Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Greetings! I thought that I would share a discovery that I made when I installed a Vulcan Draw Straw in my truck’s fuel tank last weekend. It was quite a surprise to me. I realize now why my truck is on its’ 5th LP. When I pulled the fuel tank module, the bottom screen was 75% covered with black and tan colored algae/fungi. The stuff was even on part of the top screen. When I cleaned out the fuel tank, I found numerous little blobs of the tan stuff. Other than that, the tank was spotless. As far as cleaning goes, all I did was wipe out the tank with lint free cloths as best I could. I had already drained virtually all of the fuel.
After I got everything back together, I decided to do some research on “diesel biocides”. I looked at three products: Racor Diesel Biocide; Power Services Biokleen Diesel Fuel Biocide and FPPFs’ Killem. I chose the Racor product based on its’ product description, price and the fact that it could be had in a 16 oz. container (treats 1,280 gals. ). After I received it, I put 1 oz. in a full tank of fuel. The literature called for a “shock” treatment of 1 oz. for 40 gals. of fuel and . 5 oz. for maintenance. I plan to put the biocide in one more tank of fuel after this application – just to be safe. After this is over, then I will put it in once a year.
The sad part about this is that I’ve known about using a biocide since I bought my truck in March 2002. I had read about this maintenance tip on several of the Dodge diesel websites; unfortunately I didn’t pay any attention to it. I changed the fuel filter on my truck once a year or 10k miles and never saw any evidence of algae/fungi contamination. In retrospect, I believe that my truck’s problem started with the fact that it sat on the dealers’ lot for 5 months before I bought it. Obviously the fuel tank had little fuel in it during that time. It probably had plenty of moisture in it though – great opportunity for the algae/fungi to get started.
After I got everything back together, I decided to do some research on “diesel biocides”. I looked at three products: Racor Diesel Biocide; Power Services Biokleen Diesel Fuel Biocide and FPPFs’ Killem. I chose the Racor product based on its’ product description, price and the fact that it could be had in a 16 oz. container (treats 1,280 gals. ). After I received it, I put 1 oz. in a full tank of fuel. The literature called for a “shock” treatment of 1 oz. for 40 gals. of fuel and . 5 oz. for maintenance. I plan to put the biocide in one more tank of fuel after this application – just to be safe. After this is over, then I will put it in once a year.
The sad part about this is that I’ve known about using a biocide since I bought my truck in March 2002. I had read about this maintenance tip on several of the Dodge diesel websites; unfortunately I didn’t pay any attention to it. I changed the fuel filter on my truck once a year or 10k miles and never saw any evidence of algae/fungi contamination. In retrospect, I believe that my truck’s problem started with the fact that it sat on the dealers’ lot for 5 months before I bought it. Obviously the fuel tank had little fuel in it during that time. It probably had plenty of moisture in it though – great opportunity for the algae/fungi to get started.
