Algea in my fuel?

[manimal]

Well, it does not have any gooey stuff. I stuck my hands in both tanks and mixed them around and its just diesel. I ordered some 30r10 submersible fuel hose and replaced the shower heads with that. Cleaned the contacts on the sending units with toothpaste and baking soda(Works *******), put everything back together and started it! I still need to put coolant and change the oil drain plug gasket, then she'll be good to go.

 

[gandalf]

I found a picture of the inside of the bottom section of my fuel filter housing. This is the result of B-99 which is too old. This cost me a brand new IP, and a lot of work. This crap is a son of a ***** to clean.

The cause? B-99 is, of course, bio-diesel. The key here is BIO. It's a biologic. When it gets too old it spoils, it rots. This is the result. My truck ran very well on the B-99. It loved it. It ran quieter, smoother, seemed to have a bit more power, according to my buttometer. It would be great in a daily driver. Mine is not a daily driver, however, and consequently suffered the consequences.

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[Dieselcrawler]

I found a picture of the inside of the bottom section of my fuel filter housing. This is the result of B-99 which is too old. This cost me a brand new IP, and a lot of work. This crap is a son of a ***** to clean.

The cause? B-99 is, of course, bio-diesel. The key here is BIO. It's a biologic. When it gets too old it spoils, it rots. This is the result. My truck ran very well on the B-99. It loved it. It ran quieter, smoother, seemed to have a bit more power, according to my buttometer. It would be great in a daily driver. Mine is not a daily driver, however, and consequently suffered the consequences.

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this is what sorta scares me with my 86. it sits alot. not concerned with algea since its inside the garage where temps dont fluctuate alot, but the bio crap. i drained the tank this past winter and ran the fuel in my torpedo heater to get rid of it. filled it this summer with fresh off road fuel chich still had 5% bio per what the pump said.

 

[snicklas]

Corey,

I think the minimal percentage mix isn't as bad. Allegedly, our diesel has some minimal percent, (5 or 10%) here in Indiana. With issues that have been going on, 2 of my diesels had older fuel in them. My Excursion hadn't gotten driven much over the last 6 months due to failing ball joints and lack of time. My Jetta had the same fuel in it that was over 2 years old due to it not running at all. Both have been repaired and have been fine. I just put a couple of glugs of Power Service in them before I started driving them. The truck has been driven the last 2 weeks, and the car the last week since Momma's P71 decided to eat the Fuel Pump, and the IDI blew the top tank out of the radiator....... I need to do filters on the Excursion since the WIF light came on...... It has fresh fuel, and I have drained it, but the 3 molecules of water that are hiding in the HFCM are driving it nuts.........

 

[bbjordan]

This crap is a son of a ***** to clean.

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Oh yes it is! Butyl Acetate worked well for me cleaning it up. My brother said Methanol worked for well for him. I haven't tried that yet.

 

[jdphish]

I've seen a diesel boat that sat up a few years had a tank full of algae. Whole fuel system had to be cleaned out.

 

[manimal]

Thanks everyone for all the support and info......THANKFULLY i did not have that gross stuff like gandalf posted. I've moved the truck from side driveway to front driveway and gave it a bath. Lots of blue nasty smoke, but I am assuming its the old fuel. I did however pour in a half quart of 2 stroke oil in each tank.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Easy! You don't want it to think that it's a Detroit! Lol!

 

[pcwizzy16]

My dad's '86 IDI sits alot, I hope it don't get gunked up.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I'd say to stay away from biodiesel then.

 

[Macrobb]

I'd say to stay away from biodiesel then.

He may not have a lot of choice; I just went through Oregon a couple of days ago, and I noticed that all the fuel stations had labels with some percent of biodiesel in the diesel. 5-20% was the highest I saw.

It was probably possible to get straight biodiesel too, but I never saw that at the stations I went to.


If you've got 5% bio, it's probably not a big deal. 20%+, though... might be if it sits for a long time.
I wonder about keeping it dosed with a lot of powerservice or maby some 2-cycle oil; I know the 2-cycle is the best for adding lubricity, but I don't know about preventing gum-up.

If you *know* your IDI's going to sit for a long time, I'd be tempted to just hook the IP up to a gallon jug of light-weight engine oil and run it with that for a while to make sure the IP's got the oil instead of diesel; then drain/pump the tanks out and use them in something else before parking it.

