Checked the sulfur content from a newer/busy pemex station across the border and considering the sulfur to be high did a 1/10 dilution before running. It actually came back non detected at 140mg/L. Next week I will run without diluting so if its higher than 14mg/L I will pick it up. Considering the diesel there is $2.01 p/gallon I will definately be installing a 100 gal. fuel cell in the back. Everyone kept saying their diesel is 500 parts or higher, next week we will now for sure but as of now its less than 140 parts. Will post pics of the rig later-long time lurker, first time poster.

Huh? Cant really understand what you said?

People have reported good luck with Pemex in Mexico... search Baja.

Maybe you read the thread before it was complete... If it is in fact ULSD that they have down there, no fears filling up your LMM in Mexicali. I will post the address of the stations I test for those interested later..:D

Yup, read before you fixed the post hehe.

Good to know! Do you do this sort of testing for a living? Judging by your name Labs.

Where are you located? Nice truck!

Actually do water/soils analysis primarily for some municipalities in the San Diego, Imperial Valley, Coachella area. This is my first diesel and I love it. With diesel at $4.10p/gallon here figure I check across the border and see if it is ULSD.

Sounds really interesting to me and that price!Wish I was a bit closer to the border (probably 3-4 hr drive).

Don't forget............in both Sonora and Baja, Pemex agreed in 2007 to provided ULSD on a limited basis at major Pemex stations in the border zones. Your testing is interesting in that it shows that they are not exactly doing that as it is not as low sulphur as it should be, probably being mixed with LSD.

I too am going to get a 90 gallon aux tank, I can hop down to Douglas and fill up for 2.05 a gallon, and drive on that all month. Personally though, I don't care if it's LSD or ULSD, I'll run either and not worry one bit about it.

i thought i heard somethin about cracking down on guys running across the border and filling aux tanks? wouldnt U.S. customs have something to say about that?

Not as long as the tank is tied in to your main is my understanding. Besides how can they prove you just filled up?

at $4 a gallon im sure anyone of them that drives a diesel does the same thing

i always like it when someone sticks it to "The Man".

Wow the U.S. goverment must be really ****ed up if Mexico can sell fuel for $2 a gallon cheaper... ****ing tree huggying hippys we just have to shoot all of them...

2 bucks a gallon - now tell me we are not being gouged - even with fuel taxes it seems we are still about a 1.25 too high

2 bucks a gallon - now tell me we are not being gouged - even with fuel taxes it seems we are still about a 1.25 too high Youre right about that! My question is how can a fuel that is less refined than any grade of gas cost more than gas? I guess everyone with the big oil companies saw an increasing market for diesel and they decided to jack the price up.:mad:

I filled up in Mexico(TJ) last week and it was $2.04 per gallon. My 04 LB7 likes the Pemex, and it did not have the strong odor as years past...but it was more noticeable than ULSD...so it would make sense it is somewhere in between.

Attendant told me they are getting a steady stream of 'gringos' crossing for the diesel. I have heard of Customs busting people who have the extra tanks but I guess if it is attached to your main tank then they figure you are not going to resell it.

Just as I was leaving a new ford and a new chevy(LMM) pulled up to fill up!

how much is reg unleaded gas down there then?
how far do ya gotta drive across the border just to fill up then and come rite back?

seems to me story i read was guys with 5 gallon cans in the back of there pickups comein back to U.S.

I still can't get over this.... I can't believe this nation could be so stupid to push us right in to a resession over taxes on fuel... and enviromental issues

while less than a hundred yards across the border they are making tacos cooking over tire fires and dumping oil in the rio grande

I still can't get over this.... I can't believe this nation could be so stupid to push us right in to a resession over taxes on fuel... and enviromental issueshe...he..welcome to so california;)..ask us about the border fence issue next,or free welfare to the immagrants....and so on..or how bout the hostpital that was shut down in east county,bankrupt,due to messicans that cannot pay their bills-:eek:...like I said..welcome to san diego county:o:

Wow the U.S. goverment must be really ****ed up if Mexico can sell fuel for $2 a gallon cheaper... ****ing tree huggying hippys we just have to shoot all of them...
Open your eyes. Its got nothing to do with tree hugging hippies. It is all economics. It has to do with the fact that the Mexican government sets prices and does not gouge for profits. They buy directly and they do not trade the price up in the commodity markets either. No middle man no big price increase. They know that if gas/diesel was $4/gallon nobody could afford it in Mexico. Also it appears to me that the oil companies in the U.S. are rather short sighted. going for huge profits because they can for now, but in the end people will drive less, and their profits will decline drastically. I think fuel prices are helping to drive the recession and vice versa. The reason the price is high in europe is the same as in america taxes and trading in the markets. As long as we pay the prices will go up.

so who would like to mail me about 1,000 gallons of some god old mexican diesel?

