Thread: Clean Diesel
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Larry Larry is offline
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First recorded activity by BoatBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 5,275
Default Clean Diesel

"map" wrote in news:1171090124.250613.201850
@l53g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

I have not been out for about 4 months, I left my tanks half full
(mistake) and I've had problems with my diesel in the past.
My plan was to treat the current fuel with enzymes, burn 10 or 20
gallons, then fill the tanks and change filters.
Thoughts out there??



Big mistake everyone else on the dock makes over and over and never seem
to learn to FILL THE TANKS BEFORE PUTTING THE TOYS AWAY! Flogging at the
mast at high noon....grrr...

The beatings aside, it's probably fine. SECURELY Tywrap a clean white
rag to the end of a rod and poke it down to the bottom of the tank,
slowly, a few times, moving it around, slowly rotating it to collect what
you can. Pull it slowly out and look at it. See any black gook on it?
The black gook is the algae growing in the thin layer between the water
in the bottom of the tank and the the fuel above it. If there's no water
in the tank for it to grow on, it never forms in pure fuel. The tank
needs "polishing". Ask your diesel shop to borrow their fuel polisher
for a day. Make sure it sucks dead off the bottom of the tank so it will
suck up the water. Run the intake hose around inside the tank as much as
possible while it's running to pick up all you can. Just hooking it to
the outlet of the tank won't reach all the crap in there. You may have
to change the polisher's filters a few times before you get it all. The
shop left the old filters in it so make SURE you put NEW filters in it
before you start at all. Put new filters in it when you're done to say
thanks to the shop for letting you borrow it. Filters are much cheaper
than injection service...

Get some water detector paste to check for water by putting it on the end
of the rod and tapping the rod on the bottom of the tankage every so
often. Then FILL THE TANKS BEFORE STORAGE FROM NOW ON...OR ELSE! The
flogging at the mast usually breaks them of this nasty, lazy habit.


Larry
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