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OK folks, all this talk of the failing fuel pumps and the near simultaneous collapse of our society have me on edge. I did my first fuel filter change on Big Red yesterday (15,000 miles) and looked real closely at what was captured in the folds of the filter as well as the bottom of the bowl when I rinsed it out with some fuel and poured it onto a white paper towel. The good news is that in all my checks I have never seen a drop of water and I use PowerService diesel additive in every tank. The bad news is that when I looked at the papertowel there were at least a couple dozen small black specs up to the size of 1mm. Some may have been redish, but it was hard to tell.
So here is the question for the experts - what does this mean, is this normal, is there some action I need to take. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Post some pictures of the specks on the white paper towel. It could be anything. The fact that the filter has particles in it as opposed to being clean could also be viewed as it is doing its job and preventing those specks from getting to the engine.
You may also want to put a magnet near those specks to see if they are attracted to it. If so, it is some type of iron.
Gents - great suggestions. I should have done the magnet test before I tossed the towel, never thought of that one. I took a picture, but its only clear enough to see that there is some crud on the towel, but not identify what the crud might be. So long as no one raises the alarm, I will just keep an eye on the filter every 15k miles and let her roll.
Post some pictures of the specks on the white paper towel. It could be anything. The fact that the filter has particles in it as opposed to being clean could also be viewed as it is doing its job and preventing those specks from getting to the engine.
Agreed... The filter is there for a reason! It's going to catch particles that is pumped from the fuel stations tanks. I see particles when I drain and change the cartridge style fuel filter every time.