Red Diesel

[Jensen]

Has anyone ever used this stuff and if so in what car.
How did you find it/would it cause any damage
Is it true that is stains the engine

 

[dirtydiesel]

Under no circumstances will red diesel damage your engine the most expensive engines in the world run on red diesel it is just a dye that is added to the fuel to show that it is tax exempt, that is why it is so cheap to buy so don?t listen to the idiots that tell you it will damage your engine if you do use it just make sure that you stay clear of the custom and excise.

 

[numbnuts]

Agree with dirtydiesel, safe enough to run on red diesel just make sure your five-gallon drums are clean when you get your red diesel. Beware of getting red diesel from a building site as there is a lot of sand lying around the yard that may get into your cherry diesel

 

[Chazchuzzlewitt]

Is it true that they check for red diesel use during the MOT or is this just an urban myth I heard?

 

[dirtydiesel]

Is it true that they check for red diesel use during the MOT or is this just an urban myth I heard?

just an urban myth they only check the smoke Emissions in your test

 

[david searle]

All very well, but I have had someone from Customs & Excise knock on my door and ask to check the fuel in an old Land Rover to see if it was Red Diesel.

And this wasn't in darkest Norfolk, it was in Fallowfield quite close to the centre of Manchester.

 

[panason1c]

If you are caught using red diesel you are likely to have your vehicle confiscated and also a very hefty fine and possibly a criminal record (it is a criminal offence)...a friend recently got 'done' here in Somerset using his farm tractor on the road with red diesel in his tank (he was not using it for 'approved' red diesel usage on a public road) , it was immediately confiscated from him (a recovery truck was called) and he was interviewed by the customs & excise.........the end result was that due to 'mitigating' circumstances he escaped criminal prosecution but it took a month to get his tractor back (he had to pay all recovery costs)...he was fined over one thousand pounds but, including his lawyer costs, the total was around two grand!........

Not worth it!

 

[dirtydiesel]

Yes I agree with you customs & excise can come out or stop you and check your diesel but it?s not a mot failure it?s a tax matter as I said in my previous post it is diesel with a dye put in it to make it tax exempt so it is not road legal

 

[190]

If you are caught using red diesel you are likely to have your vehicle confiscated and also a very hefty fine and possibly a criminal record (it is a criminal offence)...a friend recently got 'done' here in Somerset using his farm tractor on the road with red diesel in his tank (he was not using it for 'approved' red diesel usage on a public road) , it was immediately confiscated from him (a recovery truck was called) and he was interviewed by the customs & excise.........the end result was that due to 'mitigating' circumstances he escaped criminal prosecution but it took a month to get his tractor back (he had to pay all recovery costs)...he was fined over one thousand pounds but, including his lawyer costs, the total was around two grand!........

Not worth it!

You are allowed to use red diesel in and around your farm even on the roads as long as you are driving a agriculture vehicle may be the law in England differs from Scottish law it?s a standard £500 if your caught it is not a driving offence its tax evasion

 

[panason1c]

190.......There are many occasions that agricultural vehicles ARE allowed to use red diesel on the road but without going into technicalities, i did say..."he was not using it for 'approved' red diesel usage on a public road"....it was a farm tractor and trailer and being used to move building waste.......the fact that he WAS prosecuted says it all really.

ps.....you state that its a standard £500 fine in scotland if you are caught using red diesel.....i would be surprised if this is the case as then it becomes a 'numbers game' i'm sure that many drivers would be willing to take the risk of being caught as the savings on using red diesel would soon outweigh a £500 fine.

 

[bigt]

Just a technical point here on the subject of red diesel.
There is a difference between it and Derv. Red diesel is actually dyed gas oil, whereas Derv is a more refined petroleum distillate. There is a difference both in the specific gravity and the calorific value of the two, making the Derv a more refined and cleaner product. Putting the legal issue aside here, Red will run ok in an engine, albeit a little more smokily and will probably do no long term damage other than dirty up the injectors quicker and possibly cause a little more carbon build up in the engine, as Red does not have the additives that your average " city diesel" at the forecourt has.

 

[panason1c]

By Hans J. Marter

SEVEN motorists in Shetland were found running their vehicles on red diesel during recent checks.

HM Customs and Excise officers said they were encouraged by the relative small number of people using the rebated diesel after recent checks in Orkney resulted in more than 20 drivers being fined.

