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8 month old diesel in tank.

PostPosted: Wed, 12 Aug 2015 8:12 +0000
by PRS
I just got a bargain on a 2007 SR single cab with genuine Toyota alloy tray. 1KD and 5sp manual.
Problem is it has sat in Canberra for 8 months now unstarted. It ran fine before it was stored outside.
I imagine it was filled in Canberra with diesel for the summer months, now it's been bearing the cold Canberra winter with the same tank of fuel.
What would be the best thing to do with the ute before we try to kick it over?
Thanks in advance.
Ben.

Re: 8 month old diesel in tank.

PostPosted: Wed, 12 Aug 2015 8:22 +0000
by fracturedranga
id drain the tank and fuel lines and change out the fuel filter, i dont know if deisel does the same as petrol, (form a super sticky sludge) but id be checking the fuel filter pretty closely, if it looks like its full of sludge it might pay to flush your fuel lines with petrol to try and clean them out. th elast thing you want is some crap getting into your injectors and pump and costing a heap to fix

Re: 8 month old diesel in tank.

PostPosted: Wed, 12 Aug 2015 8:24 +0000
by TRDLuxxy
Grab a bottle of 'Liquimoly diesel algae stop' and pour in a shock treatment then fill the remaing tank with fresh diesel to dillute the old.

Prime the fuel filter until you can no longer and kick it over, run till empty then replace the filter and you might aswell do a full service at the same time. [emoji106]

Re: 8 month old diesel in tank.

PostPosted: Wed, 12 Aug 2015 9:11 +0000
by bloke&tackle
I wouldn't worry about it. Diesel is oil, it doesn't deteriorate like petrol. 8 months should be O.K.
If you are really concerned about it, call the technical hotline number for one of the big oil companies and ask them what they think.
Caltex.......... Lubelink Fuel and Lubricant Technical Support

1300 364 169

Mon - Thurs 8.00am - 5.30pm (EST)

Fri 8.00am - 5.00pm (EST)

Re: 8 month old diesel in tank.

PostPosted: Thu, 13 Aug 2015 1:10 +0000
by Ryan1kd
If it was 8 years I might say yes drain the lines and pump fresh stuff through but it's diesel And it's only 8 months. Like TRDLuxxy said, throw an algae treatment in the tank and then swap out ur filter which should be on the to do list when buying any car anyway.

Re: 8 month old diesel in tank.

PostPosted: Thu, 13 Aug 2015 5:40 +0000
by TRDLuxxy

Re: 8 month old diesel in tank.

PostPosted: Thu, 13 Aug 2015 6:09 +0000
by oggy
Don't try and start it first thing on a frosty morning :? The wax will settle out of solution and block the fuel filter in no time at all. Looks like frozen water when you see it , but its actually the parfin. Fire it up when the temp is above 5/6 degrees and you should be fine.

Re: 8 month old diesel in tank.

PostPosted: Thu, 13 Aug 2015 7:00 +0000
by Alby
Fuel will be fine, it would just be the cold with summer fuel
Boats store fuel for longer than that no worries
You can put some winter additive in it if there is a lot of fuel left or just top it up

Re: 8 month old diesel in tank.

PostPosted: Thu, 13 Aug 2015 6:52 +0000
by PRS
Thanks for the advice guys. I was concerned about algae mainly.
I will top it up with fresh diesel, jam some algae stop in the tank and put a new filter on it. I'll probably fit a second fuel filter/separator before I start it up. It's just going to be a workhorse, at 2k with rego I couldn't say no.