I've had one instance of a gummed-up IP after sitting, which might be related - Bought the truck after it had sat for a year. The tank had a large dose of powerservice in it. It fired right up, and I drove it 50 miles with no issues. Drove it a few more times(I don't think I ever ran out the tanks, though) and parked it for 6 months.
After that, the IP got 'sticky'. Governor spring was being slow to respond and it wanted to die on letting off the throttle quickly. Ended up adjusting the governor a bit to keep it from dying and I think it *eventually* got better(IP's still running on one of my trucks, IIRC), but it wasn't just a matter of adding ATF and letting it sit overnight.

I've also taken apart injectors that hadn't been run in a long time, only to find gummy sticky stuff all over them where the diesel "evaporated". They were cleanable, and I might have been able to clean them with ATF in my injector pop tester and just run it through for a bit... I forget.

 

[pcwizzy16]

He may not have a lot of choice; I just went through Oregon a couple of days ago, and I noticed that all the fuel stations had labels with some percent of biodiesel in the diesel. 5-20% was the highest I saw.

It was probably possible to get straight biodiesel too, but I never saw that at the stations I went to.


If you've got 5% bio, it's probably not a big deal. 20%+, though... might be if it sits for a long time.
I wonder about keeping it dosed with a lot of powerservice or maby some 2-cycle oil; I know the 2-cycle is the best for adding lubricity, but I don't know about preventing gum-up.

If you *know* your IDI's going to sit for a long time, I'd be tempted to just hook the IP up to a gallon jug of light-weight engine oil and run it with that for a while to make sure the IP's got the oil instead of diesel; then drain/pump the tanks out and use them in something else before parking it.

I've had one instance of a gummed-up IP after sitting, which might be related - Bought the truck after it had sat for a year. The tank had a large dose of powerservice in it. It fired right up, and I drove it 50 miles with no issues. Drove it a few more times(I don't think I ever ran out the tanks, though) and parked it for 6 months.
After that, the IP got 'sticky'. Governor spring was being slow to respond and it wanted to die on letting off the throttle quickly. Ended up adjusting the governor a bit to keep it from dying and I think it *eventually* got better(IP's still running on one of my trucks, IIRC), but it wasn't just a matter of adding ATF and letting it sit overnight.

I've also taken apart injectors that hadn't been run in a long time, only to find gummy sticky stuff all over them where the diesel "evaporated". They were cleanable, and I might have been able to clean them with ATF in my injector pop tester and just run it through for a bit... I forget.

So are you saying, that even standard diesel from the pump, has sone biodiesel in it?

 

[Macrobb]

So are you saying, that even standard diesel from the pump, has sone biodiesel in it?

Check what it says on the pump. If it has biodiesel in it, it (should) say right on the pump itself.
Like how you see a label on gasoline pumps "May contain up to 10% ethanol"

Edit:
https://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/laws/BIOD/OR

All diesel fuel sold in the state must be blended with at least 5% biodiesel (B5). For the purpose of this mandate, biodiesel is defined as a motor vehicle fuel derived from vegetable oil, animal fat, or other non-petroleum resources, that is designated as B100 and complies with ASTM specification D6751. Renewable diesel qualifies as a substitute for biodiesel in the blending requirement. In addition, diesel fuel blends sold between October 1 and February 28 may contain additives to prevent congealing or gelling. At any time, the Oregon Department of Energy may request a certificate of fuel analysis for biodiesel sold at any non-retail and wholesale biodiesel dealer.

 

[pcwizzy16]

Check what it says on the pump. If it has biodiesel in it, it (should) say right on the pump itself.
Like how you see a label on gasoline pumps "May contain up to 10% ethanol"

Edit:
https://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/laws/BIOD/OR

Oh my, I should tell my Dad when he gets home later today.... He used to take the truck to work a long time ago, until he got a 2010 Ford Focus. We started it up not too long ago. Is it the age of the fuel that's the problem, or just not moving for awhile?
Both front and rear tanks are pretty much full since the last time we went to town, so we can't just drain the tanks. Maybe bouncing the truck would help? lol

 

[Macrobb]

Drive it once a week maby? It probably wouldn't hurt.

Overall, the fuel systems are pretty stout on our IDIs, the only problem being if you get something 'sticky' in there.

And if it does manage to get stuck, it's fixable... might be a bit of a pain, though.