Low Sulfur or Ultra low

[sg2005]

Need some advise on this fuel. A friend put the low sulfur in his 08 instead of the ultra low. What harm will this do? He just told me today that the pump he has been using states Low Sulfur not Ultra low Sulfur.
He said he only stops at this station once a month and has been been there 8 times in the past and just realize this today.
He said the other place he stops at has a big sticker on the pump saying Ultra Low Sulfur.

[737tdi]

I think: No harm at all......Period.....It's probably actually better as far as lubrication goes. I would think if he were to keep using it he might regenerate a little more. Do you know if he has had a regeneration yet. Just curious.

737tdi

[sg2005]

737tdi,
He has about 19k on the clock and has has the regen but didnt notice anything different with the wrong fuel.

[Engine31]

Isn't ULSD Fed. law now??

I've heard of some stations that just didn't change the sticker on the pump.

[sg2005]

I thought the same. I called the Turkey Hill where he was using and they said that there main office didnt do the switch over to the ULSD. So i bet alot of people didnt even think to look for the new sticker thinking what you said is to be true.

[torino73]

Low sulfur will cause damage to the DPF. Ford will not fix it under warranty, price tag on parts alone is said to be in the $1500 range. Don't do it.

[George C]

I agree.
You will definitely be impressed when your DPF fails, and you are picking up the tag.
It is CLEARLY written on the fuel cap.
No excuse..

[rlchv70]

It won't cause the DPF to fail. It will just not last as long.

However, the station probably just hasn't updated the stickers on their pumps.

[737tdi]

Go to the flying j website, Flying J: Current Diesel Fuel Prices Pricing , this shows they even have stations with lsd.

In my answer to the question I was not saying you should use low sulphur diesel, I was merely saying it will not hurt the engine. As richV70 said, it will not cause the dpf to fail, it will merely shorten it's life. Which none of us no what that life is, I am very confident it is less than what Ford says. Being a pessimest here but anything that goes through the temperature swings this thing does is going to have problems.

737tdi

[titaniumfan]

Just to repeat, aside from Alaska and California, ULSD isn't *required* in all states until December 2010, though 80% of a refinery's output today must be ULSD. If you don't see a ULSD sticker you should assume that it is still LSD (as I discovered at a Las Vegas truck stop) All diesel sold in California is already ULSD. See

Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel will be the primary highway diesel fuel produced - Clean Diesel Fuel Alliance

for the gory details.

[RT76]

ULSD will not do any major damage to the engine with one tank but can harm the emissions equipment it will also cause a lot more regen.

As far as being mandated, most places have already converted because of availability but it is not required by the government until 2010.

[Clattertruck]

TedWhite posted this on 02-03-2008:

"... it's simply NOT TRUE that using lsd will plug the DPF as you were told by that technican. The fact is, techs are only parroting what they have been told by Ford but I haven't met one yet who has actually done the scientific research to find out if it is true. It's NOT !!!!

Here are some interesting links to SCIENTIFIC REPORTS from tests done by EPA appointed labs and the vehicle manufacturers:

www.aseanenvironment.info/Abstract/41014571.pdf
for the effect of sulfur on DOCs (Diesel Oxygen Catalysts).

www.nrel.gov/docs/fy02osti/31600.pdf
for Diesel Emissions Control Sulfur Effects Project

http://www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels...pdfs/40015.pdf
for the Effect of Biodiesel Blends on DPF performance

http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/...ive/828945.pdf
for Fuel Formulation Effects on Emission Control

www.sae.org/technical/papers/2002-01-2788
for Fuel Sulfur Effect on Membrane-Coated Diesel Particulate Filter

http://www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels...erim3final.pdf
for Diesel Fuel Sulfur Effects on Particulate Emissions

http://www.pecj.or.jp/japanese/divis...zuhisaMOGI.pdf
for effects of sulfur on DPF performance

The FACT is, running LSD will NOT destroy a modern DPF. All of the Government and manufacturer testing gives the same results - it takes at least 40,000 miles for lsd to begin to have a long term effect on the DPF. That's right, AT LEAST 40,000 MILES ON LSD TO EVEN REGISTER ANY CHANGES IN DPF PERFORMANCE !!!!!

As you will see from reading the above material, the reason why it is illegal to use lsd has nothing to do with preserving the DPF. It all has to do with emissions. When fuel with more than 300ppm sulfur is burned in a vehicle with a DOC and DPF the sulfur compound emissions EXCEED the reductions achieved by the DPF. At 500ppm, which is the lsd maximum, the emissions of sulfur compounds are way over the allowable limit, despite being invisible, because the DOC helps form those sulfur compounds.

The new emissions systems have been around in the field now for long enough to start registering problems if lsd was clogging DPFs - it's NOT happening, but plenty of people are using lsd, either deliberately, or inadvertently.

FORD doesn't want you to use lsd because they have to give warranty coverage on the DPF to 100,000 miles, but if you use nothing but lsd you MIGHT shorten the time before the DPF has to be physically cleaned of ash deposits. That means FORD would have to pay and there's no way for them to know that it was caused by lsd.

I'm not counselling anyone to deliberately use lsd, I'm just providing FACTS instead of opinions. If anyone can find a single scientific study which proves me wrong, please post it here and I'll happily admit I was wrong.

And just for the record, I am presently in Mexico, having used higher sulfur fuel since Dec 1st with NO PROBLEMS and more than 6,000 miles of driving. I've also met and spoken with drivers of other Ford, GM and Dodge new engine, all of whom have NO PROBLEMS. The highest mileage on lsd to date in Mexico is a Dodge in the Baja with around 10,000 miles on high sulfur fuel.

So PLEASE, when you see other opinions and inuendos about lsd in forums, put a link to this post so that people can read the SCIENTIFIC FACTS instead of unsupported opinions. And that includes dealerships, who are either uninformed or deliberately lying to you.
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[kalalp]

Good job on the research, Clatter.

[Super Duty John]

Here is a link to Flying J fuel stops and you can see they clearly sell low sulfur at a lot of their stations. BTW, you can check all the prices around the country too.
Flying J: Current Diesel Fuel Prices Pricing

[GERM]

I used half LSD and half ULSD and I got an increase in mpg from 12 to 18 in my 2008 Ford F-350. This was aroung 11K miles.