Thread: The importance of clean fuel and good filtration - especially in commonrail diesels!

Thanks for that, I remember when I used to run and service my Mack that it had 2 large fuel filters and I was always draining the glass bowled one because of the crap and water in the bottom, I had 4 fuel tanks and was forever draining rubbish out of them. Two trips a week to Melbourne and back and one return to Adelaide in a normal week would see me changing fuel filters and draining sumps of fuel tanks every week. Fuel was always bought at the same servos where I had accounts, I ended up using a Land Rover Series removable type gauze filter in each tank filler neck and when I showed the manager the crap that was coming out of his pumps, then he decided it was time to clean up his act or lose a bunch of big customers. Lucky CRD weren't around then, there would have been a lot of expensive down time, Regards Frank.

Thanks Tank.

I suppose the key point is that even fuel that is in spec as delivered by the servo is usually not clean enough for standard CR systems.

This is not just an issue in Australia but in most of the world as you can see.

Anyone with a CR engine who wants to keep it for a long time would be well advised to fit additional filters in-line.

Also note that the engine and filter manufacturers do not support the use of any fuel additives or the addition of lubricant oil (incl 2-stroke) to fuel.

Thanks Ben,

Interesting read... unfortunately (or should I say thankfully?), the 4BD1 technology's somewhat behind the common rail stuff & will tolerate such imperfections.

Still very interesting reading.

Same goes for the 300tdi. Less power and torque than modern CR engines but a lot more tolerant to crap except overheating!

Originally Posted by Offender90

Thanks Ben,

Interesting read... unfortunately (or should I say thankfully?), the 4BD1 technology's somewhat behind the common rail stuff & will tolerate such imperfections.

Still very interesting reading.

The same principle applies, however as stated the tolerances are larger in non-efi diesels.

4BD1 and 300tdi landies need an extra filter in-line as well (which many of us have added). In a 4BD1 it may only mean the difference between a pump rebuild and injector nozzle replacement at 600k or 900k instead of 300k, but it will still make a difference.

TD5s are very close to commonrail diesels wrt fuel contaminant sensitivity.

Speaking of additional fuel filters, how frequently should they be changed?

Originally Posted by Offender90

Speaking of additional fuel filters, how frequently should they be changed?

The first filter after the tank is the one most likely to be clogged. If you convert the sedimeter to accept a CAV type filter they are only ~$4 each so you can change them each 5-10k km.

The added advantage is this filter should keep the gauze screen clean, and also the primary ($$) filter, which should now last 20k km at least.

Originally Posted by isuzurover

The first filter after the tank is the one most likely to be clogged. If you convert the sedimeter to accept a CAV type filter they are only ~$4 each so you can change them each 5-10k km.

The added advantage is this filter should keep the gauze screen clean, and also the primary ($$) filter, which should now last 20k km at least.

So Ben, what is your recommendation for the ultimate fuel filtration addition/system for a TD5, and if different to a Defender, specifically a Discovery 2a?