Open your eyes. Its got nothing to do with tree hugging hippies. It is all economics. It has to do with the fact that the Mexican government sets prices and does not gouge for profits. They buy directly and they do not trade the price up in the commodity markets either. No middle man no big price increase. They know that if gas/diesel was $4/gallon nobody could afford it in Mexico. Also it appears to me that the oil companies in the U.S. are rather short sighted. going for huge profits because they can for now, but in the end people will drive less, and their profits will decline drastically. I think fuel prices are helping to drive the recession and vice versa. The reason the price is high in europe is the same as in america taxes and trading in the markets. As long as we pay the prices will go up.

Open my eyes? It has nothing to do with enviromental wackos? Sir I would like you to open your eyes and possibly a news paper. Did you know congress just passed a bill to tax the shit out of oil refinerys? And the tax is going to finding cleaner sources of energy. Well who do you think is picking up the tax in the end?

Do you think ULSD doesn't come at a price? Before ULSD and LSD came out diesel was dirt cheap.

We can't build oil refiners because no one can get a permit to build one over ENVIROMENTAL REASONS.

The big 3 are going to go belly up over the fact they can't make a 6000 pound SUV get 40 miles to the gallon...

Mexican fuel is so damn cheap because not one person down there cares one bit about enviromental impact.

I stand my ground... Tree hugging hippys are sending this nation straight to a depression....

They know that if gas/diesel was $4/gallon nobody could afford it in Mexico.

We can't afford it in the US either....

We can't afford it in the US either....

amen to that

i was recentlly laid off from work and guess what unemployment plus what i was spending in fuel to drive to work its dam near a wash. allmost cheaper to not work as long as i dont have to drive anywheres

Open my eyes? It has nothing to do with enviromental wackos? Sir I would like you to open your eyes and possibly a news paper. Did you know congress just passed a bill to tax the shit out of oil refinerys? And the tax is going to finding cleaner sources of energy. Well who do you think is picking up the tax in the end?

Do you think ULSD doesn't come at a price? Before ULSD and LSD came out diesel was dirt cheap.

We can't build oil refiners because no one can get a permit to build one over ENVIROMENTAL REASONS.

The big 3 are going to go belly up over the fact they can't make a 6000 pound SUV get 40 miles to the gallon...

Mexican fuel is so damn cheap because not one person down there cares one bit about enviromental impact.

I stand my ground... Tree hugging hippys are sending this nation straight to a depression....
try this. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20070615-1058-usa-refineries-law.html Oil companies like the fact that capacity is just enough. It allows oil companies to say there is not enough production to meet needs, so then they raise the price. Environmental law is something the oil companies have always worked with it is just an excuse to say that the enviros will not let us build. If they build one it decreases their ability to manipulate the market. BTW I cannot find anything on a new tax for refineries. I did however find an irs form that taxes oil coming into refineries at 5 cents/ barrel. Also the Big three have chosen this path. They chose to build low mpg cars because there was a market, now they choose to build smaller high mileage cars because there is a market. I stand behind what I said environmental groups are not "the" REASON no refiineries have been built. It is economics, plain and simple. BTW Mexico also has environmental law albeit not as strict. And I do think the people of Mexico care.

I once thought this was all on the oil companies. I pointed to shell purposedly closing the bakersfield refinery(had nothing to do with California enviromental laws)...but not wanting to sell it. Flying J bought it...after the state forced them.

Same company in 2000 forced Pat Roberston's bankers out of deal in which the evangelist wanted to buy an already closed shell refinery. That is Shell threatened his bankers!

Now that to me is clear the company wants to control the supply.

Also Chevron was mysteriously shipping diesel out of country from El Segundo forcing the local supply to tighten and diesel went up. They said it did not meet spec for sale here in the US. Definitely shady but maybe they were right who knows.

The oil companies are trying to manipulate the supply to maximize profit....you would also if you were in this oil buisness.

As others have pointed out most of the money goes to govt/taxes.

What we really need is more DIESEL. More refineries with declining gasoline consumption and a trend towards diesel does not help much. No one has it for export to us.

Mexico, through Pemex controls the price of diesel because they refine the diesel in country...they import gasoline(price is about 75cents per liter for the higher octane stuff).

The price of Mexican diesel was about 45cents a liter in 2003. In 2007 it is about 54cents a liter. The govt controls it to help the economy because up to now only commercial vehicles were diesel.

I do not think the price can stay this low for much more time...or they start limiting fuel sales to people with US plates.

