Filters? Take a Looky....

[firemansdiesel]

A little background on my truck filtering. AD165 > stock > GDP Big Line CAT 1R-0750 to CP3. I noticed my fuel pressure dropping 3-4psi across the board. I recently changed the stock and CAT filters within the last 2,000 miles and AD filter roughly 7,000 miles. Hmmmm... ..... My pressures should be fine, right? I decided to drop and replace the AD filter and this is what came out (pic below).



Now I would say the AD filter did its job, but I also inspected the stock filter/housing. Low and behold my stock filter looked just as nasty as the AD filter. Lots of gritty/sandy debris.



I have not changed the CAT filter nor the AD water separator yet. I have an appointment at Imler Diesel to drop the tank, inspect, clean and flush the lines to make sure on the safe side. It was a dirty contaminated tank I picked up a couple weeks back at the fuel station.



Since I replaced my AD filter and stock filter the fuel pressure is back to almost normal readings, but I can pull the pressures down WOT more than usual.



The point of my thread are (2) two reasons.



#1. Get extra filtering, it can save you some big money and downtime



#2. The AD units filtering are not good enough to bypass the stock housing/filter. Even though AD claims their filters are 2 micron. They are no higher rating than the Baldwin PF7977 and 6. 7's "5 micron" stock filters. I guarantee, I would have ruined my fuel system components if I only plumed the AD straight to the CP3. Without the additional filtering of the CAT and stock.

 

[Bob4x4]

Have they checked to see if anything made it to the injection pump or injectors??

 

[firemansdiesel]

Bob, not yet. I'm going on vacation back to DC for a week and half. I will not be able to take it to Imler's until the 26th when I get back.

 

[jgillott]

Your picture looks very similar to what came out of my truck a couple of months ago when I purchased a similar tank from a station here in Western PA. I'm not going to make you feel better by saying this, but even though we went through the entire fuel system in mine like your dealer is going to for you, I am afraid that I am going to have long term effects of the fuel contamination in the years to come. I, or the dealer for that matter, can't put a finger on what has happened, but it just isn't running exactly like it was before.



Hopefully your extra filtration kept the nasty stuff out of your pump and injectors. Stupidly, even with everything I have read here over the years, my trucks were not wearing extra filtration until it bit me.

 

[Regcabguy]

Many gas powered vehicles these days don't even have a scheduled fuel filter change for 100K.



What is it about our diesel distribution system or diesel itself that lends itself to having so many contaminents reported nationwide? Are stations or the tankers required to have filtration systems that would pre-filter the product before the consumer pumps it?

 

[firemansdiesel]

My truck runs fine. I would not know what was going on if I did not have the fuel pressure gauge. Especially changing the filters (CAT and stock) within 2,000 miles ago. Yes I'm hoping the CAT filter took care of the mess that the AD and stock filter could not handle.



I'll have more info and pics in a couple weeks when the job gets done. BTW, Imler Diesel quoted me $215 for the procedure. Not bad and a great reputable diesel shop. I hope that's it!

 

[rbattelle]

Many gas powered vehicles these days don't even have a scheduled fuel filter change for 100K.

What is it about our diesel distribution system or diesel itself that lends itself to having so many contaminents reported nationwide?

There are a number of reasons more stringent diesel filtration is necessary, even if you had perfectly filtered fuel at the pump.



First, all diesel fuel contains water. Compared to gasoline, a lot of water.



Second, algae and other biocontaminants flourish quite readily in diesel fuel.



Those two facts alone are sufficient to ensure that diesel fuel filters must be changed more frequently, and diesel fuel itself must be treated more carefully, than gasoline.



Add to that the fact that modern diesel injection systems operate above 1600 bar, and clean fuel becomes all the more critical.



-Ryan

 

[firemansdiesel]

Update, I had my tank dropped/cleaned, lines flushed, IP/injectors looked at. Everything are ok. The tank and lines had a little debris in it. Most debris ran through the fuel system Already and caught by the filters.

Ken (Imler Diesel) was very surprised I did not have major issues. The filters did there job! I decided to replace the AD filters with Baldwin and Donaldson instead of the CAT filter under the hood.

 

[pjorlando]

I run Fleetguard filters on my AD II 165. The fuel filter is rated at 2 microns. After 5000 miles, I pulled the original AD filters to check. The water seperator had brownish gobs with water in it. I do drain the water seperator about every third tank. After an unplanned fuel pump motor failure and about 7500 miles later, I replaced both the water seperator and fuel filters. Again the water seperator had that brownish gunk in it and about 3 ml of water. There was more gunk than water. The fuel filter was fairly clean. I believe the filters are doing their job keeping this junk out of my injectors, so far, so good. BTW, I changed over to the AD after problems with the in tank pump when running on long trips.