Grease

[Turbo Thom]

I have a question about a problem I've never seen before. Jeff programmed an 04 Cummins he bought to 376 HP and has been using it for about 3 weeks. That's dyno HP. This week he loaned it to his farther in law for a trip to Fla. Well, he got a phone call that afternoon and Henry told him the truck was quitting. Would not run over 65. No boost. Go over 65 and the truck would just die. He finally got home, to McDonough, Ga, and after a little searching what did Jeff find? Grease. What? Grease in the fuel filter. The filter had a fine, clear, grease caked on the outside and inside. The grease was up to the creases on the filter. The fuel was just shut off buy the grease in the filter. Why after 1000 miles I don't know, but the time came and the fuel shut off. New filter and the truck ran fine with 6 lbs of boost more than it had before. It had to have been put in at the factory. What is it for? Like I said, I've never seen anything like this. Strange.



Now remember, Jeff bought this truck new and it has had about 5 tanks run through it.



Anybody know?



. . Preston. .

 

[Bertram65]

Contaminated tank of fuel would be my guess. I would add a good diesel additive and check the filter every couple hundred miles for the next 1K miles, make sure it clears up. What program did Jeff use to reach that HP?

 

[bulabula]

Either its a great practical joke(?); or he needs to find a new place to fuel up.

 

[jrobinson2]

Its probably bugs, algae or bacteria depending on who I talked to. A few years ago I had a 10,000 gallon tank that became contaminated and it became bad enough to block a 3/4" fuel line going to a stationary engine, our fuel supplier added something to the next load of fuel and totally solved the problem. If it is algae/bacteria it wont clean out, you will need to use a biocide to kill it or it will continue to grow in the tank.

Jared

 

[Turbo Thom]

The truck is only 3 weeks old. 5 tanks of fuel through it . Total. Bad fuel would take longer than that to build up. He has a call into Cummins to see what they say.



Bert... ... . Jeff's has his own program. Got the electronics and does it himself. Some really bad stuff.



. . Preston. .

 

[El Putzo]

So, who is this Jeff and tell us more about his mysterious program. So how and where did Jeff come to acquire this program and what all does he do to get this extra HP????????

 

[jrobinson2]

The truck is only 3 weeks old. 5 tanks of fuel through it . Total. Bad fuel would take longer than that to build up.

This is not correct, 5 gallons of bad fuel is plenty to cause major problems. In my experience 99% of the time bad fuel doesn't "build up" its dumped in all at once in one tank.

Jared

 

[thejeepdude]

My '99 was running great when I bought it in Mississippi. Somewhere in TX, on the way home, I picked up a bad batch of fuel. Within 10 miles from the station I noticed that I couldn't go over 50-55 mph. I didn't have a spare filter, and I was planning to drive all night. I pulled over and tried to drain the filter canister, thinking maybe it was excessive water in the fuel, but that didn't help. I actually made it to Arizona that way (that was not fun). I had since burned the whole tank and filled up again with better fuel, so I found a dealer and paid a whopping 60 bucks for a new filter. It was covered with black crud so thick you could scrape it off with your finger. It looked like "grease". Ran like a champ after the new filter! So yes, one tank of bad fuel is more than enough to screw things up in a hurry. At least the filter was doing its job!

 

[Turbo Thom]

OK... ... . Now I know.



James... ..... This Jeff fellow is Jeff Garmon at Garmon's Diesel Performance. His drag truck runs 10. 06 at 143 mph. Most anybody in the speed field knows Jeff. The program is not a secret. He just programs the box and away you go. As where it came from, Jeff will have to tell you that. Jeff's shop is across the parking lot from mine. That's how I know.



. . Preston. .