Dirty Fuel

Carwayboi · November 23rd, 2019, 20:30

Thanks to everyone for helping a newbie change his fuel and air filter today. I don’t have the VCDS tool, so I decided to go the fuel in canister route. I bought a bit of fuel from my local Sunoco using a 32oz clear plastic bottle. There were bits of particle suspended in the fuel, but it quickly settled. I was astonished that so much dirt was in so little fuel. Is that normal? Where do all that crap go once pumped in our tanks. I took pictures, but couldn’t figure out how to post pictures.

TLH_TDI · November 24th, 2019, 05:40

I’ve never seen that much dirt before, you may want to notify them and purchase your fuel somewhere else.

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Carwayboi · November 24th, 2019, 07:23

I plan on doing a random test of about 6 different stations using my clear bottle test. I will post the results here. Maybe I’m just paranoid, but will find out after my tests. Stay tuned.

johnsTDI · November 24th, 2019, 08:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carwayboi

Thanks to everyone for helping a newbie change his fuel and air filter today. I don’t have the VCDS tool, so I decided to go the fuel in canister route. I bought a bit of fuel from my local Sunoco using a 32oz clear plastic bottle. There were bits of particle suspended in the fuel, but it quickly settled. I was astonished that so much dirt was in so little fuel. Is that normal? Where do all that crap go once pumped in our tanks. I took pictures, but couldn’t figure out how to post pictures.

so what vehicle is this again? & how well did it start?... start right away or did it take a few cranks?

tdiatlast · November 24th, 2019, 08:14

200k miles of diesel fuel use, with sporadic clear bottle of fuel needed for FF changes.

NEVER saw visible contamination, occasional cloudiness. I would take the sample back and show it to them, although you'll get a blank stare from the clerk. If time permits, I'd contact the owner of the station.

I predict your 6 samples will be perfectly clear, and that your dirty sample was the exception. (although I'd not buy fuel from THAT station!)

Carwayboi · November 24th, 2019, 09:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnsTDI

so what vehicle is this again? & how well did it start?... start right away or did it take a few cranks?

2013 Jetta Sportwagen TDI. It started right away, no issues. Not sure If\when the fuel filter was ever changed. I bought it VW certified with 38K miles. The only thing I had done was 2 oil changes, and it now has 66K miles. My fuel consumption was getting worse and I started to get the intermittent glow plugs flashing especially when I was low on fuel. If I restart the car, the flashing plugs would go away, but eventually return. The filter was quite dirty. The flashing glow plugs hasn’t return, but it is still a bit early to declare victory. Fuel and air filters took less than 15 minutes to replace.

johnsTDI · November 24th, 2019, 11:09

cool. cheers!

A3Dave · November 24th, 2019, 19:37

You don't need to fill the canister by the way, cycle the key 2-3 times prior to startup and it will fire right up.

Carwayboi · November 25th, 2019, 04:35

Picture of dirty fuel and filter.

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/uploads...C8685B6E6.jpeg

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/uploads...B4F804615.jpeg

A3Dave · November 25th, 2019, 12:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carwayboi

Picture of dirty fuel and filter.

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/uploads...C8685B6E6.jpeg

http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/uploads...B4F804615.jpeg

Some things you should know is whatever dirt is in the canister does necessarily matter if it's larger particles like you've shown.

The fuel intake is from the center of the filter, up and out. So everything in the canister is filtered prior to going into the engine.

Regarding the pictures that's pretty bad, I'd def file some complaint.

Ooga · November 30th, 2019, 21:37

That is some nasty fuel for sure!

prsa01 · December 1st, 2019, 07:08

How sure are you that the bottle was totally clean before the fuel?