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HomeFeatured ArticlesGoMechanic InformativeCan a BS4 Car Safely Run On BS6 Fuel?

Can a BS4 Car Safely Run On BS6 Fuel?

The word “BS6” is floating on everybody’s mouth for the past half-year. Finally, something is happening in our environment’s favour. Even though the world is struggling in maintaining pollution all over the globe, India is no different. Due to this, the Indian government decided to skip BS5 and jumped straight to the next. The BS6 changes have led the automotive companies to work from their heel to toe.

Read all about BS6 Here: BS6 (Bharat Stage 6) | Explained

The new norms have encouraged the development of new engineering techniques. There are huge piles of changes when shifting from BS4 to BS6. The first and foremost change is in the fuel. BS6 fuel is different from the BS4 fuel in terms of the constituents especially BS6 diesel fuel. Now let’s come to the burning question.

Fuel Station
Fuel Station| BS6 fuel

Also Read: What are the challenges faced with the BS6 rollout In India?

Can BS4 vehicles run on BS6 fuel?

Petrol Vehicles

The straight answer is YES!! a BS4 vehicle can run on new BS6 fuel provided it is a petrol engine and need to worry about any problems.

Diesel Vehicle

  • A diesel engine, it’ll be having no trouble running on new fuel in the initial stage but in long term, it’ll have a deep impact on the engine as well as your pocket. As the new upcoming fuel is deficient of sulphur which reacts with nickel inside the fuel system of the vehicle and acts as a lubricant. It keeps the parts in the fuel system such as the fuel pump, injectors.
  • Tests have suggested that there is a certain drop in the fuel’s cetane number when reducing the sulphur content in the fuel. Cetane number is how well the diesel fuel burns. Higher the number better is the combustion of the fuel.
Diesel Engine
Diesel Engine| BS4 Fuel
Consequences
  • Running a car on low sulphur may lead to many small and big long-term problems. The old fuel contains nearly 50mg/kg of sulphur whereas the new bs6 fuel only has 10mg/kg which more than sufficient to do damage to the old BS4 Diesel engines.
  • Reduced cetane number leads to reduced power and fuel economy. As high as a 7% loss in fuel economy.

Solution: The damage to the internals of a diesel fuel system is inevitable if we keep on running BS4 diesel vehicles on BS6 fuel. This might be sorted by additive products which we could be added along with diesel while refilling to keep these essential systems lubricated alongside not harming the environment.

Additives might increase the efficiency of the engine even higher than before depending upon the additive.

We hope that additives make their entry in the automotive market and save our old engines until they are alive. Stay tuned for further BS6 updates and news. Tell us in the comment section about the doubts you have regarding BS6.

Also Read: How BS6 (Bharat Stage 6) is different from BS4 (Bharat Stage 4)?

Utkarsh Bhardwaj
Utkarsh Bhardwajhttps://gomechanic.in/blog
Technical Content Strategist at GoMechanic | Big Time Petrolhead with the passion for building cars and driving those beauties.

12 COMMENTS

    • Hi Kiran,
      Currently, the lubricity improver additives for BS6 diesel fuel are not available in the Indian market. The petroleum companies like Indian Oil are still working to provide those additives here. Until then the old BS4 diesel will be available.

    • I have added IFTEX SsytemD to my rexton and its helped in improving effeciency and smoother ride. After the shift to bs6 my car engine had loss of power too dont know if any one else has faced it

  1. Hello, there is a information that additives are add in BS-6 diesel itself to compensate for loss of lubrication. Can you authenticate?

    • Hi Jigar,
      Yes, additives will be added to BS6 fuel while using with BS4 vehicles otherwise low sulphur content in BS6-diesel will harm the engine. But the additives will not be added during the production. They will be separately added while refuelling. Stay pinned!

  2. Hi, I read few articles which convey that lack of lubrication by sulphur in BS-6 diesel is taken care of by additives added during producing the BS-6 Diesel. Can you authenticate the same?

    • Hi Jigar,
      Additives will be added while refuelling a BS4 compliant diesel vehicle and not during the production of BS6 diesel fuel. The additives will be added to compensate for the low sulphur content. BS6 compliant diesel vehicles will not be affected due to the lower sulphur content.
      Stay pinned!

  3. Hi
    As it is been almost a year.
    Do we know which additive is added to lubricate BS4 engines? And these additive is added at what stage? Will it affect BS6 engines.

    Could you please write a follow up to this article.

    Thanks
    Asim

    • Hi Asim,
      We assume that you are aware of the fact that they are the BS4 diesel engine that requires additives. Now with that out of our way, petrol pumps in Delhi that dispense BS6 diesel usually have the additive readily available. So, before moving forward to fill your car with diesel, kindly insure which diesel does that particular petrol pump dispenses. Also, spreading the BS6 diesel across the country will take some time so it also depends on the area where you live. Hope this helps! Stay pinned 🙂

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