DD: To diesel or not to diesel.

saw today.. Diesel at the local Sunoco was 2 cents -cheaper- than the ultimate 94 octane at $3.84/gal

$4.19 for 93 and $4.19 for diesel when I went and got some gas last night. But if I can find a reason to go 20 minutes out of my way, diesel can be bought for 3.84 a gal...

another quick thing about the urea topic. up until the past few years (not positive when it started) there was no system to check "urea quality" so as long as there was something in the tank it didnt care. I have a friend who drives a diesel truck across the country for a company and they tell him to just fill the urea tank with water, hes never had a problem from it

so if that ~$6 every 10k miles for urea is to much for you then just add water

curtis73 wrote:

RoughandReady wrote: Old diesels don't have to pass any ind of emissions here, just like any car more than 15 years old.

Where do you live that they test Diesels AT ALL? I didn't think there was anywhere that actually did emissions testing on diesels these days.

Yes and no. While there is no specific diesel emissions test in PA, diesels are still subject to visual inspections of emissions equipment and a CEL (a CEL = Fail). If you rip out all of the emissions stuff and then take the car to some random shop, it may fail.

I've said this before, but the funky "private inspection station" system here can be a good thing if you develope a relationship with one shop. When I take my TDI in for inspections, it rarely even goes into a service bay. I tell them what I've done to it recently, then they replace the sticker. One time they were really busy and had me replace the sticker... No matter to me. $30 or so and I'm in-out in 20 minutes, give or take depending on how much B.S.ing we do.

States that follow California emissions standards test the crap out of diesels. That's why there were a few years of "45-state" TDI's since the cars sold during those years (~'04 to '06) wouldn't pass their emissions tests. You couldn't even register used ones there until they were a year or two old and had some miles on them.

Emissions testing requirements vary a LOT from state to state. And in the case of PA, even within the state. In PA, age doesn't matter. If you get Classic or Antique registration, it changes, but there is no blanket "cars over XX years old get a pass" rule. All normally registered cars are subject to annual inspection. Granted, how much this is actually enforced by law enforcement is another matter. I drove my '78 Spit 6 for a couple of years with std tags and no inspection. Cops would wave to me.

Also... for some reason this seems to 'shock' people every year: during the winter, diesel prices go up and costs more than 93 oct gas. During the Summer, prices drop and can sometimes equal regular gas.

This is partly because of the winter additives added to prevent gelling during the winter, and partly because fuel prices are set by the commodities market and there is a perceived demand change during the winter (#2 diesel heating oil) and Summer (the infamous 'Summer driving season').

When I bought my TDI in 2003, the disparity was rather dramatic, but it's been tempered by the amount of diesel we (the US) export to other countries, thus keeping the commondity price higher.

edizzle89 wrote: another quick thing about the urea topic. up until the past few years (not positive when it started) there was no system to check "urea quality" so as long as there was something in the tank it didnt care. I have a friend who drives a diesel truck across the country for a company and they tell him to just fill the urea tank with water, hes never had a problem from it so if that ~$6 every 10k miles for urea is to much for you then just add water

Fords that use urea definitely do check for quality. If they inject urea and the sensors detect that nothing is happening (it's a feedback controlled system after all) then it essentially goes into empty tank mode, you have X miles to replenish the tank, etc.