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Old 12-31-2018, 04:50 AM   #1
MarkEHansen
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GM Recommends TopTier Diesel, but it's hard to find

I just purchased a new 2018 GMC Sierra 3500 Denali HD with the Duramax Turbo Diesel engine (yay!) but in reading the Duramax Diesel Supplement, it says GM recommends TopTier diesel fuel, but in going to that web site, I can't find many stations near me which offer this.

It does say that I should use fuel with no more than 15 ppm sulfur, but how do I find which stations have satisfactory diesel fuel?

Can I assume that stations like Chevron, Texaco, Valero, Flying J, T/A, etc. will be good enough?

Is this just "GM being GM" and really any commercially-available diesel fuel will work?

Thanks for your input.
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Old 12-31-2018, 04:55 AM   #2
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every station I go to with highway diesel is Ultra low sulfar and that should suffice.never heard of a “Top Tier Diesel”.

Wow and after further investigation I find this....

https://www.fuelsandlubes.com/fli-ar...iesel-engines/

I guess GM is trying to put themselves in a bind....diesel is expensive enough and now with GM’s trademarked Top Tier fuel what were they thinking?

Should have made the Duramax to burn standard fuel instead of this idea.....

In my opinion it’s going to cost them customers in the long run.
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Old 12-31-2018, 04:57 AM   #3
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https://www.toptiergas.com/toptier_diesel_fuel/
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Old 12-31-2018, 05:07 AM   #4
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Mark, not to worry. Not a soul I know with diesels would have any idea what "top tier diesel" would be. Stick with stations that sell a lot of diesel, not the little mom and pop joints.
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Old 12-31-2018, 05:10 AM   #5
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I kind of went through the same thing in late 2010 when I bought my first ever Diesel truck....a 2011 F250 6.7 Ford Diesel. One of the things to know is that since about 2007, diesel fuel has been required to be Ultra Low Sulphur....which means 15 ppm or less sulphur, so that base should be covered at about any place that sells diesel fuel. Just be careful that you don't mistakenly fill up with "off Road" diesel, as that is prohibited for use in regular cars/trucks that require diesel. It is intended for tractors, heavy equipment and such and is usually reddish in color.

The second part of your question about getting top tier diesel is a little more difficult. To me, the brand is not as important as whether or not the place sells a lot of diesel fuel or whether they only sell it occasionally. The longer that fuel sits in their supply tanks, the more chance that it has condensation/water in it, so you want to try and purchase from somewhere that sells a lot of diesel fuel. Obviously places that sell to truckers goes through thousands and thousands of gallons of fuel. The mom and pop roadside convenience store that has one lone diesel pump and sometimes away from the rest of their pumps, may not move a lot of diesel fuel....and that increases your chance of getting fuel that will have water in it. I seldom frequent truck stops, but in my town there are plenty of gas stations/convenience marts that sell quite a lot of diesel and to be honest with you, I purposely added an aux. tank to the bed of the truck so that I could buy diesel where I wanted to buy it and not be forced into buying from somewhere that might not move a lot of fuel.

Personally, I also stay away from Bio-Diesel.....which is what most truck stops offer and you really don't have much choice. Bio-Diesel vs. dino diesel is a whole nother topic, and one I'll leave alone in this discussion.

So in summary, probably every station you go to will have ULSD fuel in their tanks, and try to stay away from the small stations that don't sell much diesel....and you will probably be more than OK. Check and drain your water separator if you suspect that you may have taken on some older diesel and change your filters according to the specified maint. schedule.....or sooner if you feel like you may have some "water" issues. Hope this helps
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Old 12-31-2018, 05:13 AM   #6
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Yes, I feel better now that I noticed that the whole Top Tier Diesel thing didn't start until 2017

Thanks all!
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Old 12-31-2018, 06:50 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkEHansen View Post
Yes, I feel better now that I noticed that the whole Top Tier Diesel thing didn't start until 2017

Thanks all!
The new tailgate will it fold in half for fifth wheel hook up ?
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Old 12-31-2018, 07:01 AM   #8
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For the record there is NO difference in the fuel dyed red from regular fuel. It is dyed red because it’s supposed to be “off road” such as farm equipment and no highway tax is collected.
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Old 12-31-2018, 07:02 AM   #9
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Fold in half? Can you please explain further?


The tailgate on my PU appears to be one solid piece which can be opened to a horizontal position. I don't see any way to open it to a half-open position.
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Old 12-31-2018, 07:19 AM   #10
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Chevy says the same thing for the gas engine for 2017 .Use top tier gas recommended.
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Old 12-31-2018, 07:20 AM   #11
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True, but top tier gas stations are easy to find. Top Tier Diesel stations not so much
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Old 12-31-2018, 07:30 AM   #12
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The "top tier fuels" sounds much like the Ford/BP marketing program back in 2008. When we bought our 2008 Escape, the owner's manual had a statement that read something like, "Ford and BP have joined our technologies to create a premium level fuel, especially blended to provide optimum performance in your new Ford. Available only at BP stations, this fuel will provide you with reliable service from your new Escape." On the inside of the fuel door was a sticker that read, "Ford recommends you use only BP fuel with a minimum octane rating of 87," and the green BP logo. Living in Louisiana and with the BP oil spill in the Gulf about that same time, I was "anti-BP" and that Escape ran just fine on "anything but BP"....

