Algae in fuel?

[dieselfreak5.9]

Just pulled my fuel filter for a change and found this. it looks like mold growing and really black compared to a new filter. there is only 3,000 miles on this filter and i am wondering if this is normal or if i picked up some bad diesel. more to the story... about 3,000 miles ago a changed it in December as the truck stalled on Stevens pass, in the snow, with the whole family freaking out. this was a great experience! I was able to limp it along about 5 miles at a time by bleeding the water separator until a little diesel started to flow. Once i got were i needed to be i got on the web, found this site, awesome site!, and started to search. Found that i probably needed a filter and might have picked up some algae. i bought a filter and some algaecide and the truck started and ran like a champ. So i recently checked and changed the filter as my mileage has gone down a bit and the photos show what i found.



So i am asking the group is this a normal looking used filter for only 3K miles? Is this algae? If it is algae, what steps should i take to get rid of it? any advise would help.



Thanks in advance.

 

[JLandry]

Welcome to the forum neighbor!



The black color change of the filter media is normal, but if you're seeing something else which looks like mold or slime (I can't really tell from the photos), then definitely keep dosing the tank with an appropriate additive.



By chance are you using a biodiesel blend?



John L.

 

[HBarlow]

As JLandry said, black is normal. I don't see any algae either but if you have reason to suspect algae I would add a biocide treatment to the tank. You don't want algae growth to continue if it is present.

 

[RDThompson]

I suspect asphaltine may be your culprit. It's black and slimy and it has buggered up a number of filters in. Our fleet. It was found to be coming from our card lock stations tank.
It comes from the refining process. We wasted quite a bit of algaecide before I got it tested.

 

[AaronOregon]

I was having my duramax serviced the other day at the dealer and the tech told me that with this new low sulpher diesel now days it literally starts growing algae in it within 7 days. He said they get a lot of trucks in because of this with fuel related problems.

 

[FParisi]

It looks pretty normal. I asked the same thing with my 1st fuel filter change.

The asphaltenes are normal coming from the fuel as I understand it.

 

[RDThompson]

It looks pretty normal. I asked the same thing with my 1st fuel filter change.

The asphaltenes are normal coming from the fuel as I understand it.

You are of course correct. Some asphaltene is expected. We were getting enough to clog pick-up tubes in fuel tanks and screens in fuel pumps. It was clogging water seperators and fuel filters with a vengeance. It was all very hit and miss. Some trucks and machines escaped untainted and others had massive problems.

As a result, I went to school on the stuff and learned how to deal with it.

We were able to recover about three quarters of our related costs from the fuel vendor.

 

[Shadrach]

Fleetguard makes a product called Asphaltene Conditioner

It helps prevent "black filter syndrome" I know many people who have used with good success. Shad

 

[Prairie Dog]

That filter looks a lot lighter than mine ever do.

 

[dieselfreak5.9]

Thanks for the great responses and advise. How often should we be changing filters? I drive a work truck during the week so this truck sits a lot until it is time to tow the boat and/or camper.

 

[Mark31]

I was under the impression that diesel in Washington had to be 5% bio. If this is true, and you are using your truck little, you have a pretty good recipe for problems. If you had to drive a distance to get pure diesel, it might be worth it. If you have to buy biodiesel, only buy from high volume, trusted brand name people who really get after water, moisture control. Is now the time to consider extra filtration and water separaters? Can you get your truck's fuel tested for algae? If you've got it, fight it with a vengeance. A farmer here had a brain fade and bought some biodiesel bulk that grew algea and it ended up costing him a bunch. His older and seasonaly used stuff really caught it. Mark

 

[guldam]

I have had my woes with fungus among us. It was bad diesel that the previous owner got. He paid the worthless dealer in Santa Barbara, now out of business a butt load of money to drop the the tank, change out filters and "flush the system". Previous owner then religiously ran biocide, which I continued also. I finally dropped the tank, and replaced the pre-heater screen. All had black fungus that is stringy and difficult to remove.