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Switching between fuel tanks?

2K views 13 replies 11 participants last post by  BudDog 
#1 ·
How often should one switch between fuel tanks? Since I bought my OBS in July, we've only been running off the front tank. The PO said he'd only really run off the front tank, as well, but demonstrated during the test drive that you could switch it on-the-fly, and there was viable fuel back there. Since then, it's just been on the front.

Should I fill the front and rear alternately, and just switch back and forth between them? Does it matter if I leave one mostly empty for a period of time, or should I drain it? I don't have the money to fill both of them at the same time, otherwise I would. If I hit a really huge sale on fuel, maybe I might, but even still, at a combined volume close to 40 gallons, that'd be close to $200 just to fill them!
 
#2 ·
I would definitely be alternating between the two if your not filling them both up, if you leave on with barely any fuel for a long period of time there is a good chance the left over fuel will go stale in there which will be a problem
 
#3 ·
X2. i switch back and forth every tank
 
#4 ·
Diesel take a very long time to go stale, unlike gasoline. A good reason to use the back tank that nobody has mentioned yet is condensation. You want to keep the air out of a tank that you are not using. The more air it has in it, the more moisture you will collect in the bottom of your tank. This leads to rust and water in your fuel. Or worse yet, you will end up with algae growing in your fuel tanks (algae = bad for filters). If you had to leave it in one condition, full is the best condition. If you are worried about it going stale, just add some fuel stabilizer, and it will last at least a year. I have used diesel that has been years old without stabilizer without incident on farm equipment.
 
#7 ·
I switch everytime I run out on one tank because depending on your climate you could run into conditation in the tank if you leave it empty.
 
#8 ·
Okay, thanks for the info. We're planning a road trip this weekend, I'll start switching out then.

Any precautions I should take regarding the rear tank... adding an anti-water or an algaecide of some sort to take care of potential condensation or critters I may have back there? Is it enough to simply have it full, to dilute whatever may be in there (if anything)? I didn't note a drain plug on either tank... that would be a good addition.
 
#9 ·
No drain plugs on the tanks. You could use a small pump and pump all the old fuel out if you think it is bad and going to cause you problems. I would at least swing by and pick up an extra fuel filter just in case you do have any problems on your trip. I have already put 31K miles on my truck just since January running around here in the DFW Tx. area so I def. use both tank sometimes daily or more. I have filled both tanks twice in one day that was a long day with a high fuel bill. My fuel will probably not end up going stale!:hehe:My 03 that I am going to start driving only has the one tank so I am going to plumb in an additional 80 gallon tank in the bed for a little extra capacity so I do not have to stop so often. JJ
 
#10 ·
i regularly fill up both tanks.... i just switch on the fly when the one tank gets to a quarter of a tank.... i dont know how much ya'lls diesel prices are but it would take 140 dollars to fill both tanks up at the peak of the fuel prices....

i'm pretty luck now cause there 3 gas stations in a price war and diesel at the chevron is only 3.729/ gallon :woot::woot:
 
#13 ·
Filters are next on the list. No probs on the last trip, we filled both tanks and ran from one to the other, not a single hiccup.

Next question, related: can you switch tanks at highway speed, or is it better to let the engine idle down before switching?
 
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