I have a chance to get 200 gallons of JP5 for free. I would like to know if I can run it in my mid 1980's Diesel dodge ram? Would it damage my engine running it straight? I know that JP5 is very close to kerosene and wonder if I mix it 50/50 with diesel can I run it or should I pass on the fuel. Thank You very much!

 

Not without having to everything in the fuel system. Diesel and any grade of JP is very bad to mix, it will create a gum and clog up your fuel filter. We've had that problem mixing Diesel and JP8 in our HMMWVs, we used JP exclusively out in Iraq, and then switched back to Diesel when the gear got back to the states, and the HMMWVs still don't run right. JP5 is for Fixed Wings, not Land vehicles, I'm attached to a Bulk Fuel Unit and I have never seen JP5 in the year and a half I've been with them and that includes a deployment to Iraq.

 

When I was on the USS Nimitz (aircraft carrier for the folks that don't know) we had the same question come up dozens of times. The answer was always this...ONLY FOR AIRCRAFT!!!

 

HA!! Coast Guard patrol boats do it all the time. You usually end up with one run through filter change, then JP-5 and F-76 mix quite well...our 3600 hp diesels love it! JP-5 will make a diesel engine run hotter than comparable diesel fuel because of the different specific gravity and thermal efficiency of the fuel. JP-5 is used more in ROTARY wing aircraft.

 

JP-5 is definitely used more in Fixed Wing, considering I spent six months in Iraq pumping 15,000+ gallons of JP-8 a day to MWSS-373, which only fueled Helos. I'm going to have to say based on my first hand knowledge, and working with a Fuels unit since April 2004, that you are very wrong.

 

Considering I used to refuel helos on a small flight deck, rotary wings don't burn ANYTHING else. Maybe warbirds use JP-8, but most normal ones burn good old JP-5 (this is why the Navy has surface ships with helo decks that carry onboard JP-5). Considering I have been working with fuel since the 90's, I would say that I am NOT wrong. Support your local search and rescue - get lost!

 

the only two types of fuel I would put though my Cummins is #2 and Bio. any JP fuel will damage the pump. it is 'dry' and doesnt have the lubrication #2 and Bio has.

now granted, JP-8 can be run through the hummers 6.2's and 6.5's, but you better add some w30 non detergent oil to the mix, or some two stroke oil and carry a few fuel filters.

unless you want some mega repairs, leave the stuff out of your tank and use it to start fires

 

We use jp-8 in our diesels and it does just fine, but jp-8 is closer to diesel than jp-5. The only problem we have with jp-8 is the truck is even harder to start in the winter than any other diesel. We have 1990 dodge ram bobtails (thats a truck for towing all of our ground equipment onto the flightline) it is a 6 cyl diesel, but it is geared so low that it only does 30mph at full throttle.

 

Hey uscgman, go look in COMDINST 9000.6E (AKA the Naval Engineering Manual) and check out chapter 541, section B, paragraph 4.