Oil & Fuel Crud In Fuel

GregJ · Oct 5, 2004

Weekend before last, I inspected my fuel filter and it didn't look good. I removed it and there was a significant build up of black crud. The filter only had 40 hours on it. I have been buying my fuel from a new gas station (about a year old). The fuel is never more than 3 months old when I use it. I had been "thinking" about getting a filtered funnel, but this inspired me to do it right away. I ordered a Mr. Funnel that night. This weekend I used the funnel to fuel my tractor. I was disgusted with all the crap that was in my fuel. I couldn't see it in the can, but the filter kept a lot of crud from going into my tank. I thought I was fairly safe buying from this station because the tanks are so new, but I guess not.

I just thought I'd share this for anybody else that isn't filtering their fuel. I hopefully have caught it in time before my whole system is contaminated.

I know this should probably be posted in Oil,Fuel and Lubricants, but it really is an Operating issue.

Greg

sneaky_pete · Oct 5, 2004

I recently bought a Mr. Funnel, after reading about them right here on TBN. Amazing, quality product, prompt mail-order service. I'm extremely happy with mine.

I would have never known that this technology even existed, were it not for TBN. The things one can learn here every day!

Pete

frank_f15 · Oct 5, 2004

hey Pete can u point me to that site?

JJT · Oct 5, 2004

I've been using MrFunnel for a couple of years and always buy my fuel from a busy truck stop. I've never seen crud in the funnel after fueling up, nor have I seen any crud in the fuel filter, (it gets changed every 200 hours).

sneaky_pete · Oct 5, 2004

( hey Pete can u point me to that site? )

http://www.mrfunnel.com/

If you're just going to use it for your tractors & mowers, you don't need the more expensive conductive one (made for airplanes & boats).

Pete

QueBota · Oct 6, 2004

Could be asphaltenes (asphaltines).

Diesel Fuel and Filter Info

Dave

GregJ · Oct 6, 2004

Dave,
Thanks for the informative link. That very well could be what this "crud" was. They were black, mostly oval shaped, brittle, very thin and about 1/8" x 3/16". After filling my tractor with about 4 gallons of fuel, there were probably 30 of these little critters floating around in the funnel. Of course I showed it to my neighbor and wife, but did I think to take a picture?.... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif. I have some more fuel that I bought from the same location, so I will probably be seeing more.

One other question for people using Mr. Funnels. I found that the fuel ran through at a reasonable rate, but the last 1/2" or so would not drain out of the filter. Is this due to lack of head pressure, or could this have been water at the bottom? I've only filled it once with the funnel, so I didn't want to take any chances. I dumped it.

Thanks,
Greg

sneaky_pete · Oct 6, 2004

( One other question for people using Mr. Funnels. I found that the fuel ran through at a reasonable rate, but the last 1/2" or so would not drain out of the filter. Is this due to lack of head pressure, or could this have been water at the bottom? I've only filled it once with the funnel, so I didn't want to take any chances. I dumped it.

Thanks,
Greg)

I dump mine on the weeds in the shop driveway. Looks like a design feature to me, so that if you do have any crud or water filtered out you can rinse it out of the funnel with the little bit remaining in the bottom. A small price to pay for knowing your fuel is clean and water-free.

Pete

KiotiJohn · Oct 8, 2004

( One other question for people using Mr. Funnels. I found that the fuel ran through at a reasonable rate, but the last 1/2" or so would not drain out of the filter. Is this due to lack of head pressure, or could this have been water at the bottom? I've only filled it once with the funnel, so I didn't want to take any chances. I dumped it.)
The filter part is just a little higher than the bottom. When I get to that point, I swish the fuel around and side to side to get all it will, and then dump the rest back into my yellow container. It's usually diesel fuel, but if it's water, and you continue to use the filter, it won't get into your tank. By doing it this way, I don't waste even a little diesel. When it's water, you'll pretty much know, because you're not going to get any diesel through until the water is disposed of! John

MikeFromVA · Oct 12, 2004

When I went to fill up my fuel can, I looked in it for the first time - some black junk floating around and something that looked like small semi-transparent pellets. I've only filled up the can 4 times!!! Crud must be coming from the station's tanks. I ordered Mr. Funnel today... Should have ordered one 2 months ago when the tractor was new /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif