Archived Sludge in fuel

[Kalaehina]

I went to change my fuel filter today and when I drained it through the valve, sludge came out. What could this be? Looks like oil, I don't have a good feeling about this.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Probably a bacterial growth caused by moisture in the tank, yours or somewhere that you bought fuel. Find an additive that addresses bacterial growth control and add per their instructions. bg

 

[Kalaehina]

Thanks, yah that's going to be the mission of today. Gotta get something for this bacteria.

 

[Kalaehina]

How long should I drive before changing the filter again? I know I have to, to monitor the contamination, but how long should I go before doing another change?

 

[crabman]

Run a full tank, drain filter and inspect. I would keep adding the bio-cide for a few tanks and keep a extra fuel fiter on hand.

I always put the bio-cide in my boat, it is a LONG way to the edge of the pool sometimes!

crabman

 

[B.G. Smith]

I would drain some more fuel from the filter after a week or so and see if there is still evidence of sludge. If you have a fuel pressure gage, (which your sig. doesn't indicate) I would watch for pressure drop. Hard to say on how long to go before changing, I would let the indication of sludge be the deciding point. If it continues to show up, you may want to drain the tank and start over. If it is just a small amount in the bottom it should clear up pretty fast. bg

 

[Joe G.]

You can get fuel biocide at a marine hardware store if you have trouble finding it.

 

[Kalaehina]

Thank you very much guys for all the info. I changed the filter, cleaned the pre strainer, had a b***h of a time getting her restarted, but now she seems to be running a little stronger, maybe just me. Thanks Joe, you read my mind, I was going to ask where to get biocide form.

 

[JoshPeters]

Power Service makes a great product for this that won't make you want to take out a loan. I had a similar problem and went to Cummins for the stuff... ... . SPENDY! I put it in, and within 75 miles it had full power and ran like a million bucks again! Checked the fuel at that time. Clean. I never did change out the fuel filter again. The guys at Cummins told me that the stuff I put in there breaks down the little critters and the truck will just burn them off.



Josh

 

[Kalaehina]

Hey Josh, what was it called?

 

[Duluth Diesel]

I am a Power Service dealer. It is called BioKleen. If you want a .pdf brochure, email me. -- email address removed --

This stuff will clean you out and get you back on the road. Plan on changing out at least two fuel filters after treatment, in pretty short order. In the future, running Power Service's Diesel Kleen will help keep the algae out of your fuel and prevent buildup.



A 16 ounce bottle of BioKleen will shock treat 320 gallons of fuel and costs less than 25 bucks usually. Shock treat with 1 ounce to each 20 gallons of fuel to kill the stuff. I also recommend that people shock their tank once a year just to keep microbial contamination from building up in the tank - that is if you're not going to run something like Diesel Kleen on a routine basis. Let me know by email if you need more info.



DD

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

Awesome page for the basics of KILL