If you are running it in your 6.5 and want to be safe about it, you will spend money for testing and will be cutting it into the diesel you buy.
The oil contamination is a mixed bag. Sulfur itself isn’t a lubricant but its presence is. It combines with trace amounts of nickel in the fuel oil along with nickel in the metal and becomes an amazing lubricant. Yes the TBN (total base number) of the engine oil lowers, which is a result of the acidic rise. See, sulfur is acidic- thats why we had acid rain- the sulfur molecules get broken free, combine with hydrogen atoms and make hydrochloric acid. Bad stuff. However the sulfur combines with the nickle much sooner and at a much greater proportion so it increases lubricant count on the scale by a factor of ten more than it kets the acid eat stuff.
Ya know how there is the old timers that would use old oil and rarely change it? In gas engines it sludged up quickly and killed engines and diesels they would note a reduction in power & mpg. Then fill the crankcase with a quart of diesel for the last 1 or 2 hundred miles then change oil. Usually doing this in 10,000 mile intervals instead of just oil at 3,000. And the engine would last just as long. But you can’t do that anymore. Ulsd is why.
Loosing the sulfur means you loose the “high pressure compaction” of it.
Think about stinky differential oil a minute. How many old trucks used to run 250,000, 350,000 miles and people never once changed the diff oil. Usually a seal leak was why they even messed with it. How many of us just opened the fill plug, couldn’t feel with finger tip and topped it off? I did it all the time, personal, customer, and fleet. How did they survive? And why is it so stinky? Sulfur. Gobs and gobs of sulfur. Thats why diff gears live under the extreme load they do and never fail. When there is a failure its almost always a design flaw by the engineers in saving money somewhere. Clutch packs and other nonsense that needs special additives which counter act the massive sulfur content.
So if I had my hands on some high (actually normal) sulfur diesel, heating oil, kerosene, etc. would I run it in my 6.5? Why no officer/epa representative I wouldn’t because it is against the law. Same reason I don’t recommend it to other people online, in public view, etc. Now, if say zombies took over the world and the government lost existence, and we were not concerned with the creation of acid rain from burning sulfur anymore- but my daily fight for life consisted of me trying to get the most life from a 6.5 ? Yup. In a heartbeat. Heck, use of old school gear oil as a fuel additive into ulsd to extend the db2 life isn’t a bad idea, in those post apocalyptic situations, right now it is bad because acid rain is a real thing that I don’t deny- seriously. Thats why most the world switched to ulsd EVEN IN heating oil. So I have to say- statistically speaking it probably is not high sulfur (2,000 ppm vs lsd 500 ppm vs ulsd 15ppm).
There is arguments made that removing the sulfur is removing other components and that is what reduces lubricity. The process was blamed and I USED TO accept that answer myself. However, not many people went through the trouble of having ulsd then adding back in just sulfur. Funny thing, when you start with 2100ppm and remove it to 10 ppm. Then add back 2,000 ppm the net result is not 2100. It ends up at 2000-2025. The extra tends to get converted into other compounds and ya know what happens in the end? It synthesizes and becomes more lubricative than it was originally. Hmm. So now if you only add back half the sulfur it still synthesizes, is almost as good as original and is less stinky coming out of the differential- could be there is at least one oil company making their gear oil with this as part of their production technique. And they like it because the removal of sulfur- part of it is getting rid of that sulfur somewhere.
Sorry for side tangent.
NO ONE should run high sulfur oils or fuels as fuels in modern diesels because the exhaust system will plug up like a first timer eating nothing but MREs.
You will be replacing the cat and muffler very very soon.
As for people in Mexico where even though the law was passed in 2018 to make everyone sell only ulsd, they just passed a new law to try implementing the old one by 2030. If you drive a new diesel into Mexico on vacation- I never suggest altering exhaust system because thats illegal here and maybe there(?) but if my imaginary twin brother Bill did it, he would make a temporary test pipe and put it in place of pipes full of metals and stuff.
Same thing Bill would do in parts of AK-HI (you know the gun greeting places- surely don’t confuse that with the states mr epa guy).
Back to the crankcase oil issue-other than doing the lab testing to see when the oil needs replacing, or treat it as it would have been done from 1900-1990.
I know guys who only buy fuel from one place because they are worried that a different station will have something unknown. I know guys who invest in the Mr.Funnel or similar brands- and use it during fill ups. One guy will go fill up a barrel of fuel at the gas station, take it home and use the funnel at home. He actually gets so much water that he makes a video and shows the store owner- who refunds 2:1 fuel cost. He lives in Georgia. Now thats all water right- not sulfur. So why bring that up? Because water in your modern fuel is a FAR LARGER problem with WAY more impact to the health of the ip, injectors, engine oil than too much, too little sulfur. And simply filtering it out is the solution- but still I only said I know SOME GUYS that do it. Most don’t. It’s risk vs reward. It’s $ & time investment vs chances of problems. Individually - you have to decide.
I promote the FASS water separation filter and their pump as a unit because cost & convenience offset. Little to no $ - spend your time and use the filter funnel at the station. Invest more time and another $30 for the funnel and do both for best results and longer filter life.
Treat the fuel itself same way. Buy it cheap and just run it mixed 50/50 with diesel. Because it is coming out of old tanks - pre filter it through a water seperation filter of some kind and an extremely low micron filter before ever putting into your truck is best. (2 micron ish) remember “absolute” means 100% and “nominal” means average so a 2 micron absolute is way better than a 2 nominal - but it takes longer to filter through it. At home going from one barrel (or jerry can) to another- so what? Use an old lift pump or even gravity and let er rip…or drip.
I would at a minimum do that.
Zombie day fueling: slow soak through a CLEAN towel or even Tshirt is better than nothing as a prefilter. A CLEAN new chamois works as a water separator but oh man you will be there a while.
There is always a way to trade your time in place of money you don’t have or want to spend. I will be doing more of that today on tires with an XY table & a planer to stop out of round shake from tires that still have 25% life on them. Hopefully. Or I will ruin all 4 and have to replace them this week. It’s all a gamble. Diy oil change and spend time/save money/ know you did it right vs pay some kid and save aggravation & time but hope he tightens filter & plug properly, hope he actually greases, checks things, etc.
50/50 bought fuel & bought heating oil after cleaning- not worth 100 gallons.
But on the regular long term- it could absolutely pay off. Finding out by going 75/25 and no hiccups- then going 100% … could easily make it worth it.
If it was a db2 instead of a ds4 it gets really easy to make it worth it. The db2 handles a lot more atf or gear oil added to ensure diy fuel is ok. If you aren’t installing wmi for cleaning purposes then doing the water bottle trick the day before every oil change is smart. Keep those injector tips clean. Not a bad idea even on regular fuel.
Just remember to never ever break any laws or do anything to make pea aep epa or anyone else in the gubmint upset. They can put a whoopin on ya - thats why I always listen to exactly what they say…
