Does Diesel fuel "go bad"?

[JakeG]

I have some fuel that is only a few months old which is making me wonder how long can diesel fuel sit without stabilizer and still run ok in my truck? The fuel I have has been sitting in an air tight container for six months and was only treated with "Power Service Diesel Fuel Supplement + Cetane Booster". Think it is ok to mix some in with some fresh fuel?

[WarChild]

Sortof it can develop algie and agree things that will mess your truck up.

[jdman49]

^^if it sets for a long period of time it can develop algea they make a additive that kills it it can clog your filters but i've seen fuel thats been around for a year that didnt have any issues

[jd4010]

I've literally had fuel sit for years in my older tractors and never had any problems. However, I do keep them full (to the brim) so as to remove as much air from the tank as possible and sometimes (not always) I do use an additive.

[DRILLROCK]

Last month we fired up a GMC med. duty truck with a detroit. The truck has been sitting for 3 years with about 1/2 a tank of diesel (50 gal.) and she fired right up. No issue with the fuel of fuel filters. This truck fires up faster than my 6.0

[WarChild]

It can develop algie. Doesn't mean it will. If it does and you run it then you will wish you had done something about it. Have only seen it once but that guy had to not only.drain his whole tank but had to change all of his filters like 4 times because they kept clogging. So, if I were going to let ANY fuel sit for a long time I would put an additive in it.

[Evil Eye]

The algae (or other biologics) will only grow in the water that is suspended in the diesel fuel. Algae cannot grow in the fuel itself, so if there isn't any water in the diesel, you won't have any biologic growth. Additionally, the CETANE rating will degrade over time, but not as quickly as the OCTANE rating will in gasoline. In most diesel applications, it will still run, but won't generate as much power. The additive is a cetane booster, which is similar to an octane booster for gasoline.

[WarChild]

I haven't seen any fuel.that didn't have some water in it. Especially diesel fuel.

[2006]

If it is 100 percent petroleum diesel you should be fine any of the Bio diesel could be trouble. We only buy petroleum fuel for our equipment because of past problems with Bio fuel.

[04krpsd]

Put bio diesel in tractor, it sat over winter, with out additive. I got plenty of algae now. I have drained and refilled with 10 gals of fuel. Need to do it again, but pressure clean tank, before refill.