Fuel - Bacteria - filter question

[Chaz]

Hey guys,
  The last time I had my bus out, on the way home, she started .....well ......not having much of a "top end" coming down the Highway. Actually, she could barely maintain 55. I stopped and put fuel in her and she came off the entrance ramp just a "hellin" but then faded and kept fading little by little.
  I'm by no means any sort of mechanic on this thing but it kinda seemed to me that it might be the fuel filters. A trucker buddy of mine thought the same thing, altho I had changed them out maybe 2-3 tanks of fuel ago. He said it could be water or maybe bacteria.
  So I pulled them. One had....... I dunno......... maybe an 1/8th" or a little more of water in it and the fuel was clear. The second was "nasty"!!!! It had black s**t in the bottom and the fuel in it was very dark. The black s**t was kind of "clumpy" or what seemed to have been a bunch of this stuff laying on the bottom when I poured it out. Could that be that "bad @$# Bacteria"??
  I replaced the filters and put in some of the "bacteriacide" (sp?). But I was just curious as to what you thought. I want to take her on a trip next weekend and was just wanting to be prepared.
  Oh, and why the hell does it do that???  That's GOT to be some pretty onery s**t to live and thrive in dino juice. Could it have had some Bio. in it to cause that?

Thanx a bunch,
  Chaz

[letz4wheel]

Chaz,
The biggest thing to do is watch where you buy your fuel. Anytime I ever had trouble with fuel is when I bought it from the smaller no name fuelstops.
What you are probably dealing with is an old bus and years of gunk built up in it. If you can shine a light in the tank take a look. When you get the time you might want to empty the tank and give it a good cleaning. Otherwise you can always carry spare filters. 

[oldmansax]

I am not a chemist or expert of any kind but I can relate what was told to me in class when I sold and serviced oil (#2) fired equipment.

There are bacteria that can live in fuel oil when water is present. The black stuff you see in the filters is actually the waste (sh*t) that the bacteria produce as they assimilate oil. The only way to kill them is with an additive that has a bactericide in it. All of this is what I was taught.

My experience has pretty much backed what they told me. We have one oil supplier in the area that has old tanks with water & bacteria problems. I once installed a brand new out of the box oil fired boiler system including a new tank & oil lines. I got a no heat call 2 weeks after start up. I found the fuel filter almost stopped up with the black stuff.More black stuff in the tank & lines. I changed filters & treated the tank for TWO YEARS & never got rid of it until she changed suppliers. Worst of all, when she switched suppliers, her tank contaminated the oil fill nozzle of her new supplier & everyone that truck delivered to who had any water present got bacteria problems. It works like an AIDS epidemic except there is a cure.

Keep new filters on the bus, you're going to need them. Keep your tank treated at least 6 months any maybe you can get rid of them. If you have any on site storage, treat that too. Also don't forget any fuel cans you may have used. I could make a couple of risque comments about watching whose nozzle goes in the old girls tank but I won't. You get the idea.

HTH

TOM

[Hartley]

Hefty does of Biocide and a few filters later and you can get it under control.

Aircraft have the same problems with Jet fuel. They add a fuel treatment to keep the bugs killed on every fill up.

After having worked as a fueler for an FBO I learned about bugs in fuel.
Turbine engines really are picky about stuff clogging them up.

[Chaz]

Thanx for the thoughts guys. 'preciate it.

So one more quick question:
  Since I don't use my bus as much as I would like to should I put the bacteriacide every so often or is the proper dose fine until I get another load of fuel?

Thanx,
  Chaz

[junkman42]

Chaz, one thing to think about, most of the bacterial remedies for fuel are corrosive!  I do not know about their effect on aluminum tanks but from My personal experience in the marine world some can cause leaks in black iron tanks.  I am always worried about an additive causing deterioration in My fuel tanks.  My two cents not worth much more>  John

[Bob Belter]

Ahoy, BusFolk,

Yah, I had a Fuel Bacteria problem some years ago, after my Eagle -01 was down while installing a new engine.
Black 'mung' in the tank.  Biocide and filter changes fixed the problem.  CAUTION!!!   Read the label on the biocide
carefully, it is a potent poison which can 'do you in'!!!

Enjoy   /s/    Bob

[Barn Owl]

I have no idea if this is true so you all tell me.

I had and old timer from a contractor that serviced our fueling equipment tell me that in the "old days" they never had a bacteria problem. It wasn't until the scientist created the oil eating bacteria to clean up oil spills that this became a problem. What say ye?

[TomC]

You might consider replacing the primary filter (not the secondary since many times it has the starter cutout relay on it) with a Davco filter.  It looks like a filter housing on the bottom with a clear plastic bowl with the filter inside on top of it.  It is both a filter and a water separator with drain on the bottom.  As the filter gets dirty, the fuel rises in the clear bowl until it hits a mark at the top-when you know for sure it is time to change the filter, not sooner.  With our standard spin on filters, the only way to tell they are dirty is like what you experienced-a loss in power from fuel deprevation.  Also, the Davco has a hand spin in knob at the top of the bowl that allows you to fill the bowl up after changing to keep from loosing prime, or to prime it after running out of fuel.  I put lots of these filters on new trucks and they work great.  I have one that I'm going to put on my truck waiting in the new box at the warehouse.  Good Luck, TomC

[Chaz]

Thanx for the cautionary words guys. Good to know.

Tom, what model Davco would you recommend? I seen there were several. Thanx.

As far as my question about treating goes............. I guess I'll just wing it.
  Thanx
Chaz