# Wisconsin Yellow Diesel



## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

So, I was on a road trip and filled up in WI. I noticed that at two different stations, the fuel was yellow. Anybody have any clue what I've put in my tank? I've driven about 500 miles without issue, but wonder about sulfur/etc.


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## bloberg19 (Oct 21, 2013)

I live in Wisconsin its road diesel low sulfur Jw where abouts were you in Wisconsin.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Yellow is the normal color for regular diesel in Wisconsin, what color is it usually?


EDIT:
A quick google search for diesel nozzle color & I see there is no standardization for this in the USA and can even very from station to station.


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

Not the nozzle color - the actual color of the fuel.

I was in the Dells area


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

yeah its normal

ive had it yellow, clear or blueish


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## bloberg19 (Oct 21, 2013)

Where I'm at in Wisconsin yellow is road diesel and clear is fram grade diesel


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## PanJet (Jun 18, 2013)

bloberg19 said:


> Where I'm at in Wisconsin yellow is road diesel and clear is fram grade diesel


Off-road diesel is dyed red to be easily distinguishable from on-road fuel. The only difference between the two is how they are taxed.

Depending on the light, I've seen "clear" or on-road diesel appear to be clear, greenish, yellowish, or blueish color.


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## cmsdock (Feb 16, 2014)

its a greenish color in Ohio.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

You could buy diesel at stations all over the same town and end up with fuel of very varying color. Seen one guy test the fuel and find there was no difference what so ever based on the color. 

To the OP, how did you notice the fuel color? I could be pumping in hot pink gas & would never know since it all goes in my tank.


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## KpaxFAQ (Sep 1, 2013)

He probably topped it all the way off...


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

Thanks for the confirmations about the color of the fuel and yes I topped it all the way off. I saw the color in the foam and also watched it drizzle out of the nozzle.


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## MOTO13 (Mar 26, 2014)

Just as an FYI for those new to the diesel world...DO NOT ever put off road fuel in your CTD under any circumstances...EVER. ORD is colored (dyed) red on purpose and will stain your injectors. If some day you are ever inspected by the DOT for whatever reason and your injectors are stained red, you'll have a problem.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

MOTO13 said:


> Just as an FYI for those new to the diesel world...DO NOT ever put off road fuel in your CTD under any circumstances...EVER. ORD is colored (dyed) red on purpose and will stain your injectors. If some day you are ever inspected by the DOT for whatever reason and your injectors are stained red, you'll have a problem.


how is the DOT gonna remove the injectors?


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

MOTO13 said:


> Just as an FYI for those new to the diesel world...DO NOT ever put off road fuel in your CTD under any circumstances...EVER. ORD is colored (dyed) red on purpose and will stain your injectors. If some day you are ever inspected by the DOT for whatever reason and your injectors are stained red, you'll have a problem.


Good advice – plus it will seriouslyscrew up your emissions system leading to expensive repairs notcovered by warranty


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## MOTO13 (Mar 26, 2014)

I don't know the exact procedure. Maybe they pull them or if they can see the red color on the outside of the injector or if they scope it somehow. All that I know is a buddy of mine was using it several years ago in his diesel pickup and got nailed for it. They looked at the mileage on his truck and assumed ALL the miles were used with no tax fuel. They multiplied the miles on his truck by the non-paid road tax and added a penalty. Plus, he had the pleasure of paying for new injectors.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

MOTO13 said:


> I don't know the exact procedure. Maybe they pull them or if they can see the red color on the outside of the injector or if they scope it somehow. All that I know is a buddy of mine was using it several years ago in his diesel pickup and got nailed for it. They looked at the mileage on his truck and assumed ALL the miles were used with no tax fuel. They multiplied the miles on his truck by the non-paid road tax and added a penalty. Plus, he had the pleasure of paying for new injectors.


cant see them injectors on the side of the road in a roadblock/checkpoint situation, top of the motor has gotta come off to get to the injectors etc...DOT has full set of tools for every make of vehicle?


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## MOTO13 (Mar 26, 2014)

Not sure what happened exactly. If memory serves me right either someone saw him pumping ORD into his truck or he was having work done on it somewhere and they saw the stained injectors. This mainly occurs at construction sites etc where they have or store ORD for their equipment...or at stations that sell ORD fuel for farms. You generally just can't buy ORD at the local station.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

MOTO13 said:


> You generally just can't buy ORD at the local station.


You certainly can at the rural Cenex stations in Wisconsin, heck even one local Mobil has ORD on the pump. Have had more than one person with diesel tell me they accidently used the wrong stuff. Have heard their is no real difference in the fuel just the tax rate so they put the red dye in. 

Most farmers used the same fuel in their trucks as they do their equipment & drive on the street every day. Legal? nope but not many people are getting checked.


