How long till fuel filter clogs?

I'm well aware that using biodiesel will cause your fuel filter to clog as a result of its lubricity dislodging crap.

My question is, how long does it take for this to happen? I know it depends somewhat on mileage; an older vehicle will have more crap to dislodge.

Mine is a 2006 model year vehicle with only about 5000 miles on it. I was mostly running Arco ULSD in it till this last tank, when I filled up on B99.9. VERY exciting!!!

I've only used half a tank and now it's stumbling for a few seconds on startup before smoothing out. It hasn't done this on dino. Is it possible that even on this new car, using up just a half tank of B99.9 was enough to clog the fuel filter?

With only 5000 miles on your car, it's very unlikely the biodiesel is causing your fuel filter to clog, especially if you were running known quality ULSD beforehand.

Could the stumbling be due to colder weather? Neat biodiesel will gel as low as 32F/0C.

scurvy

Where do you live? A diesel Tucson sounds pretty cool!

Biodiesel typicall has a higher cetane value than petrodiesel. This means the fuel ignites earlier, which effectively advances your injectino timing. This might cause the stumble... but that's just a guess.

I find that my TDI starts very easily on biodiesel... but it's a different engine, so it's not a very good comparison.

Thanks - I live in Long Beach, CA so cold weather definitely isn't the issue - it's been way warmer than 40 degrees F.

Yeah, it's kind of a puzzle - the higher cetane explanation seems plausible though.

edkim said:

Mine is a 2006 model year vehicle

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McBrew said:

I find that my TDI starts very easily on biodiesel

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My 2006 Golf GLS TDI starts and runs beautifully on every blend I've tried, all the way from B2 to B20, even in Chicago springtime weather (15F). Try a different supplier, a different blend level, or don't worry about it. Enjoy the better smelling exhaust, too.

scurvy

Could very well have been a bad batch of fuel... who is your supplier, is the fuel ASTM-spec?

You're sure your ARCO fuel was good? I've seen a single tank of bad D2 disable my car, fill the filter with crud.

How the heck did you get a diesel Hyundai?

McBrew said:

How the heck did you get a diesel Hyundai?

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Same here!! how did you get it! i saw the hyundai crdi's in guatemala did you get it from there?

With a name like KIM this person may well be in Korea where they are made. Just my thoughts.

BudsBug said:

With a name like KIM this person may well be in Korea where they are made. Just my thoughts.

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But he said he filled the thing up in LA

I'm local in Long Beach - and I have this car for evaluation purposes, so it's only here for a year. Whenever there's a gtg locally I plan to bring it out. I'll be happy to give ride and drives.

I haven't been able to drive the car for a few days because I've been driving another vehicle, but I'll be driving it again from tonight. When I fill up next time I'll put my usual Arco ULSD in it and see what happens.

Hi Kim, where do you find Arco ULSD (ECDiesel) in LB? I am going over to LB tonight to help my coworker with his computer. I went to all Arco stations in my area (San Gabriel Valley) and none of them no longer sell the ECD, just good old D2.

gtveloce said:

Hi Kim, where do you find Arco ULSD (ECDiesel) in LB? I am going over to LB tonight to help my coworker with his computer. I went to all Arco stations in my area (San Gabriel Valley) and none of them no longer sell the ECD, just good old D2.

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ARCO has a website with retail outlet information:

http://www.ecdiesel.com/business/locator.asp

Download the PDF, and it lists the stations in California.

Tucson is common rail, and one of the failure modes of these injectors(Bosch, although others are likely the same) involves the injector being "sticky" when cold. Whether it's related to deposits or lubricity I don't know but it's my own experience that a dose of one of the better cleaners (like lubro moly) cures the symptoms for a number of thousands of miles.
You might however be seeing an unrelated warrantyable issue, or it could be due to the use of bioD.
I'll be interested to see how you get on after an extended mileage- my Suzuki HDI started throwing errors for pressure control valve issues in the pump, and after stripdown golden varnish-like particles were found to be blocking it's strainer. Never got to the bottom of that, but be aware that most CR- engines are only certified for up to B5. Who knows what happens to biofuels under the massive (1500-ish bar) pressures...

B100 said:

ARCO has a website with retail outlet information:
http://www.ecdiesel.com/business/locator.asp
Download the PDF, and it lists the stations in California.

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Downloaded that PDF about 4 months ago when I got my TDI.
I have been to 4 of the stations listed in that PDF, none of them no longer sell ECD. D2 only.

DPM said:

Who knows what happens to biofuels under the massive (1500-ish bar) pressures

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Probably the same thing that happens to the B2 - B20 I've run in my 2006 Golf TDI w/100 hp PD engine. I've seen a few different figures for the injection pressure of the unit injectors, but they've been in the 24,000 psi to 29,000 psi range, 1650 - 2000 bar.

My car runs fine.

Many other folks have run B100 exclusively in their PD-TDIs. Check the biodiesel forum for more tales of that. IMHO, fuel quality, not source - be it WVO biodiesel from a buddy's garage, soybeans from the midwest or an oil well in Saudi Arabia - is a real deciding factor.

But still, I'd love to have a CRD option in many of our cars. Enjoy the Tuscon while you can.

scurvy

gtveloce said:

Hi Kim, where do you find Arco ULSD (ECDiesel) in LB? I am going over to LB tonight to help my coworker with his computer. I went to all Arco stations in my area (San Gabriel Valley) and none of them no longer sell the ECD, just good old D2.

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I get mine at the Arco station on 7th St. Damn, I can't remember the cross street, but it's between Termino and Redondo somewhere.

I'm pretty sure it's ECD...there's a faded sticker on the pump and his prices are consistently a bit higher than the competition, so I'm assuming it's the stuff. But I haven't personally asked the attendant.

I've been driving the car all day and notice that it really seems to be just a cold start problem. When it's warm, there no stumbling whatsoever; it starts and runs like a champ. So maybe the stumbling is due to the common rail injection system? Dunno - I'll have to look into that.

That does bring up an interesting point though - CR diesels seem to be the way forward...how will their design evolve to accommodate bioD use?

Try either blipping the throttle or holding the engine at a fast idle for a couple of seconds after it starts; might get rid of the stumbling quicker...

Thx

That Arco is at 3201 7th st at Obispo

I was just at 5th and Loma last night. (1000 ft away)