Bad fuel/filter

[layback40]

Havent had issues with common rail fuel system before so I could only use experience with conventional diesel fuel systems.
Driving home last night about 25km from home the KJ felt a bit weak a couple of times & then it just lost power. Felt very similar to when a conventional diesel has a fuel restriction. Had done about 100 km the day before (Thursday) just after filling tank. Cold & wet conditions. Drove about 20 km on the day (Friday). Made it home just. Had very little power & struggled to get over 50km/hr. Thought it may be a fuel problem, maybe water in fuel. Today removed filter element. fuel in the filter looked clean. Looking through the holes in the top flange at the filter paper, it looked very dark, nearly black. Suspect bugs. New element fitted. Jeep runs fine. Bottle of injector cleaner/anti alge stuff added to tank. Fingers crossed! 25km so far since all good.

[skipperau]

I would generally not think “Black Death” would have been the answer to your problem other than you seeing black deposits in the filter.
It’s something we see in the marine industry regularly due to tanks often sitting idle with water in the fuel. It’s an algae that grows in the fuel/water interface until it spreads sufficiently to start blocking filters and eventually even the lines themselves. If that is the answer it’s a pain to get rid of, to the point we drain the tanks and steam clean them and run alcohol through the lines to kill it. The additives will slow the growth down but often they don’t actually kill it off.

How’s your voltage? If your alternator is a bit variable the voltage changes can affect how the solenoids on the injectors work, that’s what was happening to us recently until we changed the battery.

Doug.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[layback40]

Originally Posted by skipperau

I would generally not think “Black Death” would have been the answer to your problem other than you seeing black deposits in the filter.
It’s something we see in the marine industry regularly due to tanks often sitting idle with water in the fuel. It’s an algae that grows in the fuel/water interface until it spreads sufficiently to start blocking filters and eventually even the lines themselves. If that is the answer it’s a pain to get rid of, to the point we drain the tanks and steam clean them and run alcohol through the lines to kill it. The additives will slow the growth down but often they don’t actually kill it off.

How’s your voltage? If your alternator is a bit variable the voltage changes can affect how the solenoids on the injectors work, that’s what was happening to us recently until we changed the battery.

Doug.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the comments Doug.
I was surprised to see it in the filter. There was no water in the bottom of the filter. Had issues with a farm tank about 15 years ago. The fuel this time was Caltex from a high turnover station. I dont know how long the filter has been in there as I have only had this jeep for 18,000km. Going to cut the filter open & see what I find. Think I will run the tank down low before refueling. The battery is not very old (a few months) & is oversized so hoping its not voltage issue.

[skipperau]

Originally Posted by layback40

Thanks for the comments Doug.

I was surprised to see it in the filter. There was no water in the bottom of the filter. Had issues with a farm tank about 15 years ago. The fuel this time was Caltex from a high turnover station. I dont know how long the filter has been in there as I have only had this jeep for 18,000km. Going to cut the filter open & see what I find. Think I will run the tank down low before refueling. The battery is not very old (a few months) & is oversized so hoping its not voltage issue.

Chances are it could be as simple as an old filter in this case, you’ve obviously covered all the bases, choosing to fuel up from a high turnover servo, and the voltage issue. So keep an eye on it and change the filter every 2 years and you should be golden. I changed mine a few months back and it had about 5ml of water in it, not enough to trigger the sensor but from all information that I had it was at least 4 years old so I was happy. We have inspected the tank and it’s clean.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jaffazoom]

Had mine loose power the other day for the first time when I pulled out onto the highway and put my foot down a bit to get distance on a caravan coming same direction. Backed off and went to set cruise for 100 km/h and it just kept de accelerating. Put my foot down to the floor and struggled to do 80 km/h to the next turn off where I could pull up. Used the Torque app on my phone and found a fault code P0093 large fuel leak. NO Fault light displayed but Jeep in Limp mode. Resets next off on cycle of the key and drove fine. Can be air in the filter, fuel pressure regulator, or even the pump etc. Worst bit was this was a week after accidentally putting 8 liters of petrol in it, realising what I was doing adding 60 liters of diesel and 500ml of 2stroke oil and driving home 5klm's to drain tank and refill with diesel. Been fine for a couple of weeks,

So after all that my point is check for codes cause it doesn't have to trigger engine light.