Red diesel
- Thread starter MofoKilla
- Start date
funny thing is, 5 years as a taxi driver doing in excess of 1000 miles a week around Glasgow and the west coast of Scotland. How many times do you reckon i've had my tank dipped
None
normal fine issued for a first offence if caught running cherry £500 second £1000 third car crushed
now i taxi a 5 yr old vectra with a replacement cost of at best £4000
i'd save that per year minimum by using red diesel in my taxi. its a chance you take but I have to laugh when people question why people would do such a thing.
have heard stories of people running second tanks and leaving the original in place for dipping purposes etc and all sorts of other shenanigans. now if my taxi could save 4-5k a year imagine the temptation for your average haulage contractor?
None
normal fine issued for a first offence if caught running cherry £500 second £1000 third car crushed
now i taxi a 5 yr old vectra with a replacement cost of at best £4000
i'd save that per year minimum by using red diesel in my taxi. its a chance you take but I have to laugh when people question why people would do such a thing.
have heard stories of people running second tanks and leaving the original in place for dipping purposes etc and all sorts of other shenanigans. now if my taxi could save 4-5k a year imagine the temptation for your average haulage contractor?
Soldato
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Is there any criminal record at all, or just a £500 fine? If so the punishment is pathetic and many people will use red.
I have been driving 6 years and never even been pulled over by the Police.
I have been driving 6 years and never even been pulled over by the Police.
the punishment is pathetic tbh.
if they were to make it an immediate vehicle seizure plus a 5k fine then people would be dettered(possibly)
best thing they could do is bin either vat or duty off fuel. as paying tax on a taxi is a slap in the face
Soldato
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Hear me out on this one:
- Get a tank that is actually two tanks but looks like the one tank that it is replacing on your car.
- One half of the tank is connected to the regular filler on the rear of the car and is full of white diesel
- The other half of the tank is filled with red diesel and is filled to the tank directly as the filler cap is on the tank itself (so hidden under the car).
- Two sets of fuel lines, filters and pumps to the engine bay.
- Switch udner the dash to switch between the two (when engine is off obviously).
- Get dipped and it is always white in the tank, even if you always run on red.
Unless your engine bay is inspected to find a second fuel filter or the underneath of the car is inspected to find a hidden filler cap on the tank (for the red diesel), another fuel line and fuel pump, then nobody would ever know any different.
- Get a tank that is actually two tanks but looks like the one tank that it is replacing on your car.
- One half of the tank is connected to the regular filler on the rear of the car and is full of white diesel
- The other half of the tank is filled with red diesel and is filled to the tank directly as the filler cap is on the tank itself (so hidden under the car).
- Two sets of fuel lines, filters and pumps to the engine bay.
- Switch udner the dash to switch between the two (when engine is off obviously).
- Get dipped and it is always white in the tank, even if you always run on red.
Unless your engine bay is inspected to find a second fuel filter or the underneath of the car is inspected to find a hidden filler cap on the tank (for the red diesel), another fuel line and fuel pump, then nobody would ever know any different.
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Well we know where your moral compass points don't we.
Just because you can get away with it doesn't make it right.
It has to be reasonable. It would be very harsh on people who say buy a car and it has signs of red fuel in it.
Another problem is actually collecting the fine, I don't think it's much of a problem anyway.
They have been fighting red diesel for years, I am sure you are not the first to think of this ans they probably have more advanced measures of checking.
Red diesel used to be high in sulphur, but as of Jan 2011 it has to comply to the much tighter standards applied to DERV. However, that doesn't mean it identical in all respects e.g. it could have a lower cetane rating, and likely different additives since red diesel is often stored for fairly lengthy periods.
You can strip the red out of red diesel with a bit of chemistry...
You can strip the red out of red diesel with a bit of chemistry...
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(un)fortunately it is the lack of chemistry expertise that is responsible for the horror stories you hear about people killing engines on red diesel.
For those of you thinking the two tank idea is a good one, the red dye stains the fuel system, so it will take a bit of flushing to get rid (This is what I have been told) Also, they take fuel from the front also.
If HMRC suspect you have been running red, they can seize your car and hand it back in bits without so much as an apology.
If HMRC suspect you have been running red, they can seize your car and hand it back in bits without so much as an apology.
i know a guy who runs his land rover on cooking oil, has a seperate tank in back... starts it on diesel then switches over, then before switching off turns back to diesel again.
think he gets his fuel from macro.... again slightly illegal
think he gets his fuel from macro.... again slightly illegal
Um, what?
That's a standard twintank system for weaker fuel pumps if you're running veg.
My cars haven't seen pump diesel in a long, LONG time (talking years not months) and we only put pump diesel in the wifes zafira until i finished my biodiesel processor.
All totally legal.
However, please continue telling people that's it's dodgy, it might stop them trying to get my oil collections
Ahh, always wondered what the red pump at the local petrol station that said "gas oil" was, as nobody ever seems to be using it and they have 2 of them plus 2 super unleaded pumps instead of 4 super /grr
Um, what?
That's a standard twintank system for weaker fuel pumps if you're running veg.
My cars haven't seen pump diesel in a long, LONG time (talking years not months) and we only put pump diesel in the wifes zafira until i finished my biodiesel processor.
All totally legal.
However, please continue telling people that's it's dodgy, it might stop them trying to get my oil collections
Its only "totally legal" if you use <2500 litres a year, above that your required to pay duty on it, and from the sound of it if its his main fuel source for a land rover he is prob using >2500 litres a year.
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Red diesel is fine in a diesel car it's just dye.
No it won't dye your fuel system, that's a myth, it may dye a paper fuel filter that's all.
Twin tanks ideas are rubbish, as most fuel tanks are I thought anti syphon so HMRC pop the fuel hose off after the fuel pump to check.
Does a tractor change it's fuel when it's on the road? they have tax discs?
No it won't dye your fuel system, that's a myth, it may dye a paper fuel filter that's all.
Twin tanks ideas are rubbish, as most fuel tanks are I thought anti syphon so HMRC pop the fuel hose off after the fuel pump to check.
Does a tractor change it's fuel when it's on the road? they have tax discs?
ive heard of people having the filter dipped or lines from the filter removed to check, ie checking the fuel delivery immediately before it is injected.
Depends on how much he uses his Landy on the road. It works out to 550 gallons, so even if you only got 20mpg (which is poor for road use) that's 11000 miles; further than I'd want to drive a old Landy in a year.
They have been fighting red diesel for years, I am sure you are not the first to think of this ans they probably have more advanced measures of checking.
They dont, I was pulled over in a works van a couple of years ago, they just dip it with a big squeezy tube and have a look at what comes out of your tank.
Even when they pull the lorries over now thats all they do.