Gotbanks is right on the money. The economic factors of supply and demand are what is partly responsible for the high prices. With demand being higher than ever it was only a matter of time before prices followed. It also doesnt help that the price of oil is based on the dollar which is weak world wide...Bummer I remember diesel being at least, $0.50 cheaper than regular gas. Next week I will verify if mex. diesel here is low enough in sulfur and bring on the aux. 100 gal. tank.:)

Open your eyes. Its got nothing to do with tree hugging hippies. It is all economics. It has to do with the fact that the Mexican government sets prices and does not gouge for profits. They buy directly and they do not trade the price up in the commodity markets either. No middle man no big price increase. They know that if gas/diesel was $4/gallon nobody could afford it in Mexico. Also it appears to me that the oil companies in the U.S. are rather short sighted. going for huge profits because they can for now, but in the end people will drive less, and their profits will decline drastically. I think fuel prices are helping to drive the recession and vice versa. The reason the price is high in europe is the same as in america taxes and trading in the markets. As long as we pay the prices will go up.

Well, actually.......the Mexican government owns Pemex. They own the deposits, pumps, refineries, distribution, and retail functions. It is the single biggest source of revenue for Mexico (they have no income tax for example). It roughly costs about 20.00 a barrel to recover it, and without that pesky free market and no competition and all production costs controlled..........they are still making a HUGE profit at the pump (www.pemex.com (http://www.pemex.com)). In fact, Pemex sales crude on the open market as well, last I heard Pemex crude was trading at around 87 to 90 bucks a barrel.

Well, actually.......the Mexican government owns Pemex. They own the deposits, pumps, refineries, distribution, and retail functions. It is the single biggest source of revenue for Mexico (they have no income tax for example). It roughly costs about 20.00 a barrel to recover it, and without that pesky free market and no competition and all production costs controlled..........they are still making a HUGE profit at the pump (www.pemex.com (http://www.pemex.com)). In fact, Pemex sales crude on the open market as well, last I heard Pemex crude was trading at around 87 to 90 bucks a barrel.
Well said, and I actually knew this. Certainly the government is making money and thats all good since there is no income tax. Still mexico is a good example of (i hate to say it) government control of a commodity that is so integral to the well being of the economy.

Good news for those close to the border. Re-ran the sulfur on the diesel yesturday and at 27mg/L it was non-detected. Unfurtunately I cant go lower than that, but 27 is pretty close to 15 ppm. This should lay the ULSD vs. LSD mexican argument to rest.

Good news for those close to the border. Re-ran the sulfur on the diesel yesturday and at 27mg/L it was non-detected. Unfurtunately I cant go lower than that, but 27 is pretty close to 15 ppm. This should lay the ULSD vs. LSD mexican argument to rest.

WOW thanks for that info! How do you check the sulfur?

It is an EPA approved method that uses a ICP-AES machine. Filled up today close to empty for 52.00- time to get the aux. tank installed.:D

Seems to me that U.S. Customs will be cracking down on trucks w/ auxillary tanks. The official questioned me last night if I'd put in diesel while in Mexico. Told him "No just got some meds. and a flu shot." He stated from now on people would need to produce receipts for diesel purchased in the future.

Any updates on Diesel from Baja ? I'm planning to go down there for the Score 500 race, and want to fill up some tanks.

Any updates on Diesel from Baja ? I'm planning to go down there for the Score 500 race, and want to fill up some tanks.

I wouldn't sweat it. Not much they can do if it's an installed tank.......IE, the aux tank is connected to the truck. If it's just gas cans or a tank, they might have reason to complain.

Hahaha, in Nogales, there's almost always a line of US diesels with aux tanks a mile long at Pemex........nobody bats an eye.

I have cross at San Ysidro and no one has mentioned anything about producing reciepts for diesel. That is BS.

What I have heard US customs cracking down on is the aux tanks that I see in the beds of pickups at the Pemex pumps. There were 3 US pickups in front of me in line last week...each one purchased at least 250 dollars in diesel. I would imagine those guys will get caught, but if it is for your own consumption do not worry.

I'm looking at maps of the Mexico Texas border right now to find a Pemex station.

You may have just kept me from trading in my LB7 !

I was down at the Otay crossing yesterday evening and the station right near where you enter had nothing but US pickups...two fords,one dodge and one GM at the pumps all filling up.

The attendant was proud of the fact they had a centrifuge filtration system for their diesel...not sure if other stations are doing the same but this one is in a trucking area so a lot fuel moves. So try to pick the ones that are near trucking areas and talk to the attendants. The US pickups I saw 4 came down together as a group. They turned right for the border back to the US after filling up. I think there is going to be more and more of this since diesel went up another 20cents in about a week. I am seeing now 5.00/gal diesel. Cheapest I saw was 4.55.

As far as cracking down, the amount of fuel has very little to do with it. If your aux. tank is not tied into your main tank and the customs officer is a prick you will be going back to mexico period. This is from a friend of mine that works at the port of entry here.

