Thread: And it keeps on coming

I sold a fuel pick up / guage sender the other day. The pick up pipe has a slot in the end of it to try to prevent blockages, but no filter.

Sorry to hear your woes. Can't help with the fuel issues. I havn't looked in my tank.

TD5 pick up is completely different to Tdi anyway...

that brown stuff is probabley diesel snot... Bad karma has come your way.. At some point you have recieved a water contaminated batch of fuel at some point and the fungus in another or both at once...

your filters will be swimming in it, the pumps will be fouled with it, it can caramelise in your injectors if it gets past everything.... (if its a bad case)

solution is a complete drain and flush of all fuel system components and replace all filters, most people (even mechanics) forget about the strainer in the lift pump. check that out first.. if it has the snot in it


didnt mean to spoil your day, but Ive just checked out a second hand diesel tank for the RHS of kermit.. and it looked like it had the daintree rainforrest growing in there.

Thanks for the input, but definitely not diesel algae.

As I understand it, algae is snotty, as you say, it also discolours the diesel and forms a sludge.

I have none of those problems. The diesel is perfectly clear except for the tobacco. I drained off the last ten litres in the tank, no sludge, no rust, no water. I cleaned out the sedimenter, a tiny amount of grit, no water. I replaced the fuel filter, again, looked fine. I cleaned out the gauze in the lift pump and found that it was clogged, I can only guess that it is the tobacco clogging the gauze.

After I cleaned the gauze the truck ran fine until the problem started again less than 500k later. I cleaned the gauze again - this time it was barely as clogged - and the problem was similarly not as bad as the previous occasion.

I can only describe my problem as fuel starvation. If it is at its worst the engine will run fine for a short time and then starve and blow blue smoke. If I keep the load on the engine it will continue to starve and blow blue. If I leave it to idle for a short time it appears to recover and drives fine again for a short time. My assumption is that this is the fuel filter reservoir filling and draining, and having its supply restricted by a blockage downstream in the fuel system.

When the problem is present, but not as bad, the engine runs fine until a certain point at load - like accelerating up a hill, or dropping down a gear - when it starts to starve and blow blue smoke again.

I replaced the lift pump a year ago, so this time when I had drained the filter and the sedimenter I thought I could get away with using the lift pump to prime the system.

Oh I think I was wrong. I was sure that all of the forum chatter about never priming with the lift pump applied only to pumps that had been sitting there since the vehicle was new.

Not so, I think.

I pulled the banjo bolt off the fuel filter this arvo to test the lift pump without a load. Guess what, no lift.

So, no truck and no car - we haven't replaced the Subaru after it was stolen.

I want to send it off to mechanic for the head gasket with the fuel problems fixed. The NRMA fella kept looking and looking, trying to work out why all the evidence pointed to a head gasket, but the blue smoke kept pointing to a cooked engine.

I'm really hoping that I'm right.

Cheers
Simon.

I've got a 98 110 wagon and the pick-up in the tank is simply a 6mm tube, that I assumed was aluminum. Definately, no strainer or gauze.

Originally Posted by abaddonxi

Thanks for the input, but definitely not diesel algae.

As I understand it, algae is snotty, as you say, it also discolours the diesel and forms a sludge.

I have none of those problems. The diesel is perfectly clear except for the tobacco. I drained off the last ten litres in the tank, no sludge, no rust, no water. I cleaned out the sedimenter, a tiny amount of grit, no water. I replaced the fuel filter, again, looked fine. I cleaned out the gauze in the lift pump and found that it was clogged, I can only guess that it is the tobacco clogging the gauze.

After I cleaned the gauze the truck ran fine until the problem started again less than 500k later. I cleaned the gauze again - this time it was barely as clogged - and the problem was similarly not as bad as the previous occasion.

I can only describe my problem as fuel starvation. If it is at its worst the engine will run fine for a short time and then starve and blow blue smoke. If I keep the load on the engine it will continue to starve and blow blue. If I leave it to idle for a short time it appears to recover and drives fine again for a short time. My assumption is that this is the fuel filter reservoir filling and draining, and having its supply restricted by a blockage downstream in the fuel system.

When the problem is present, but not as bad, the engine runs fine until a certain point at load - like accelerating up a hill, or dropping down a gear - when it starts to starve and blow blue smoke again.

I replaced the lift pump a year ago, so this time when I had drained the filter and the sedimenter I thought I could get away with using the lift pump to prime the system.

Oh I think I was wrong. I was sure that all of the forum chatter about never priming with the lift pump applied only to pumps that had been sitting there since the vehicle was new.

Not so, I think.

I pulled the banjo bolt off the fuel filter this arvo to test the lift pump without a load. Guess what, no lift.

So, no truck and no car - we haven't replaced the Subaru after it was stolen.

I want to send it off to mechanic for the head gasket with the fuel problems fixed. The NRMA fella kept looking and looking, trying to work out why all the evidence pointed to a head gasket, but the blue smoke kept pointing to a cooked engine.

I'm really hoping that I'm right.

Cheers
Simon.

the simplest idea here is.....
to blow out the airlines backwards.....start at the filter and use compressed air to blow the plumbing clean
back to the tank......but disconnect from the tank first so you dont blow crud back in there......
and watch for any oneway valves....you dont want to blow them up.....


remove the fuel filter and empty the contents into a clean glass jar.....
but make sure you tip the contents out from the inlet side of the filter.....
this should give you some idea of whats in the filter.....my guess is that it is clogged again........
and will happen again and again till the tank gives up smoking.....


(ps....stop smuggling stuff in you fuel tank.....the condoms perish in the diesel....)

Got the word back on the 130, head has already been ground a couple of times before, so new head.

It might cost a bit.

Cheers
Simon