Oil & Fuel Micron Size For Primary Fuel Filter, BX24

[dodge man]

I'm running the Racor 2S on my BX, which appears to be a 2 micron. It also just jelled up on me in some very cold weather. I wonder if a 10 micron would have been less likely to jell up, I'm not sure.

 

[oosik]

JMHO - I think a lot of folks are experiencing cold weather like has not been seen in decades. Folks have never had to use additives to prevent jelling. Cold weather will cause problems with condensation also.

Dodge man - I would hazard a guess that the micron size of your fuel filter has little affect on the fuel jelling. Untreated summer fuel will jell in cold weather all by itself. I had a five gallon jerry can of untreated summer diesel that jelled right up on me. Brought inside, into the spare bedroom and after a couple days I added PS and all was well. The wife was not overjoyed with the entire situation though.

AHHH - the smell of raw diesel in the morning...........

 

[Jerry/MT]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...3070d1318296564-rough-running-bx-dscf6685-jpg
I borrowed this pic from jcgaylord. This is what I am up against. My tractor spent 4 1/2 years in Menlo, WA undercover in an open sided shed, pretty closeto the Pacific. The last 5 years I have owned it has been parked in a closed garage near Altoona, WA. I have always used Fred Meyer diesel with no additives. The tractor had 45 hours when I bought it and now 450.
The crud in the primary filter looks just like the picture.

If that is rust and it came out of a tractor fuel tank, there must be a water problem with the fuel. Diesel fuel sloshed around on metal should keep rust from forming. I'd clean that stuff off, paint it with rust inhibiting paint and keep the fuel tank as full as possible so the metal is wetted by fuel.

 

[dodge man]

I had treated my fuel with Howes when it gelled up. It’s weird, we had a warm up before it turned cold again today. I threw the old Racor that was gelled up outside. I noticed it’s still gelled up, it never melted.

 

[MHarryE]

30 micron sounds very course but then again I don't know what Kubota spec is. At Cat we dropped from 10 to 2 with current high pressure injection systems because the clearances need to be tighter. Also a micron rating is not a finite number. It goes along with a beta ratio. Like a 2 micron ratio with a 75 beta ratio will remove 75% of particles greater than 2 micron in one pass. The picture you posted to indicate a problem similar to yours is something I've never seen before and I've seen a lot of crud in fuel systems. I encountered problems with first bio fuels in America, like a fine black goo. You show large black particles. Adding a large filter in your system should help a lot but make sure it is higher capacity than the filters already there. I've had customers add filters due to their poor fuel and size them too small resulting in fuel starvation. Water separators are typically advertised as being able to block 90% of the water. On my tank I have a separator but still the water separator on my L6060 was full of water after 150 hours. That had to be 90% of the 10% that got by the tank separator. I started my engineering career in applying diesel engines in 1967 and retired in 2009 - water was a problem the entire time, and in every part of the world.

 

[altoonapillarrock]

I buy 300 gallons at a time, non bio. I add power service and a biocide. I run a 2 micron filter at my pump. Factory filters on all the tractors.

Altoona, Is that crud developed with bio diesel?

There has never been any biodiesel. I purchase fuel from Fred Meyer because they sell a lot of diesel in SW WA and NW OR. All of the crud I found in the primary filter has been magnetic.

 

[altoonapillarrock]

30 micron sounds very course but then again I don't know what Kubota spec is. At Cat we dropped from 10 to 2 with current high pressure injection systems because the clearances need to be tighter. Also a micron rating is not a finite number. It goes along with a beta ratio. Like a 2 micron ratio with a 75 beta ratio will remove 75% of particles greater than 2 micron in one pass. The picture you posted to indicate a problem similar to yours is something I've never seen before and I've seen a lot of crud in fuel systems. I encountered problems with first bio fuels in America, like a fine black goo. You show large black particles. Adding a large filter in your system should help a lot but make sure it is higher capacity than the filters already there. I've had customers add filters due to their poor fuel and size them too small resulting in fuel starvation. Water separators are typically advertised as being able to block 90% of the water. On my tank I have a separator but still the water separator on my L6060 was full of water after 150 hours. That had to be 90% of the 10% that got by the tank separator. I started my engineering career in applying diesel engines in 1967 and retired in 2009 - water was a problem the entire time, and in every part of the world.

