I serviced my truck last week before I went to NM, and my fuel filter was black and oily. Is that injector O rings? I searched but had no luck. What do you guys think. May be doing injectors sooner than I thought

 

by oily do you mean it had a layer of grease type stuff on it? if so you have an algae problem. treat it with a biocide to kill it.

 

I read on this forum that if you switched over to biodiesel that the fuel filter turns black. BD cleans out the fuel system trapping it in the filter ( I Hope).

 

tj, you nailed it. What is the biocide, where do I get it, and how do I use it?

 

most parts stores should have some, truck stops or a tractor supply company or farmers store. anyplace that people with diesels would frequent. power service makes some (they make diesel kleen) many other brands but any should be good just use as directed and then dose it again and you should be good.

 

oh and biocide is an algae killer. and it comes in liquid form and mix with you fuel at a full tank.

 

Thanks tj. I will see if I can find some tonight. I was worried it was the injector o rings. But if I remember correctly they said off colored fuel and a dark filter. I saw that greasy crap and was like.....crap, this must be bad. Thanks for your response, I feel much better now.

 

Not trying to shoot you down, but what happens to all the dead algae? Can all that stuff cause other problems? I would guess that another filter change would be in order after a biocide treatment.
Good to learn that though, I would have assumed o-rings up until I read this thread.
What would one do to keep this from happening again? Is it old fuel or a bad source or some other cause?

 

treat and then chenge the filter again a few tanks later. there is no way to prevent it cause its common to all diesel fuel. maintence and treatment are about all you can do. kill it when you get it.

 

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>




</TD><TD vAlign=top width=522><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=522 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left><CENTER><TABLE cellSpacing=0 width=520 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=left width=289>Microbes in the form of bacteria and fungus are present in all diesel fuels. Long periods of fuel storage can create ideal opportunities for microbes to grow in fuel tanks. The first indication of microbial contamination is mucous-like accumulations on fuel-filters and increased requirements for fuel-filter replacement. Microbes can only be removed from the fuel system by use of a diesel fuel biocide.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Above from Power Service web site (more info here) http://www.powerservice.com/biokleen_df_biocide_app.asp</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

If you run a diesel treatment that has a microbial growth</FONT> inhibitor (bacteria & fungi) in it (like Diesel Kleen) in every tank, and then once every three to four months add a treatment of a biocide (like Bio Kleen) to your tanks you will stay clean.

If you store your own fuel you need to add a maintenance dose of a biocide (like Bio Kleen) to the fuel every two to three months. This will keep microbial growth from starting.

If you have it bad in your tanks (truck, tractor or storage) you will need to drain them (or pump out the bottom layer of sludge for storage tanks) to keep from introducing this thick sludge into the injection system (costly repair). Check out the Power Service site for more info.

 

Plowhand,
Thanks for that writeup. Now I know what to look for as far as the bottle. I run Stanadyne in every tank of fuel. But during that trip to NM I ran a bottle of diesel kleen. I still have one more bottle for the next fillup. Does it fight that better than Stanadyne? Anyway, I didn't have a chance to look for it last night, but I will get it. Thanks for everthing guys.

 

I run Diesel Kleen products because my fuel supplier carries it and you can find it at Walmart and 99% of all truck stops, 80% of all auto parts stores & 50% of gas stations. My fuel supplier told me that Stanadyne does not make a biocyde, but I don't know for sure. No one carries Stanadyne near me, nearest dealer is 80+ miles away, and when I checked it would end up costing me more. I do know that I get 1-2 mpg better with it than without, I checked, so I use it everytank, grey bottle. And every three months I put a half oz. in each truck tank.

Several years ago we had a algae problem in one of our farm storage tanks. We did not catch it in time (the guy overseeing this farm and tank was not treating it) and it cost us to have every injector on 6 tractors rebuilt and two injector pumps rebuilt not to mention the down time. Algae growth also creates an acid that is very harmful in your fuel system, this is what got our two pumps.

Almost all additives are good, some just do a few things better than others. The way I choose is: is the cost reasonable? does it do what I want it to do? can I get it whenever I need it, or is it special order? If special order do I have room to store enough of it?

Hope this helps.

 

Rubberduck, as u know i run the ole red diesel, but i always use Power Service fuel treatment either the silver bottle preferably or the white bottle, i also use Berryman octane boost, and theres another one that i can only get at O'Reilly's, also use Lucas Injector cleaner, transmission fluid, 2 cycle oil, and Diesel Kleen when i can find it, every tank full i put something in all depends what i have though, but it always works though, take care and god bless Lance

 

oh and another thing the red diesel found out from the Texas Railroad Commission that all it is, is regular #2 diesel with transmission fluid in it, some might argue with me on this but its what he said though Lance

 

I have access to a biocide that is intended for use in industrial cutting and grinding fluids. Anyone know if this kind of stuff would also work or would it cause damage? It's intended use is in the sumps of machining equipment, lathes, mills, etc. An ounce can treat 50 gallons very effectively and many of the fluids are oil based. It gets run through the entire coolant system of a CNC machine and can take 25,000 psi on high pressure coolant systems.