Water in diesel?

[atgreene]

That is pure baloney-- we run snowmobile trail grooming equipment that is stored outside, we run a 70/30 blend with power service-- If you set your tank properly and drain your water seperator occasionally you should not have any issues- unless your fuel distributor has a major malfunction.



Sounds like this fuel company doesnt want your business ?? Go to the yellowpages

All the fuel delivery co's here that I have talked to have said treatment is up to the consumer now, too many issues with the new "green" diesels and what they require for fuel.

 

[RalphVa]

Think I found the problem. The tractor ran fine this afternoon.

I emptied the tank again and looked in there. There were some white/yellow globs near the fuel outlet from the tank. I fished them out with a grabber tool. Also fished out a plastic cap that I'd dropped in there a long time ago. Back blew both the line to the fuel filter and the return line. Refilled the tank through my Mr. Funnel with the fuel that I'd taken from the tank when it first started having troubles. Some of the last dregs of that fuel wouldn't go through the Mr. Funnel or wanted to just dribble. I discarded that bit.

I also replaced the inner air filter, as it had never been replaced (424 hours). The 4010 has both and inner and an outer air filter. The dealer says the inner one seldom needs replacing.

I checked the fuel cap vent. It was open.

The tractor actually started up without any chugging that normally occurs in the cold (was about the mid 30s).

Ralph

 

[LBrown59]

Think I found the problem. The tractor ran fine this afternoon.

I emptied the tank again and looked in there. There were some white/yellow globs near the fuel outlet from the tank. I fished them out with a grabber tool. Also fished out a plastic cap that I'd dropped in there a long time ago. Back blew both the line to the fuel filter and the return line. Refilled the tank through my Mr. Funnel with the fuel that I'd taken from the tank when it first started having troubles. Some of the last dregs of that fuel wouldn't go through the Mr. Funnel or wanted to just dribble. I discarded that bit.

I also replaced the inner air filter, as it had never been replaced (424 hours). The 4010 has both and inner and an outer air filter. The dealer says the inner one seldom needs replacing.

I checked the fuel cap vent. It was open.

The tractor actually started up without any chugging that normally occurs in the cold (was about the mid 30s).

Ralph

So it was a tractor fault not an on road or off road issue.

 

[RalphVa]

It's mostly a fuel problem, as something caused those whitish/yellowish globs in the tank. The ONLY time I ever had a fuel filter plugging problem driving diesel cars for 32 years was after about 3 tankfuls of switching to B5. This could have been something caused by the switch to B5 about a year ago. This was several tankfuls on the tractor. The last switch was back to off road low sulfur rather than ULSD and the red coloring. For 4 cents/gallon at the Exxon station, it just isn't worth it, to give up the flexibility of putting some in the TDI tank and guarantee of low sulfur, etc.

Could be something caused by our low temperatures.

I put the off road/ULSD mix that I'd taken from the tank through a Mr. Funnel. The last dregs of it from that container didn't want to go through the Mr. Funnel. Some water maybe? I just took the Mr. Funnel from the tank inlet and dumped it. My first time using Mr. Funnel. Maybe that was normal for the last 1/2 funnel full to dribble through?

Ralph

 

[patrick_g]

Congrats on getting her going again. Regarding the inner filter: The dealer is right. The only gunk it collects is what makes it through the outer filter. Problems with the outer filters are extremely rare in that that they would suddenly start passing debris. If that happened you are still protected by the inner filter and you'd see the stuff getting though on the inner filter when you inspect and clean it.

You can remove and clean by tapping the filter to dislodge gunk and blow with shop air in backwards direction to dislodge embedded stuff. There is no hard and fast rule but the inner filter should outlive at least a few outer filters. You can also reverse blow and tap the inner filter. My Kubota has a filter minder sensor that lights an indicator on the dash when the back pressure across the filter (both inner and outer in combination) gets too high. This will remind you to clean or replace filters.

Filters do not ordinarily pass more contaminants as they age so a dirty air filter doesn't put dirt in the engine it just begins to cut down on the flow of intake air (not a good thing but not an instant disaster.) The filter Minder is a good thing and they are pretty easy to retrofit to a an engine that doesn't have one.

You just tap into the air flow after it comes through the filters and install the sensor. Wire the sensor to an indicator light and a source of power that is on when the tractor is running and off when it isn't. There are two configurations: 1. sensor is grounded through its mounting hardware and 2. sensor has two electrical connections. In the first case you wire the switched power to the light bulb and the other side of the bulb to the sensor which supplies a ground to light the light when the filter is clogged. In the second case you just wire the sensor in series with the bulb and power. The Your choice as to either grounding one side of the bulb or one side of the sensor. Doesn't matter just so you have a continuous circuit when the sensor contacts close from the battery through the light to the sensor to ground.

Do not completely trust the filter minder, OEM or DIY as I had one fail fairly early in tractor's life and the replacement was defective out of the box. I have a working one now. You can test a filter minder by putting something over the air inlet if convenient or put something like paper towel over the outer filter to restrict flow, reassembling the filter and starting the tractor. If you sufficiently block the inlet air the sensor should light the indicator. If you have an accurate vacuum gage you can check to see at what PSI reading the minder alerts you. Your tractor may have specs on that.

Filter minders plumbed across the fuel filter are a good thing too. This allows you to change filters based on good knowledge of filter performance instead of hours of operation, miles, gallons of fuel used or whatever. If the filter is clogging the back pressure goes up. If the back pressure does not exceed specs the filter is OK no matter how old it is. I added this to my Ram 3500 and it sure slowed down my filter changing. It came with a minder for the air filter but not fuel. How they decide a fuel filter is less important is beyond me.

Pat

 

[ModMech]

Pat,

Placing a restriction gauge on the fuel filter is an EXCELLANT idea, thanks for sharing!!!

I live in relatively warm TX, so there is no real reason for me to worry too much about gelling or restricted fuel systems as long as everything is contamination free.

Good suggestion on checking the air filter minder, that is exactly how we check them on trucks, just a stiff board over the air inlet to see if the gauge moves towards 25" H20, if it does, it is working. If not, either you have a BIG leak in the intake system (cracked CAC etc) or the minder gauge is faulty. A quick test with a vacuum pump will prove or disprove the minder as being good.