuel tank to see what color the fuel is. If fuel is the normal color of what we buy at gas station, Good by, have a nice day. But if color is red, they look up what the OEM tank capacity is and also look for any other fuel tanks and measure them to get your total fuel capacity and then give you a ticket based on how many gallons you can carry. Here is formula for the amount of ticket:
Penalties for illegal use of dyed diesel
Each violation will result in a fine of $10/gallon or $1,000, whichever is greater.
Then any fuel tank that are not OEM gets extra attention to other laws such as, how the tank is mounted and if there is a "shut off" or “roll over ball” that is or is not “effective in practice”.
And here where the probe comes in. About the last 10 years or so, if color is not normal and not red they suspect some type of “home brew fuel". The probe (most likely) a temp probe helps them to identify the “base material” of alternate fuel source. And then they dig deeper investigating why you have high temps. High temps also might mean you’ve most bypassed EPA smog stuff. If you’ve disconnected any smog stuff, you’re in big trouble.
And then they directed me to:
http://www.dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistration/dyeddiesel.html
The garage didn’t fill my tank with red dye diesel. They disconnected my fuel tank and hooked me up to another fuel source when diagnosing my fuel problem. They wanted to see if there was a fuel restriction in my tank and they also ran several “bucket” tests. Bucket tests are common in the diesel world to determine if your fuel system is working ok or not.
Took a long time, but I called my state and finally got right department. The “Fuel Tax Evasion Unit”. I explained what happened and they said “no problem, it happens all the time. After 4 or 5 tanks there shouldn’t be any residue that is “visibly” detectable.
WA state still “dips” the tank. Don’t know what other states do. If you are ever get “dipped” here is usually what happens. They take a sample from the fuel tank to see what color the fuel is. If fuel is the normal color of what we buy at gas station, Good by, have a nice day. But if color is red, they look up what the OEM tank capacity is and also look for any other fuel tanks and measure them to get your total fuel capacity and then give you a ticket based on how many gallons you can carry. Here is formula for the amount of ticket:
Penalties for illegal use of dyed diesel
Each violation will result in a fine of $10/gallon or $1,000, whichever is greater.
Then any fuel tank that are not OEM gets extra attention to other laws such as, how the tank is mounted and if there is a "shut off" or “roll over ball” that is or is not “effective in practice”.
And here where the probe comes in. About the last 10 years or so, if color is not normal and not red they suspect some type of “home brew fuel". The probe (most likely) a temp probe helps them to identify the “base material” of alternate fuel source. And then they dig deeper investigating why you have high temps. High temps also might mean you’ve most bypassed EPA smog stuff. If you’ve disconnected any smog stuff, you’re in big trouble.
And then they directed me to:
http://www.dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistration/dyeddiesel.html
