Debris in fuel tank

[Copenhagen]

Our Kobelco was running horribly the other day. It would run up to its high rpm for about 10 minutes then it would stumble and sputter for a few seconds then it would run back up again.

I thought I had a bad fuel filter so I replaced it. When I pulled the old one off, it looked like a piece of latex was lining the inside of the filter and not letting the engine get any fuel.

After the new filter was on, it did the same thing. It looks like someone dropped a latex glove in there and it is coming out in pieces about the size of a quarter.

Now the machine will run fine for 15 minutes then take a dump on itself and I have to get out and clean all of the pieces out of the filter.

Is there a liner in the tank that is coming apart? I would really like to think that it wasnt vandalism or sabotage!

:beatsme :beatsme :beatsme

 

[DennisJonesCon.]

deja vue

I have a Komatsu 120-5.......great machine. The other day it started to run just like your Kobelco. As I was digging it would begin to die out. I changed the filter and it didn't seem to help at all. The other machines that have been using fuel out of the same tank are doing fine. I can give it full throttle and it will spit and sputter to high RPM's and then die out after about 5 minutes or so. Damn, that makes me mad.

 

[digger242j]

The Kobelco 115 I sometimes run will do the same sort of thing from time to time. usually, a fresh filter will cure it, but not always. There are a number of other places that it gets restricted. There are several banjo fittings in the fuel line, and they have screens in them. On more than one occasion, those have been the culprit.

(Disclaimer: I'm not a mechanic. Sometimes, I am a parts changer though. There's a world of difference. There are plenty of guys here that know more about this than me.)

 

[DennisJonesCon.]

found the problem

I called the service dpartment for Komatsu and the guy told me to blow the line out backwards. I started at the filter but it would not blow past the manual hand pump. I opened the line at the manual pump and found a clogged inline screen. Problem solved.........I HATE getting greasy and all diesel smelly........I'm not a mechanic.....yet.

 

[Copenhagen]

I was knocking down a few houses today and the Kobelso ran fine all day long. Maybe everything is out of there now.

I am buying locking fuel caps for all of the machines tomorrow. A couple hundred dollars might save me a couple thousand in fuel and repairs.

 

[digger242j]

Glad to hear you got it straightened out.

I HATE getting greasy and all diesel smelly........

I once had a problem with my Case 680. There's a small sump in the bottom of the fuel tank, and a screen there that keeps the crud that accumulates in the bottom of the tank from getting into the fuel line. It clogged, with most of a tankful of fuel in it. The only way to get it out is to disconnect the fuel line, and unscrew the fitting from the sump. This happened in the winter. You really haven't had fun until you've had freezing cold diesel fuel running down your arm all the way to your armpit... :cool2

 

[RollOver Pete]

I had something similar happen to me with the 86 Pete I had.
Fuel wouldn't transfer between tanks.
So I'm trucking along and start to loose power.
One empty tank, one full tank and a dead 8V92 Detroit somewhere between lost and found(Trona) :beatsme
I fought this problem for over a year.
I replaced check valves, fittings, hoses, filters...everything besides the tanks. :Banghead
I could never find anything in the tank.
The last straw was after spending the afternoon in the land that time forgot (Trona), I drained both tanks and removed both shut off valves.
What I found was a piece of clear plastic cellophane.
It would get sucked down to the cross over line and when the engine died (Trona), it would float away only to do it again and again(Trona).:Banghead
It's almost impossible to spot a piece of clear anything in a tank full of fuel.

Goes to prove, it's the little things in life.........
:cool2

 

[DennisJonesCon.]

me too

I had the same thing happen to a Nissan pickup truck I had......what a way to mess with someones mind.

 

[surfer-joe]

Trona, the garden spot of California!!...............

 

[poulson01]

The debris in the fuel tank is algae. It looks like thin black latex that is pourous. It comes out in strips like electrical tape. I got rid of this by getting a new 1000 gal storage tank and draining the water from our fuel after every few deliveries. without water, it can't grow. Also, make sure the machines are getting the fuel drain kock in the fuel tank opened at every service. Not just the water seperator. I drain about a gallon of fuel and inspect it for water. I hear the low sulpher fuel has water in it. I havn't seen this so far.
I'm Ted , by the way.

 

[Squizzy246B]

Fungus

Technically its not an algal bloom but a Fungus. Botanically it's called Cladosporium Resinae but the scientists changed the name some years back to Hormoconis Resinae. It grows in the interface between water and fuel and is sometimes called the kerosene bug. I have seen it so big it looks like a blubbery cauliflower and it has to shovelled out of ships tanks. NATO spec diesel fuel is supposed to contain the necassary Biocide (100 year shelf life) to reduce it but the good old US of A frequently flaunted the (NATO) specification and paid dearly for it in combat.

I'm not very up to date with this stuff but it used to give us some major dramas.

Sidenote: As I posted somewhere before my offsider could never pronounce the botanical name so he called it Gladis Moncrieff Spider Venom

 

[DirectTech]

We had a cust. with a old timberline delimber and his machine would ran great for a while then it would all of a sudden die, the problem was that the debris shout was right over the fuel fill and the cab had "come of" so we had to drain the tank then vacuum out all the debris, that job was a bad one.

 

[Countryboy]

Welcome to HEF poulson01! :drinkup

 

[Copenhagen]

The material I was pulling out was white. It looked like pieces of a latex glove.

 

[poulson01]

Welcome to HEF poulson01! :drinkup

Thanks!
I've been lurking for a while. Figured I'd better sign up.

White stuff that looks like latex? I guess it might be latex :beatsme Definately not a piece of algae mat.