I'd suspect this GM Top Tier fuel is a similar "marketing strategy" with "GM's oil industry partners"......
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Old 12-31-2018, 08:32 AM   #13
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"Top tier" is the refining process used to produce gasolines/diesel, all commericial fuels will be "top tier".
As Chuckster stated "off road" diesel is the very same diesel used in you truck but with a red dye added, & the user doesn't pay road taxes on it, so that it can be easily recognized by officials testing that it's only being used in construction/farm equipment. It WILL NOT do any damage to your truck if by accident you fill up with it, but will take several fillups afterwards to clear the red dye from your tank.
Just FYI, just because you fillup at say BP, or any other brand, that doesn't mean you are filling up with only fuels refined by BP. They are getting fuels from whomever/wherever has the best price today. I retired from Valero & from our fuel terminals we supplied fuels to every station within a 100 miles of that terminal. There were 2 other terminals next to ours, Chevron & Fina, & depending on which had the best price today is where the trucks were lined up. At our terminal the Valero stations had priority, but the same fuels went to about any brand of station you could name.
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Old 12-31-2018, 08:35 AM   #14
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I own 2007 Duramax. Run Shell, Chevron , ConocoPhillips , Texaco.

I do also add an additive to my fuel tank at fill up to give a bit more lubricosity to the diesel fuel for the CP3 fuel pump.
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Old 12-31-2018, 08:46 AM   #15
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The Costco near us (Riverton, UT) sells “Top Tier” fuels. The logo is on the pump. My advice with any diesel fuel is use a quality fuel additive every time you fill up. I learned this lesson the hard $$$$ way.
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Old 12-31-2018, 10:07 AM   #16
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For the record there is NO difference in the fuel dyed red from regular fuel. It is dyed red because it’s supposed to be “off road” such as farm equipment and no highway tax is collected.
Yea, I just meant that if you are caught with it in a vehicle that is not an off road type vehicle, there are usually fines/etc. involved
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Old 12-31-2018, 10:10 AM   #17
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I've ran across a few places that sold a premium diesel fuel, don't know if that's the same as top tier.
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Old 12-31-2018, 12:25 PM   #18
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I've ran across a few places that sold a premium diesel fuel, don't know if that's the same as top tier.
I haven't seen a "premium" named diesel in many years. Back when I was a kid (we won't go into how long ago that was), Premium diesel was the same as today's #1 diesel. Today's diesel is usually listed as either #1 or #2 diesel. As I understand it (I'm far from a refinery expert) #1 diesel is essentially the same as kerosene and is a bit thinner than #2 diesel. Number 1 is often available in very cold areas as it is "thinner" and doesn't gel as easily. It also does not provide the fuel mileage like #2 diesel, so if you fill up with #1, expect your MPG to go down a bit. How much? Depends on how hard you're working the engine. You probably won't see as much decrease if you're driving solo as you would if using #1 when towing.

The engine (at least most diesel engines) are happy with either #1 or #2 but #2 is the most available and usually what you'll see at most truck stops/larger refueling stations.
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Old 12-31-2018, 01:28 PM   #19
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"Top tier" is the refining process used to produce gasolines/diesel, all commericial fuels will be "top tier".
As Chuckster stated "off road" diesel is the very same diesel used in you truck but with a red dye added, & the user doesn't pay road taxes on it, so that it can be easily recognized by officials testing that it's only being used in construction/farm equipment. It WILL NOT do any damage to your truck if by accident you fill up with it, but will take several fillups afterwards to clear the red dye from your tank.
Just FYI, just because you fillup at say BP, or any other brand, that doesn't mean you are filling up with only fuels refined by BP. They are getting fuels from whomever/wherever has the best price today. I retired from Valero & from our fuel terminals we supplied fuels to every station within a 100 miles of that terminal. There were 2 other terminals next to ours, Chevron & Fina, & depending on which had the best price today is where the trucks were lined up. At our terminal the Valero stations had priority, but the same fuels went to about any brand of station you could name.
Gasoline and diesel are commodities. All 87 octane gasoline should meet all government & EPA requirements. EPA requires a minimum level of additives. Each oil company has their own witches brew of additives, Techron, etc. The top tier have a level of additives above the EPA minimum. I think Chevron and Phillips were some of the early brands that met top tier. I'm just guessing but probably most name brand gasolines will be top tier.
Yes it's true that your WalMart gas might be made by Exxon. Whether or not it has all of Exxon's additive package is doubtful. I worked in Shell's Deer Park TX Refinery and Chemical plant for 35 years but never stepped foot in the distribution terminal. My "understanding" is that the additives are added at the terminal depending on who the fuel truck is delivering to.

Diesel? Never heard of top tier diesel until now. I would just use a name brand where a lot of it is pumped. I have seen some diesel pumps that say "Not a Shell Product", so who knows.
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Old 12-31-2018, 02:49 PM   #20
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I'm sure that most of you who drive diesel's have noticed that the price has not dropped at the rate that gasoline has dropped. I have seen an article that "explains" how the oil companies have developed new "strategies" to produce more gasoline from a barrel of oil and lower the amount of by-products.....also, keep in mind that the USA diesel quality is NOT at the high standards that diesel fuel in Europe is. This has been addressed many times in reference to an increase in fuel pump failures of our newer diesel trucks. Bosch holds that our fuel quality is to blame. But for gas to drop over .70 a gallon and diesel to only drop about .30 cents.....what are your thoughts?
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