Twice in the past couple years I have purchased machines that have been parked for an extended amount of time and the diesel fuel has turned to black goo. Internet research has suggested its asphaltene or oxidized hydrocarbons. I lack a degree in chemistry, so all I know is whatever it is, its one of the most difficult substances i've ever encountered. It does not seem to dissolve in fresh diesel. Hot water pressure washer will push it around but is pretty ineffective at cleaning it. Degreasers do nothing. It will dissolve slowly in gasoline. That is the best thing I have discovered to deal with it. Anyone have any advice on this? Below is the prescreen on a DT466E I am reviving. It ran well when I pulled it into the shop two years ago - after sitting for 6 years and unbeknownst to me, running on terrible fuel. I didn't know about this goo until I drained the tanks and got tons of it. I have cleaned the tank, new filter and cleaned the prescreen but am worried about the injectors and fuel system after the filter. Is there anything I can really do? I
This could easily be biological in nature. Humbugs as they are known......... See this THREAD
The creature from the black lagoon or The blob
Find someone who has an old 5.9 Cummins. It would run on that stuff for months!
I want to get an idi for this kind of fuel
Try some sort of BIOCIDE to cut it off the filter and housing as a test.. Once u find something that works, add it to the tank with some fresh fuel and run it thru your running engine.. Hopefully it’ll clean out the pump and injectors.. Good luck
Thanks pumpguy. Was hoping you'd chime in. I hadn't really considered this to be a biological thing. Interesting thread Nige linked. Thanks. I see Power Services makes a Bio Clean product. https://powerservice.com/psp_product/bio-kleen-diesel-fuel-biocide/ I will get some of that. I did start the truck yesterday and it seems to still run ok thankfully.
If you put in a biocide, and it kills whatever is growing, be prepared with spare filters. It will want to clog/plug up filters until you have it all captured. I fought it probably 10 years ago when we got it in our bulk tank and the equipment, after treatment, we went through 2-3 filter changes to get the crud all caught.
Drain the tank, put fresh fuel in and then add the biocide. Could always look into fuel polishing; But would probably be way pricier than just a drain, refill, treat and burn all the **** out.
Yeah shame is that the renewable fuels that are used around the place is ******. Tallow is the base of most renewables here in Oz. It's a bit unknow what it's shelf life is....
I forgot about getting EXTRA FILTERS.!!! THATS A MUST..
One thing I have going for me is I took the tank off and washed the snot out of it with a hot water pressure washer, then gasoline, then pressure washer, then more gasoline.... Its not perfect but I have the bulk of the goo I can get at out... I am more worried about whats stuck to the inside of the lines and filter housings and pumps and injectors and the like.
Washing the tank was the best idea. If it was my rig, I’d give it a dose of Power Service Diesel Kleen and hope for the best. Did you manage to clean that fuel strainer screen? Sometimes those get to the point where it’s easier to replace them. I know what you mean regarding the sticky gunk that sticks to the inside of those tanks. We used a particular additive at the Juneau bulk plant that did that to my cargo tanks. It would take multiple loads of RUG to strip that stuff off.
Pull the fuel lines and hook them to the pressure washer a d run them for a bit
To get rid of the sticky diesel gunk use a strong alkali like sodium hydroxide, the same sort of chemical that is used in drain cleaners Take care and use eye and skin protection. Let it soak and the gunk will dissolve away.
Funny this is involved with a dt466 I revived one that sat for atleast 20 years outside with 2 sets of jumper cables and absolutely nothing else no priming or anything!
I use a guy who runs a fuel polishing business on customer tanks. He brings a trailer and kidney loops the whole thing. Stirs it all up so it can make it into his filters. Runs it all through clear pipes so you can see what is happening, screens and dumps any solids out so we can inspect them. Took me a while to find him when I started looking, but glad I did.
I forgot about THAT.. idk where the poster is located but u can find them at any Marina.. U can call them and ask who they use.. they’ll be more than happy to give u the #.. Good luck
I’m looking at getting into that biz as a natural addition to my tank inspection services. There is only one provider in the state and they limit their service. They won’t touch anything small or without a long-term contract.
Yes, I did get it clean by soaking it in gasoline for a few hours and then blasting it out with carb cleaner. I am confident that is clean now. I actually tried this! I tried dumping a whole canister of lye into the tank when I had it removed. Filled with water and let sit in the sun for a few days. Did nothing. I also tried a strong butyl degreaser. Also didn't touch it. It reminds me of a wax. Heat will smear it, but few things seem to dissolve it.
This is exactly what I was going to post. The OP is from Southern MN. That black crap is the end result of animal byproducts added to meet the bio-fuel requirements. During the summer months, the requirement is like 5% animal fats/oils. That **** turns to jelly in colder temps, like under 20F. I've seen post after post on Agtalk from guys dead in the water over that stuff. Word on the street is they had to agree to the animal crap to get the support they needed to pass the 20% mandates over there. What a bunch of crap.
That might be why winter fuel really sucks around here, I had 50/50 1/2 with double to triple treated anti gel. Next winter there is a place that sells no.1 straight and I'm going to get that
I can honestly say I have never seen algae in fuel before. I wonder if we just don't see biodiesel up in northern Canada?
My new diesel provider just told me the other day, they sell no biodiesel, unless the customer specifically asks for it. They just had too much trouble with it.
I've never ran into this black junk yet..... (knock on wood). Has anyone tried 99% isopropyl alcohol? Cuts thru most things I've thrown at it. Amazon.com
T'is not algae. Algae needs sunlight to propogate and there isn't any in a diesel tank unless someone has fitted windows........ Hydrocarbon Utilizing Micro-organisms (humbugs) were around long before biodiesel came on to the market. My first encounter with them was well over 30 years ago.
Cool, never knew there was a difference. I still haven't seen anything like that before. I once bought a diesel truck that sat in a field for a decade and the fuel tank was as clean as could be. Maybe I've just been lucky.
I see them a lot in generators. Since they sit around for years and hardly run. And sometimes rain gets in, or panicked personnel put wet fuel in during urgent situations, when a fuel truck won't come out, since there is a shortage of qualified personnel for fuel trucks like everything. I inspect the primary filter on PM. Trying to get all customers in line to have polishing service performed annually.
Same…..
The first time I saw it was in 1980-something. I'm sure way before biodiesel was ever a thing. Some dim bulb had used water in a parts washer full of stoddard solvent and it sank to the bottom and grew bugs. We were scooping globs off the bottom with our fingers. The main problem is water. But my fuel cleaning guy assures me that biodiesel is a big problem these days as well. I guess it makes black flakes.
And it seems to soak up water from the air and becomes corrosive to the bottom tank shells.
Offer it for hydraulics and I bet you'd be a busy guy.
My friend has a centrifuge and can spin oils instead of replacing them, says it's quite expensive to run. He possibly should add fuel polishing to his service as well.
I was working in a heli-camp out of Stewart BC (Alaska panhandle area). We hiked down to an old underground gold mine (1930’s). There were several small (15 gallon?) barrels of diesel fuel, opened one up; right full of nice clean looking diesel! Sitting there since the late 1930’s. All the machinery had been brought in by horse/mule from tidewater on the Portland canal! Very steep/rough climb up the creek bed. Worked with an operator some years ago who had no hesitation to put 12 year old diesel (cached at 8000’ on the mountain) into his Fiat Allis dozer…was pleased to get the drums of free fuel!
my area still operates 40s/50s era bantam cranes quite frequently, those operators use old diesel in them all the time, those engines will run on almost any fuel as long as its burnable.
the newer low sulfur diesel seems a lot more susceptible to the growth of the sludge.
My diesel instructor, when talking about a certain injection system once said, & I never forgot it, “They were made to run + or - a bucket of dirt.”..
More so, the bio-diesel your ASTM 975 fuel contains. Up to 5% bio before it has to be labeled.
@digger doug thank you for reminding me of The Blob. That's something that until within the past year or two was always sitting in the back of my mind and I consider it regularly. I haven't thought of The Blob in a while. Good stuff.