We are across the Columbia River from Astoria, OR. It rains over 100” a year. I assumed because I stay out of the rain with the tractor and park in really nice garage I was good.
I need to put a new fuel sender in the tank and keep the tank full. Sounds like 10 microns might be best.

 

[altoonapillarrock]

30 micron sounds very course but then again I don't know what Kubota spec is. At Cat we dropped from 10 to 2 with current high pressure injection systems because the clearances need to be tighter. Also a micron rating is not a finite number. It goes along with a beta ratio. Like a 2 micron ratio with a 75 beta ratio will remove 75% of particles greater than 2 micron in one pass. The picture you posted to indicate a problem similar to yours is something I've never seen before and I've seen a lot of crud in fuel systems. I encountered problems with first bio fuels in America, like a fine black goo. You show large black particles. Adding a large filter in your system should help a lot but make sure it is higher capacity than the filters already there. I've had customers add filters due to their poor fuel and size them too small resulting in fuel starvation. Water separators are typically advertised as being able to block 90% of the water. On my tank I have a separator but still the water separator on my L6060 was full of water after 150 hours. That had to be 90% of the 10% that got by the tank separator. I started my engineering career in applying diesel engines in 1967 and retired in 2009 - water was a problem the entire time, and in every part of the world.

It looks like 10 microns might be a better choice. Sounds like you had a great career. I was a mechanical engineer for part of my career but nothing prepared me for this. I will take the tractor apart and replace the sender and keep the tank full.

 

[altoonapillarrock]

Can't comment on Kubota's micro size as I couldn't find it published anywhere. Realize these may not represent Kubota's specs but WIX replacement filter for the BX has a micron rating of 50. The ones used on my L30 and L40 series tractors is rated at 19 microns and the filter used on the older 9200HST is 10 microns.

You can see these are all over the place and it begs the question why the BX series inline filters have such a high micron rating. Hopefully this will help you get a feel for the range of filtration at least through the eyes of Wix.

The corrosion you're seeing is a bit frustrating from a design standpoint. OEM's sell globally and diesel quality in other countries is far worse than what we have in the US. Diesel is know to be hydroscopic, tanks are vented so condensate will be an issue and fuel quality control is suspect throughout the world. This is nothing new for engineers to take into consideration early in the design cycle and be able to resolve.

Besides some of the excellent comments regarding fuel storage, you may want to consider keeping your tank full to reduce the chances of condensate contaminating your fuel (H20 leads to the formation of bacteria and corrosion).

When dealing with contaminated fuel, I personally take the opportunity to remove the tank and thoroughly clean. This usually requires tank removal to do so.

Good luck and I hope you resolve your problem the best that you can.

From what I have seen on these forums it is a considerable effort to get the tank out, like 6+ hours at Watkins tractor. I don’t have a trailer so I tend to do things myself. I have seen on the forums that the replacement sender is the same as the original. They haven’t made one out of stainless.
With my mechanical skills it might pay to rent a trailer. Thanks for the advice.

 

[altoonapillarrock]

Same crap down here our diesel comes from Washington, Oregon is eithe B5 or B20. Replaced fuel sender on L3130 rusted, sender on RTV gives me problems also with rust.

Use Lucas to add lubricity but quit using Power Service because I did not want to emulsify the water, wanted it trapped. Put the Kubota newer B series fuel filter on the RTV, BX-2230 and G-2160, plastic and paper element no metal end caps on the element like on my L3130 that rusts have to dump out every month or so.

Using the 7 micron on the Dodge but think the 10 would be good, just do not use the WIX 50 micron.

David

I have never used any fuel additives. In desperation I bought some Sta-bil diesel fuel stabilizer and poured an ounce into the three gallons in the tank. I also bought a Mr. Funnel to use with new fuel.