G’day folks. I don’t want to scare you if you own one of the new breed of diesels, but please read on.

I’m in the car industry and have witnessed first hand three occurrences of a very disturbing phenomena.

What happend to each of these vehicles is that the high pressure fuel pumps completely destroyed themselves along with all injectors and everything else in the fuel system.

When these vehicles were disassembled, their fuel systems were riddled with metal fragments and metal paste from the damaged components. How could this happen?

Well after lengthy research I believe I have found the answers.

Sulphur in diesel is like lead in petrol. It is the lubricant that is used to keep the fuel pump and injectors lubricated. Now Australia has just lowered it’s sulphur content from 500 ppm to 50 ppm, which is a monstrous drop in lubrication for the fuel.
At this stage I have only spoken with BP, who assure me that every shipment of diesel is tested and a lubricating additive is mixed with the fuel to make it better than that required by the Australian standard.

So, if we assume other oil companies and importers do the same, then we can rule out a lack of lubrication as the problem.

Next, my research led me to a very interesting feature of this new low sulphur fuel. You see with the old fashioned diesel fuel, any water present settled to the bottom of the tank in a big puddle, however, this new process for the low sulphur fuel seems to cause the water to emulsify with the fuel (mix).

We all know that water is a killer for diesel engines, but the newer common rail diesel engines run pressures of up to or exceeding 60,000 psi. These are enormous pressures and just the minutest bit of water is enough to scour the high pressure pump and injectors.

A phone call to Caterpillar technical section added strength to my theory. Prior to low sulphur diesel, Caterpillar ran a fine metal gauze filter with a water separator. Since the advent of low sulphur they have changed this filter to a 10 micron one for better filtration.
But there’s more. Not satisfied with this setup they have added an secondary 2 micron filter to the system.

From my investigations, it seems that a 2 or 3 micron filter is enough to remove the very fine water droplets within the fuel.

But that’s not all. It seems some diesel fuel additives and injector cleaners have an alcohol base. Now these are nasty products as the alcohol helps the water to mix with the fuel, so these additives can also help destroy your motor.

If you don’t think repairs will be expensive, the injectors for vehicles we work on cost $1100 each.

My advice is to find the very best after market fuel filter and add it to your vehicle and forget all fuel additives.
Email:
Author – Doug Johnston

Walking the Crossing When walking your water crossings its best to walk in the intended wheel tracks to find if there are any hidden rocks or potholes, as well as for checking the depth. Potholes at common crossings are often caused by previous 4x4 spinning their wheels after hitting a submerged rock. So if you find a pothole, check for submerged rocks. It's a good idea to place markers at these points so you can avoid them. Its been known for a vehicle attempting a relatively easy crossing to suck in water when a single pothole has caused the hood to momentarily dip below the water level, causing water to enter the air intake, resulting in hydro-lock and a damaged engine.