Possible gel situation?

98tdi

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kansas city
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2006 jetta tdi five speed
Cliffs:
2003 alh Jetta
Man Trans
323xxx
Unknown history in fuel filters etc as I just purchased it.
I fill the tank up full and it only went to 3/4 ish on the fuel gauge.
I then ran it down to about the 1/4 mark. It Had air in the clear plastic line feeding the injection pump and left me stranded in -5 degree weather! :/
I had the car sitting out all night an it go to -15ish with the windchill.
I started it up and let it run for about 15 min.
I got no further than 2 miles from my house and it stalled like it was out of fuel!
It had air in the clear line that feeds the injector pump.
I ha the tow truck driver stop at the gas station sonibcould top it off with diesel.
It only took 8.3 gallons!!

Question.1 could it have been gelled? If so would that cause air to get in the lines?

Question.2 have there ever been issue with the "draw straw" in the tank that picks up the fuel? Meaning tank gets 1/4 from empty and it can't pick any more liquid up and starts to suck air?

Question.3 I already replaced the fuel filter and the orings in the plastic "T" on the filter what else makes it draw air in the system?

HELP!
 

98tdi

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kansas city
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2006 jetta tdi five speed
Ended up being the pickup assembly had buildup of what looks to be a gel situation?








It is very thick! Looks like you took pancake syrup and almost froze it. Very thick consistency
 

Jayg

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Good God! Do you know if any veggie oil was run through it?
 

jettawreck

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Good God! Do you know if any veggie oil was run through it?
That was my first thought also.
Or maybe the prior owner was one who added two stroke (or other "lubricity additives") oil into the tank and if done in the cold weather it didn't mix and went to the bottom of the tank and continued to build up there.
Drain and flush the tank, perhaps.
 

Lensdude_com

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one or two oz of 2SO would not do that to 14 usg of D2...
Could be a thick mix of algae, sediment and gelled fuel...
but either way what would you do to get that crap out of there short of removing and steam-cleaning the tank??
 

jettawreck

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one or two oz of 2SO would not do that to 14 usg of D2...
Could be a thick mix of algae, sediment and gelled fuel...
but either way what would you do to get that crap out of there short of removing and steam-cleaning the tank??
No, not a if few ounces at a time, but sometimes folks get carried away. Mostly thinking about the "other lubricity additives" and such that some owners dump in the tank because someone told them it was the thing to do with diesels.
Really looks like home brew bio, WVO or similar.
Ugly looking mess whatever it is.
 
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dieseldorf

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MA
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ex- 1996 wagon, ex-2000 Jetta
Yeah, that doesn't look like any gelled diesel fuel I've ever seen. Good thing you're getting it cleaned up, 98 !
 
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bjmarler

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Tullahoma, TN
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Jetta GLS, 2004, White
OMG, what is that stuff? I think you just found a new way to smuggle illegal substances into the country? LOL
 

YEAAAAH

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Yucky atleast you have probably found your problem. Have you got her running again?
 

craig01b

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Yikes, that is ugly. Fuel quality in the states in some more remote areas is suspect frequently, this looks like old bio, or wvo was run in it. Given the recent temps, these things will crop up. Hope you get it cleaned up, and make sure the fuel you use is from a busy station selling diesel...at those temps, winterized dino diesel should not gel....period, otherwise we all would be sitting on the side of the road this winter
 
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muzy

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Southern Alberta
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02 jetta TDI
What did it look like in the tank? And what ever that is it is gelled, but it is not diesel fuel. Good luck. :)
 

Jayg

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Anchorage, AK
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'12 Jetta 6MT-VW bought back as a lemon
No, not a if few ounces at a time, but sometimes folks get carried away. Mostly thinking about the "other lubricity additives" and such that some owners dump in the tank because someone told them it was the thing to do with diesels.
Really looks like home brew bio, WVO or similar.
Ugly looking mess whatever it is.

Yep. That looks like what can happen when raw unprocessed WVO builds up to me. Even in short span with this cold weather, gross stuff can happen.
 

98tdi

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Yucky atleast you have probably found your problem. Have you got her running again?
Yes had it up and running a few hrs later. That mess was only in the pick up assembly and not in the tank itself. It also had the fuel filter packed tight!
 

Lensdude_com

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...erm k, so no messy guk outside of the sending unit/pump living in the tank?
so the guk came down the return line from the engine?
...this gets interestinger and interestinger hmm
 

98tdi

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kansas city
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...erm k, so no messy guk outside of the sending unit/pump living in the tank?
so the guk came down the return line from the engine?
...this gets interestinger and interestinger hmm
That's correct. Only in the pickup assembly.
I can take pics if you want......
 

LNXGUY

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Barrie, Ont, Canada
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I wonder if the previous owner decided the fill the fuel filter with ATF or something else to 'clean' the engine out. That would explain why it's only in the fuel pick up.
 

Jeepaholic

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Fenton, MI
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Yeah, that really does look like WVO. I put over 100,000 miles on my 300D on WVO and that looks just like cold, not very well filtered WVO. Odd that it's only in the pickup area. Hope it's fixed for good.
 

Jayg

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Anchorage, AK
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Perhaps the previous fuel pickup broke and the PO just got one from a junkyard that had WVO run through it? Who knows, just glad its fixed.
 

VeeDubTDI

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It looks to me like black algae or perhaps the goopy leavings of some bad biodiesel.

You should he fine now that you have it cleaned up, but you may was to run an algae treatment just to be safe.
 

Lensdude_com

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...ok, so it's a petro-organic mass that outgrew its residence :)
I would do a Diesel Purge with one IV and PowerService 911 in the IV to the fuel filter...
the engine runs on a bottle of diesel purge and the lift pump would effectively circulate the PS 911 through the 'return to tank'(after the Thermo-T) and the filter outlet into the (PS 911-filled) 2L bottle
 
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