Is diesel supposed to look like this?

[AceHigh]

Actually, I think not. The second picture shows "something" at the bottom of the pop bottle after settling. I am betting algae.

A new to me CUCV, ran find home but when I backed up a hill, she quit. Dead quit. I tried a few things and all I got was white smoke. So, I put a new electric fuel pump on, a filter near the tank and replaced the final filter. The old box filter was full of crap and I could not even blow through it. She started up fine, ran 2 minutes and died. New filter is clogged. I thought I had gotten all the stuff out but now it is back to work.

Since I put a new filter on near the tank, this stuff all came out of the line and the mechanical lift pump.

NEXT: Drop tank, new fuel line, new filter.

My job jar just got crammed.

 

[mhassett]

You will need to drop the tank, clean and dry. No water, period. The algea is growing in the oil/water interface.
In direct answer to your question, for good diesel fuel, color does not mean anything. That being said, red color means off road fuel. That being said, amber, gold, clear are all colors you will find.
MHassett
Bush, LA

 

[AceHigh]

amber, gold, clear are all colors you will find

Not in my tank!

I just finished siphoning off what I could and what I pulled out looked great. I guess when I backed up the hill I sucked water and that broke the algae loose. Fun day ahead tomorrow. Thanks.

 

[idM1028]

Could be algae. It is possible for it to grow in diesel. Pick up a copy of the Haynes diesel manual. Its got a little more info on algae in diesel as well as repair procedures for the old 6.2. IIRC theres stuff you can dump in the tank to kill algae. Could also be crud from the bottom of the tank. This is why you should never run ANY vehicle lower than a quarter tank. If it gets that low, the fuel pump, etc can pick it up and start shooting it through the system.

 

[AceHigh]

Agree with bottom of tank. I think backing up the hill did it, tank was full when she died.

 

[Bill W]

Algae is just a slang for the Fungus that grows in diesel fuel, its correct name is Cladosporium resinae
or H.U.M.BUGS (Hydrocarbon utilizing microorganism ) Its starts with moisture in the tank and spreads, especially when the vehicle sits for long periods of time

 

[rmgill]

I had to clean a tank that was like this. I siphoned off fuel that was good into jerry cans and then proceeded to siphon as much of this gunk out and once the tank was mostly empty turned it over and was able to get it clean with water and a bit of detergent and then put the tank in the sun to dry.

If I ever come across this again, I'll be getting a fuel pump and a set of filters/water separators and running the fuel through the system recirculating it. I still think it'd be a good thing to do yearly, run the fuel filter system with the intake/draw pushing the accumulated crud around the tank to disturb it and get it loose from odd corners.

 

[acesneights1]

you can use additives as regular maintenance.

 

[AceHigh]

I do use anti-algae stuff in my trucks, this one is new to the stable. That stuff is not cheap, but it is money well spent.

 

[WARWAG]

If you are having problems with Algae then the simple fix is to pour a bottle of standard ATF into your tank. It will kill the Algae. You will by the looks of it need to have your tank flushed. To me the picture in the bottle looks more like rust. But its a small picture and I may be wrong. Either way you will need to flush the tank and pour a quart every now and then in your tank to kill any algae growing in it and your fuel lines.

 

[AceHigh]

Thanks, Warwag. The sender is not working anyway, so the tank was coming off regardless. Tank is now off, looks bad so a new one is in order. Also new sender and fuel lines. One step at a time.

 

[stampy]

Clean wvo does a great job in cleaning but biodiesel is better. I put it in my truck and ALL the crap that was in the tank ended up in my filters. I didn't want to have to pull the tank though.I had to change the filters once, but ever since no problems.

 

[WARWAG]

No problem Ace High. Take lots of pictures for us.