Oil & Fuel What is this?

[olPete]

Do y'all have a thing like what we call 'fuelset', a diesel treatment? We get a lot of fuel bug in NZ in farm diesel tanks that aren't ever full or empty, humid conditions etc.
Had a JD6420 that really didn't like it...
We put a fuelset in a 400gal tank, and that fixes the bug in everything that drinks from it.
Incredible that there's bacteria in the ocean living off crude oil... as said above, thriving on it!!!
Best of luck, hopefully a fuel treatment will cure the bug in your life
Pete

 

[Wagtail]

Do y'all have a thing like what we call 'fuelset', a diesel treatment? We get a lot of fuel bug in NZ in farm diesel tanks that aren't ever full or empty, humid conditions etc.
Had a JD6420 that really didn't like it...
We put a fuelset in a 400gal tank, and that fixes the bug in everything that drinks from it.
Incredible that there's bacteria in the ocean living off crude oil... as said above, thriving on it!!!
Best of luck, hopefully a fuel treatment will cure the bug in your life
Pete

Seconded on the 'Fuel Set' or, as I've been using, 'Fuel Doctor'.

 

[stuckmotor]

CAD and Ray,
If I get around to doing the magnet test I'll post the result. I'm guessing a magnet would attract partially magnetic rust and not bacteria. If it's totally non-magnetic rust I'm still in the dark.

I gently scraped some of what looked just like rust to me off of the inside of my fuel cap. To my surprise some of it was mushy. When I applied the magnet the mushy part showed no reaction while a few tiny, hard, and dark colored lumps jumped off of the paper where I'd wiped my knife blade and onto the magnet. I suspect that the mushy part was either bacteria or moist rust and the magnetic lumps were either dislodged by the action of the bacteria or were rust that had hardened. I'm no scientist, what da ya think?

 

[stuckmotor]

Do y'all have a thing like what we call 'fuelset', a diesel treatment? We get a lot of fuel bug in NZ in farm diesel tanks that aren't ever full or empty, humid conditions etc.
Had a JD6420 that really didn't like it...
We put a fuelset in a 400gal tank, and that fixes the bug in everything that drinks from it.
Incredible that there's bacteria in the ocean living off crude oil... as said above, thriving on it!!!
Best of luck, hopefully a fuel treatment will cure the bug in your life
Pete

I did a search and biocides for diesel fuel are available on the www.
diesel fuel anti-bacterial - Google Search

 

[Wagtail]

I did a search and biocides for diesel fuel are available on the www.
diesel fuel anti-bacterial - Google Search

True, there are many biocide fuel additives on the market... and they do just what they say, 'kill' the biological contaminate. They also say that they'll clean your fuel system/injectors/valves. But, what happens to the dead biological? It settles to the bottom of the tank.

I'd recommend finding a biocide that breaks down the biological elements (and water too) to microscopic components and suspends it in the diesel/fuel. That way it will pass through the fuel filter and burn up.

 

[stuckmotor]

True, there are many biocide fuel additives on the market... and they do just what they say, 'kill' the biological contaminate. They also say that they'll clean your fuel system/injectors/valves. But, what happens to the dead biological? It settles to the bottom of the tank.

I'd recommend finding a biocide that breaks down the biological elements (and water too) to microscopic components and suspends it in the diesel/fuel. That way it will pass through the fuel filter and burn up.

Makes sense to me.

 

[sawtooth]

I gently scraped some of what looked just like rust to me off of the inside of my fuel cap. To my surprise some of it was mushy. When I applied the magnet the mushy part showed no reaction while a few tiny, hard, and dark colored lumps jumped off of the paper where I'd wiped my knife blade and onto the magnet. I suspect that the mushy part was either bacteria or moist rust and the magnetic lumps were either dislodged by the action of the bacteria or were rust that had hardened. I'm no scientist, what da ya think?

This is exactly what I just found yesterday. It looks like tiny pieces of rust in the form of grains of sand attached to tank all the way to the bottom. You can easily scrape some off with a stick etc. I drained the tank and it looked like muddy water coming out. Flushed tank with clean diesel fuel a couple times, replaced filters and fuel shut off valve and got her back running. The new fuel I put back in has opti-lube Ag formula with biocide. Will see what this does.

 

[sawtooth]

This is a small sample of what came out. There was ALOT more of it though. Mud looking diesel fuel.

 

[stuckmotor]

This is exactly what I just found yesterday. It looks like tiny pieces of rust in the form of grains of sand attached to tank all the way to the bottom. You can easily scrape some off with a stick etc. I drained the tank and it looked like muddy water coming out. Flushed tank with clean diesel fuel a couple times, replaced filters and fuel shut off valve and got her back running. The new fuel I put back in has opti-lube Ag formula with biocide. Will see what this does.

I'll try to drain mine soon. The stuff in your photo next looks like what mine probably looks like inside the tank.