Algea in my fuel?

[manimal]

Ok, I am back to work on my 90 F250 4wd...I am almost ready to run thins thing on it own, but I wanted to check the fuel tanks first...low and behold they are BOTH FULL of 17yr old fuel. The truck sat in the high desert of California for 17yrs. Here are some pics, please tell me what I should do. Thanks
2 of the front tank and 2 of the rear.

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[manimal]

Im not sure if i have algea(bacteria) growing or not......ANY help would be very much APPRECIATED. If I have to drain it all, WTH am I going to do with almost 40g of old fuel?

 

[chris142]

I ran 80 gallons of 20+ yr old fuel out of my perterbilt when I bought it. I drove it home on it....I dont think algae is a problem out here with our low humidity.

 

[gnathv]

Is it off road diesel maybe? That is often red. If it were algae you would see growth or blooms. If you pour some through a cloth what does it leave behind? Just color or actual residue. They do sell diesel clear that is supposed to clean up algae.

 

[77f250diesel]

That does not look like algae to me.
Algae leaves a slimy brown residue so I think your safe, just run it.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I think you should put new showerheads on it while you're there.

 

[snicklas]

I agree also. That looks like red diesel, not contaminated diesel. I bought some for a heater, and it looks like Kool-Aid.......

I'd put some Power Service in it, and get it running with it. I wouldn't drive on the road, not sure what the penalty is in Kali, but here in Indiana, it a $10,000 fine for red diesel in an on-road (plated) vehicle.......

 

[DaveBen]

It is $10,000 here also. Nobody checks the fuel.

 

[shawn deere]

Algae grows in between the layer of water and layer of diesel in a tank. It plagues farmers around nebraska. Non taxed fuel is red though. Dont know what color the algea is, might vary a bit.

The remedy for an algea tank is to clean it out - like power wash it- and let it dry.

The preventative for algea is to drain the water out the bottom of the tanks once or twice a year.

As far as what to do with old ass fuel that may or may not have algea in it. Run it. Itll just plug up filters i believe.

 

[Dieselcrawler]

Yep you got off road fuel in there. I see no algae.

 

[manimal]

I dipped a towel in the tanks and they did NOT come out red...BUT it is what it is and I am gonna run it through. Thanks everyone for the help. Now I just need to find the shower heads and the front sending unit. THANKS AGAIN!

 

[towcat]

filter up some WMO and throw it in the tank. red now gone.

 

[DOE-SST]

My IDI sat for 2 years in the dry New Mexico desert, and grew a huge amount of algae in the tank. It was a bright translucent red with a tinge of brown, just like the OP's picture. I tried running the engine which pumped that crap into the fuel system. Spent about 40 hrs and a few hundred bucks cleaning the entire fuel system. The algae looked harmless, but if you got it on your fingers and pressed them together, it was almost like superglue. I cleaned and cleaned the injection pump using 50% diesel clean and 50% new diesel until it would push fuel out to the hard lines. I let the pump sit overnight and the small algae residue still in it locked it up solid again. Had to buy a new pump. My research showed diesel algae comes in several different colors and appearances.

Gooooooood Luck.

 

[towcat]

My IDI sat for 2 years in the dry New Mexico desert, and grew a huge amount of algae in the tank. It was a bright translucent red with a tinge of brown, just like the OP's picture. I tried running the engine which pumped that crap into the fuel system. Spent about 40 hrs and a few hundred bucks cleaning the entire fuel system. The algae looked harmless, but if you got it on your fingers and pressed them together, it was almost like superglue. I cleaned and cleaned the injection pump using 50% diesel clean and 50% new diesel until it would push fuel out to the hard lines. I let the pump sit overnight and the small algae residue still in it locked it up solid again. Had to buy a new pump. My research showed diesel algae comes in several different colors and appearances.

Gooooooood Luck.

17 year old diesel is far more stable than the crap passed for diesel of recent past. High chance yours had biodiesel in it and the shelf life of bio is 60 days. you DO NOT store biodiesel for more than 60 days. Algae llllloooovveeesss biodiesel. Gandalf(Ken) ruined a injection pump too on stuff that sat for a hair less than one year in his rear tank. the stuff in the pic looks like old diesel. I can see that it's clear top to bottom. I have no problem running the stuff, but I will mix it with jet fuel and WMO to blend it a little and let the jet fuel take care of whateer issues it may have.
my .02

 

[gandalf]

I can attest to the "Old Biodiesel" thing. It locked up my IP quicker than superglue. It left a residue in my fuel filter that was extremely difficult to get rid of. It was worse than gorilla snot. I didn't even try to clean the rear tank. I simply replaced it with another given to me by a good friend.

However, the engine ran beautifully on that B99. It ran quieter, it ran smoother, and the exhaust smelled a bit like french fries.