Red diesel is untaxed for use in agricultural machinery and not road vehicles.

700 tests were carried out between last Friday and Monday on roads throughout mainland Shetland and Bressay.

The seven vehicles found to be running on red diesel were seized and restored after payment of fines in excess of £3,000.

Of the seven vehicles seized, two belonged to commercial companies.

A spokesman for HM Customs and Excise said that these two firms would now be audited to assess previous illegal fuel use with the possibility that ?a further duty assessment may be levied on these firms.?

Customs? head of detection in Scotland, Dave Clark, said: ?We want to show people in the Shetland Islands that firms using illegal fuel commercially put honest competitors at a disadvantage, as well as stealing cash from public services.?

He added: ?It was encouraging to hear that most of the drivers we tested were aware of our recent results in tackling the use of illegal fuel in Orkney and taking heed of that warning as evidenced by the low number of positive test results.?




Most recent update - Thursday, 14 October 2004 17:34
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[190]

190.......There are many occasions that agricultural vehicles ARE allowed to use red diesel on the road but without going into technicalities, i did say..."he was not using it for 'approved' red diesel usage on a public road"....it was a farm tractor and trailer and being used to move building waste.......the fact that he WAS prosecuted says it all really.

ps.....you state that its a standard £500 fine in scotland if you are caught using red diesel.....i would be surprised if this is the case as then it becomes a 'numbers game' i'm sure that many drivers would be willing to take the risk of being caught as the savings on using red diesel would soon outweigh a £500 fine.

I stand corrected Panasonic Motorists are faced with a fixed penalty of £500 and seizure of their car by Customs. Drivers also run the risk of custodial sentences or the permanent loss of their vehicles I looked at the customs web site to see they now confiscate your vehicle also but its still a £500 fine have a look at the link below.

http://www.hmce.gov.uk/channelsPort...id=HMCE_PROD_010824&propertyType=document

 

[Jensen]

Oh well keep paying over the odds for Diesel then. ****** rip off Britain!!

 

[landover]

. Red diesel is marked gas oil, a fuel liable to a rebated rate of duty for use mainly in agriculture and the construction industry, and not for use in road vehicles. Kerosene is a heating oil and is free of duty.

This diesel will not damage your engine or produce black smoke.
All it is.there is no tax on it.
You can be done for driving on private ground as well if your vehicle has a current tax disc.
Is it worth running it ..200miles for a fiver????????

 

[200e]

Drove my transit van for nine years on red Diesel
with no problems no smoke no engine damage and
never was stopped once in the nine years I must have
been lucky because it was driven on motorways and
duel carriageways It was a clean van only six months
old when I bought It so well worth doing then you can
afford a better Mercedes take the chance you only live once.

 

[Russel Weston]

Hi guys, this is not about Red D, but same vain. I have been comtemplating using Chip fat(as mentioned last year on TV). Does anyeone have any experience on this and the mods required to the car. I wont do it to the merc, but I have an old Peugeot 1.8d that I thought I would try on. The engine is almost agricultural so think it may stand up to the test. Any idea's.

 

[panason1c]

Russel, I think you will find that you will also be required to pay excise duty on chip fat (vegetable oil) when it is used as a fuel for a motor vehicle, i dont know, but i would imagine that you would be liable to the same penalties as if you were using red diesel.

Apparently, odour from the exhaust is a dead giveaway particularly when using vegetable oil.

I would be concerned that certain additives would not be present in vegetable oil that might be detrimental to the injection pump.

 

[bigt]

Morning all,

Just for information:

As of 09.30 this morning, specific gravities of red diesel and DERV at the Humber refinery testing lab were:

Red - 0.8690
Derv- 0.8339.
As you can see there is a slight difference in the two products.

 

[Russel Weston]

Panason1c, thanks for your reply. I am trying to rig a second small fuel tank in the peug, I have run a second fuel line, and I am going to give this lot a try. More as an experiment than anything else. I have been thinking about it and the my feeling is that the Government are trying to tax fuel to highly in order to force us to use the disgusting public transport. The Vegetable oil is a renewable source and they should be encouraging not penalising people for using it. Anyway politics aside, I am going to give it a try, I think I will hide the switch from one fuel line to another under the drivers seat, so if I happen to see that I will be stopped at least I can try and get the vegie oil out of the system(if I am lucky).