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## Handles (Oct 8, 2012)

Shouldn't ever be using ORD in any vehicle that isn't OR approved. You are breaking the law and screwing everyone else that pays their share to keep our roads and bridges in acceptable condition.


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## MOTO13 (Mar 26, 2014)

spacedout said:


> You certainly can at the rural Cenex stations in Wisconsin, heck even one local Mobil has ORD on the pump. Have had more than one person with diesel tell me they accidently used the wrong stuff. Have heard their is no real difference in the fuel just the tax rate so they put the red dye in.
> 
> Most farmers used the same fuel in their trucks as they do their equipment & drive on the street every day. Legal? nope but not many people are getting checked.


Yeah, like I said in some farm (rural) areas ORD is readily pump available. Farmers fill up at these pumps if going from field to field as opposed to going back to their farm and fueling. I have seen it and it is clearly marked. I know several areas near Iowa where I go to all the time the ORD pump is no where near the regular pumps. This is to accommodate tractors.


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## Jdugie123 (Jul 29, 2014)

boraz said:


> how is the DOT gonna remove the injectors?


DOT does not look at injectors they first dip your tank and if they don't get anything from that but still have good reason they will take your fuel filter and look at it if it's a canister type they cut it open if an open element they can plainly see it. If you ran any red dye diesel the filter will be stained not your injectors. Also the different colors can be from different additive they add


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## MOTO13 (Mar 26, 2014)

I spoke to Dave yesterday and here's what happened to him. He worked for a large construction company and they were doing the excavating and grading etc...for warehouse buildout. He was an operator. Since 90% of the guys drove diesel trucks and they used their trucks for running from one machine and one site of the job to another on this massive job, he was told if he needed fuel to go fill up on site. Lots of guys were doing it apparently. Somehow the state found out about this and came in and did some tests or whatever they do. He had tainted fuel as did like 80% of the guys there. He got fined and was TOLD to get new injectors, filters etc.... THEN, Ford wanted to void his warranty when he went in to get his injectors swapped. The Ford tech even said if they are doing any work on a truck and see stained injectors, they have to notify the state about it.


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## Handles (Oct 8, 2012)

Construction company should be fined as well if they actually approved this behavior. I've worked for several, as did my dad as an operator for 40 years. This was never OK by up-and-up companies.


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## Su8pack1 (Apr 17, 2014)

MOTO13 said:


> I spoke to Dave yesterday and here's what happened to him. He worked for a large construction company and they were doing the excavating and grading etc...for warehouse buildout. He was an operator. Since 90% of the guys drove diesel trucks and they used their trucks for running from one machine and one site of the job to another on this massive job, he was told if he needed fuel to go fill up on site. Lots of guys were doing it apparently. Somehow the state found out about this and came in and did some tests or whatever they do. He had tainted fuel as did like 80% of the guys there. He got fined and was TOLD to get new injectors, filters etc.... THEN, Ford wanted to void his warranty when he went in to get his injectors swapped. The Ford tech even said if they are doing any work on a truck and see stained injectors, they have to notify the state about it.


 It's all about revenue.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

MOTO13 said:


> I spoke to Dave yesterday and here's what happened to him. He worked for a large construction company and they were doing the excavating and grading etc...for warehouse buildout. He was an operator. Since 90% of the guys drove diesel trucks and they used their trucks for running from one machine and one site of the job to another on this massive job, he was told if he needed fuel to go fill up on site. Lots of guys were doing it apparently. Somehow the state found out about this and came in and did some tests or whatever they do. He had tainted fuel as did like 80% of the guys there. He got fined and was TOLD to get new injectors, filters etc.... THEN, Ford wanted to void his warranty when he went in to get his injectors swapped. The Ford tech even said if they are doing any work on a truck and see stained injectors, they have to notify the state about it.


makes more sense


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## MOTO13 (Mar 26, 2014)

Well at some large sites they have both ORD and regular diesel tanks. Maybe they weren't marked good or something. All I know is...don't do it. Oh, you can think about about it, but don't do it.


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## Jdugie123 (Jul 29, 2014)

I work for a diesel parts company and see injectors all the time there is no staining of red dye. That was just a ford dealer that was trying to get out of doing warranty work.


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## attrapereves (Jan 6, 2014)

Does anyone know why diesel is taxed more than gasoline?

n most other places besides the US, diesel is cheaper than gasoline because it's less refined (less labor involved).


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## diesel (Jun 8, 2013)

attrapereves said:


> Does anyone know why diesel is taxed more than gasoline?
> 
> n most other places besides the US, diesel is cheaper than gasoline because it's less refined (less labor involved).


I don't know much about the tax, but I know that US diesel is refined a lot because of the 15 PPM sulfur. Also, I think there is some economy of scale involved because of the balance between gasoline and diesel production at the refineries.


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