BIO or non BIO fuel ?

[wvabeer]

Any different mpg or performance?

[wolfe10]

Yes, in many cases, state legislatures/farm lobbies dictate bio content.

[wvabeer]

I noticed south carolina had bio but not in WV and FL. I need to pay closer att.

[rgatijnet1]

The problem is that every station and every fill-up MAY be different. Read closely what the labels say. They usually use terms of "up to 20%" or "up to 5%".
The same goes with gasoline where they say that the fuel MAY contain "up to 10% ethanol".
I guess this allows the suppliers to mix loads and that you may have the full percentage of bio but in all probability you will have something less than the full amount stated.

[Bill1374]

I see about the same numbers as winter blend fuel. The real difference comes when you get both. Winter blend with 10% bio will absolutely kill my mileage. It's really noticeable coming north from Florida. I can get pure No.2 in Florida but the places on 95 north from Va. up have blend.

[DSDP_Don]

If I had a choice at a station, I would always buy straight diesel, even if the bio was slightly cheaper. The bio does have less BTU's so there is some mpg loss. My 2005 ISL said max B5 bio on the fuel door, I believe my 2014 450 ISL says max B20 bio is acceptable.

I think what happens with many is that some stations you get bio and some you get straight diesel. With a 100 or 150 gallon fuel tank, one is always diluting the other, so you typically don't see big swings in mileage.

[jorbill2or]

MB Sprinters have been known for a problem on bio causing expensive repairs .. not so with others. Something in the Mercedes design can’t tolerate bio. My older cat can run on up to 20% according to caterpillar.

[rogerddd]

I have a diesel RV on a Sprinter chassis. The owner’s manual says “Refill only with … ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) with a maximum sulfur content of 15 ppm.” “Fill up with ULSD (B5 or less) whenever possible.” Diesel engines may run great on bio, but for my rig there are precaution noted and use of bio may invalidate the warranty.

[luvlabs]

Modern diesels run great on bio but you have a 1999 model. You should be able to run the lower percentage but I would check with your engine manufacturer. Stock lots fuel filters as bio is an incredible solvent and your fuel system is going to get a cleaning it has never had before.

[naturist]

wvabeer wrote:
Are there certain brand stations that don't sell bio?

Not that I know of. There are several states, notably Iowa and Illinois where getting diesel that is NOT a bio blend is almost impossible. In Illinois, nearly all diesel is 11% because there are substantial tax advantages.

Folks doing the voodoo hex sign and chanting "NO biodiesel, No biodiesel" would be best served avoiding those states, although even the engine manufacturers still insisting no more than 5% (or 7% in the case of my BMW) say a tank or two won't hurt anything. I know for a fact that on the return from our last excursion out west, I got a tankful of 15%, followed by a tankful of 20% and had no issues.

Pure biodiesel does offer about 10% less energy per gallon than petrodiesel. At a 10% blend, this suggests about a 1% reduction in mileage, which most people would never notice. Having used blends from 20% to 50% to even 100% in our 2001 Jetta TDI, I hardly noticed any mileage reduction until I got up to 50% or above. Some people do see it, it probably does depend on your rig.

[wvabeer]

Are there certain brand stations that don't sell bio?

[jorbill2or]

Full bio would be a significant lower mpg rating as it has less power / gal . Bio in the common 5% -20% Mix would not be dramatic, but it is lower no getting around it. The higher % bio should be proportionately cheaper at the pump though as many states give tax advantages to the dealer for pumping it.
As said bio is a good solvent so it cleans well , sometimes to well and clogs older engines filters as it cleans
I ran up to 100% bio years ago in my 2000 Ford 7.3 the engine got about 10-20% worse mileage but the bio was much cheaper at the time. It also ran noticeably quieter!

[dons2346]

I see no difference in mileage

[Bruce_Brown]

We just took a trip, first leg, normal diesel, more extended higher speed runs, fighting lots of wind - 7.6 MPG. We usually run a bit higher but given the conditions I was OK with that.

We stopped and filled with bio-diesel. Second leg, ~ the same number of miles, slower speeds, winds had calmed, no extended higher speed runs - 6.9 MPG.

I was floored at the mileage as since we up sized our tires and air cleaner we had been seeing some decent mileage.

At first I was thinking it may have been a fluke, now I'm wondering if it was the bio-diesel. I believe this is the first time we've ever run it in the motorhome.

[wolfe10]

Yes, there are several differences:

Slightly less BTU's per gallon of bio vs dino so slightly less MPG.

Shorter storage life for bio.

Bio tends to "scrub" any accumulated gunk from fuel systems, so it can clog filters.