Leaving a diesel fuel tank half full

Post by **Heathx4** » Wed May 28, 2003 4:22 pm

I've got an 84 Rocky sitting pretty idle at the moment, waiting for time and $$ to do it up. It has probably 40 litres of diesel in the tank. Every weekend or so I'll fire it up, and drive around the carpark for 15 minutes. I'm concerned about stories I've heard of bacteria and water forming in the tank and wrecking expensive stuff.

Does anyone know if I'd be at risk of either bacteria, water, or anything else I haven't thought of?

Further, is there anything else I should be wary of, if the car really isn't going to be driven far for another few months - tyre slouch, brake lines, radiator fluid?

Cheers

Post by **becky** » Wed May 28, 2003 4:34 pm

I was talking to a service station guy a couple of years ago, this was about the same time as the BP diesel debacle. He was telling me how that particular service station had to pay some huge compensation payout to diesel customers because of algae in their diesel storage tanks. There was conjecture however as to what caused the aglae, whether it was contaminated fuel or old residue build-up. Otherwise my sierra sat in the back yard for 5 years, through all weather & several very fruity mango seasons, totally neglected yet started up first go (with a new battery of course).

Post by **big red** » Wed May 28, 2003 6:47 pm

diesel bug happens where the diesel meets water.
condensation occurs when the tank is not full and that produces water.
maybe drain it, refill with fresh diesel and throw in some diesel treatment.
shane

Post by **BeZeRK** » Thu May 29, 2003 7:18 pm

Why dont you just empty the tank and run the lines dry so that you can just fill it and bleed it when the time comes to use it again!!!?, would save you driving it unesacarily!???

Post by **Sixty** » Thu May 29, 2003 8:55 pm

BeZeRK wrote:Why dont you just empty the tank and run the lines dry so that you can just fill it and bleed it when the time comes to use it again!!!?, would save you driving it unesacarily!???

Cos the rubber seals/gaskets in the system will become dry & brittle and stuff up!!

Post by **RUFF** » Thu May 29, 2003 9:09 pm

BeZeRK wrote:Why dont you just empty the tank and run the lines dry so that you can just fill it and bleed it when the time comes to use it again!!!?, would save you driving it unesacarily!???

Also it would sweat inside the tank anyway and rust it out in no time. Also storing a vehicle and not starting the engine regularly will cause the rings to rust to the bore as there are allways exhast and intake valves open to allow moisture in.

Post by **bj on roids** » Fri May 30, 2003 9:52 am

Do like me and run some metho through it every now and again. Makes your motor wake up a bit too. Don't put too much in or you'll get the costs of a new motor. Apparently the moisture, H20 is evaporated by the metho.

Post by **ISUZUROVER** » Fri May 30, 2003 4:48 pm

bj on roids wrote:Do like me and run some metho through it every now and again. Makes your motor wake up a bit too. Don't put too much in or you'll get the costs of a new motor. Apparently the moisture, H20 is evaporated by the metho.

This could be a very expensive tip Rob...

Metho (which is actually 97ish % ETHANOL) absorbs water, doesn't remove it (i.e. it will combine with water AND diesel so the water goes through the motor rather than getting removed in the water trap) Which is all well and good, provided there is not too much water in the system. If there is more water than the ethanol can absorb, SUPERSATURATION will occur, and all the water the ethanol has previously absorbed will drop out of suspension, which could be ANYWHERE IN THE FUEL SYSTEM. So it is possible you could get a load of water dumped in your lines past the water trap which would then GO THROUGH YOUR PUMP/INJECTORS. You would then (at best) need new injector nozzles and probably a lot more besides - i.e. new pistons, valves, etc, etc.,

Post by **bj on roids** » Sat May 31, 2003 7:54 am

ISUZUROVER wrote:
bj on roids wrote:Do like me and run some metho through it every now and again. Makes your motor wake up a bit too. Don't put too much in or you'll get the costs of a new motor. Apparently the moisture, H20 is evaporated by the metho.

This could be a very expensive tip Rob...

Metho (which is actually 97ish % ETHANOL) absorbs water, doesn't remove it (i.e. it will combine with water AND diesel so the water goes through the motor rather than getting removed in the water trap) Which is all well and good, provided there is not too much water in the system. If there is more water than the ethanol can absorb, SUPERSATURATION will occur, and all the water the ethanol has previously absorbed will drop out of suspension, which could be ANYWHERE IN THE FUEL SYSTEM. So it is possible you could get a load of water dumped in your lines past the water trap which would then GO THROUGH YOUR PUMP/INJECTORS. You would then (at best) need new injector nozzles and probably a lot more besides - i.e. new pistons, valves, etc, etc.,

can it go through and burn? sounds cool!!

Post by **Carl Coight** » Mon Jun 02, 2003 10:07 pm

Most condensation occures because when the engine is worked, it heats the fuel in the return lines. This in turn causes the fuel in the tank to heat and THAT is what causes condensation in a tank.
In the earth moving industry it is common practice to fill tanks at knock off for this reason, but i don't think you will have a problem with this.

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Leaving a diesel fuel tank half full

Leaving a diesel fuel tank half full

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