Everybody with a diesel where I live is buying their diesel in Mexico it's only 2.10 a gallon. Friends of mine that don't have diesels are looking into buying one to take advantage of Mexico diesel.

I tell ya, If you want to see gringos in a truck in mexico, just go to your nearest pemex diesel pump near the border...you will find a line of them.

no way in hell im taking my truck to mexico, next thing i know i dig for some change to pay off the guy whos cleans my windshield and then im sitting in a lawn chair holding some horns wondering what happened

IVELAB, did you post the locations for these fuel stations?
Thanks

Both are located by the new port of entry. After you cross into mexicali at the stop sign, make a left heading east. Pass one stop light at the second light which is a main blvd. the pemex is located at the corner to your left. The second pemex is located to the right of that same stop light about 1 mile west before the university on your right hand side. The best time to cross is usually on thursdays after 6pm. Typical wait time is 10 mins or less. I will be checking these two stations quarterly and will post the data.

ivelabs, are you having any DPF problems with the Mexican Diesel? I want to go to Mexico, but I am afraid of the diesel down there. I have read everything you guys have talked about. I guess I am just waiting for you to finish running a few tanks of this stuff.

Thanks IVEBLABS, I just went down there yesterday didn't have a problem locating the PEMEX station at the same time you posted the time for going down there. So far my truck is running fine no problems. Thanks for checking the ulsd levels. Keep us posted.

Can somebody post how much regular gas is down in mexico?

No DPF problems to report yet and there shouldnt be considering the sulfur levels. I have gone thru about (rough estimate) 400+ gallons so far. I do plan on changing filters every 5k to be on the safe side which will be this weekend for me. Good luck.

no way in hell im taking my truck to mexico, next thing i know i dig for some change to pay off the guy whos cleans my windshield and then im sitting in a lawn chair holding some horns wondering what happened

haha, you need to live a little, take risks! Mexico is fun!

Thanks IVELABS, for keeping us posted on the sulfur levels. Yes I agree on changing your fuel filter every 5K. Yes live a little, healthy! Enjoy the ride.

wish i would of known this i would of gone and seen my brother more often when he was in Del Rio

The dangers in Mexico are very real. I have read over on the TDI forum of two US drivers carjacked at PEMEX stations. It seems the Jetta's are very popular.

Both carjackings were done by well armed men at night midweek...

watch garden hoses in the tanks if your going to get diesel or gas.:secret:

spoke to the us border patrol. as long as you have it tied to your tank plus maximum is 119 in the bed and they dont care how much you can handle on the bottom. if you buy over 119, you must carry a haz mat licence. before, i didnt have a tank i carried over 30 gal in the bed with just fuel jugs. they said it was ok but as long as it was strapped to the cab side not to the tailgate side for safety. if you really want the real answer, ask the border patrol at the border. this is what i was instructed. have fun fueling up.

To all who are considering crossing back with fuel containers. I would not do it. I have talked to several agents and all told me they will send you back. One told me that they are checking that exclusively on diesel trucks.

So it will all depend on who checks you out.

Best bet is to have an inbed tank connected to the main tank..no extra containers.

I believe with all the bitching PEMEX is doing in blaming the Americans for their fuel shortages, there will eventually be a limit on sales to Trucks with US plates.

To all who are considering crossing back with fuel containers. I would not do it. I have talked to several agents and all told me they will send you back. One told me that they are checking that exclusively on diesel trucks.

So it will all depend on who checks you out.

Best bet is to have an inbed tank connected to the main tank..no extra containers.

I believe with all the bitching PEMEX is doing in blaming the Americans for their fuel shortages, there will eventually be a limit on sales to Trucks with US plates.


The US agents can't do smack........long as the aux is tied into the fuel system. Containers have always been illegal, going both ways. Always a hassle with my race gas. However, on the Mex side, they have, and often do, make up the rules as they go, and they have been randomly cracking down on US plated vehicles with aux tanks on the Sonora side. This seems to be more or less just like speeding shakedowns........they claim you have to pay a fine of such and such, you negotiate, if they are asking too much, go ahead and tell them that they can take you to the station........and they'll usually knock the fine down to something reasonable and you pay it and continue on. Border fuel is rapidly rising in cost, so won't be worth it much longer if it keeps going up.

Most will find that they cannot fill their aux tanks in Mexico. Pemex has cracked down and only your oem tank will get filled.

Now you could probably try to bribe the guy so it will depend.

But as of yesterday, only your regular tanks were being filled. Now if you have a replacement for your oem then I would say that is the way to go.

As far as Border patrol agents, some where letting people cross with containers and have stopped that. They told me the tie in to your OEM tank from the AUX had to look professional...whatever that means. But needless to say they are looking at that more carefully now..at least on the California crossings.