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Can contaminated diesel fuel ruin a engine?

5K views 24 replies 6 participants last post by  06.0dually 
#1 ·
I was wondering on these new 6.7s can contaminated fuel ruin the engine . Or just the fuel system. The contaminate is ethanol. Ethanol mixed with diesel.
 
#2 ·
So you want to gamble your $15,000 engine on a $200 tank of contaminated fuel? I'd drain the tank and replace the filters.


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#4 ·
My family has a construction company and a fleet of trucks. The fuel we get is pumped into the ground like a gas station. We found out a week later it was contaminated. So a lot of vehicles were running the fuel. One truck already had injector failure. Ford replaced them. Still Had problems . We took it back and they found contaminated fuel. So
we inestigated our fuel. Called the fuel Company that delivers the fuel and it was contaminated with ethanol.

We've found like 15 to 20 trucks with contaminated fuel. 2 6.7 powerstrokes have had problems. The one with the injectors. The other had problems running. Pumped the bad fuel out and put new fuel in and it's still running bad.

The other trucks are c-12 and c-15 peterbuilt trucks. All of the trucks are out of commission.

The other old pick ups that have the bad fuel, but no signs... a couple 6.0s and a couple 7.3s but no signs yet. There are samples of all the fleet of trucks. All 50 somethin.

Our company got the only truck load with bad fuel. As soon as we suspected the fuel. The company came out and tested it and pumped it dry. We kepted 50 gal of evidence and bottles of evid. For each truck. The company didn't tell us till we asked them. They said they had a little ethanol left in a truck load and didn't realized it was empty and pumped a full load if diesel in it.
 
#6 ·
Yea we already have a good lawyer. If they give us any bull#### were sueing. They almost just think they should replace the fuel and that's it but they have to replace any problems that fuel has caused. And if they don't take fault, they will get sued.

It's a small company but they should have insurance. They lease all of their trucks and trailers. They actually make the fuel, which most companies just transport and charge.
 
#7 ·
I've seen a number of businesses that had insurance that let it expire due to struggling with low overhead. You may looking be at a difficult recovery. Have you talked to your companies insurance? What do you mean they make the fuel? Unless its a refinery they are probably buying diesel that's been used to flush piping and equipment and selling it at a big profit. It's also illegal.


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#8 ·
It's a company that makes the diesel fuel. Compared to these other companies we have used. Those other companies buy it from the supplier, the company I was just talking about and they sell it. They make their profit from transporting fee. So basically we were second handing it from this company that delivers. Instead we went straight to the source which was this company that makes it or refines it.

We have t gotten to deep in the process we just have been starting out. We haven't threatened to sue yet. Since they have been doing everything we ask. If they start giving us complications we will start that process. Most companies have an accidental insurance or something that would take care of that.

One of our trucks years ago took out a overpass on the highway. The dump bed was in the air and took out the bridge. Our insurance covered it. The employee was a idiot. But that was the first time something happened like that in 25 years or so.
Something like that would have cost plenty of money to.

We have notified our insurance and they are looking into that companies business. They told us that company has 30 trucks that are leased. They also make jet fuel for jets. But I'm sure they are looking into that companies insurance.
 
#10 ·
San Antonio international airport is here. They do inner United States flights and flights to Mexico. It's a pretty big airport. It's not as big as Houston airport or Dallas. But it's the 3rd biggest in Texas. I'm pretty sure of that... San Antonio is a town full of planes and jets. We have a Boeing building base here. And we have a pretty big air force base here In San Antonio. So there's a lot of jets and airplane businesses. The air force base is Lackland.

But the contaminant was "ethanol" in the diesel fuel.

They make jet fuel also.
 
#11 ·
Funny, ethanol seems to ruin everything it touches yet they're forcing it down our throats with this E85 flex fuel junk and all pump gas now contains it. Small engine carbs LOVE it and it does wonders for any fuel system when left stagnant for a period.

More flouride in the water, anyone?
 
#12 ·
Got a few 6.7s back cost around 12k to 15k of labor and parts. New fuel pumps, high pressure pumps, injectors. Basically all new fuel system. On 3 6.7s.

Got one 6.7 back and it went straight into limp mode.

One of the 7.3s is going to cost 5k to fix.

My 7.3 they are replacing injectors and fuel system. And fuel pump.
 
#13 ·
That's *their* insurance eating that load, rite? I'm still learning the 6.4 but for $5k I'll strip and rebuild the hpop/fuel system on a 7.3 with a pair of Vise Grips and #18 socket.... I hope for your sake that you're not taking it in the sore spot for the older 7.3's...

Take the battery terminals off the 6.4 that's in premature ejaculation mode for about 3 minutes. It's a cheap dart to throw but it might just catch the pcm on a good morning
 
#14 ·
We only have a few 6.7s effected and 7.3s. We don't have any 6.4s. So far we don't have any 6.0s effected but we might.
 
#17 ·
The only cheap way (unless you know a DIY way to do a flash point) is to do a viscosity on the fuel and compare it to fuel known to be not contaminated.

As for what percentage is anyone's guess but ethanol has zero lube qualities, bad for lined tanks, bad for seals and O-rings.
 
#19 ·
I agree lol.

The 7.3 didn't show symtoms until way after the 6.7. Shows how these new trucks are complex.
 
#21 ·
So far everything is being taken care of. Only thing that we had to pay for is for ford to fix a oil leak at the bottom of the engine. It was supposably the oil pan. They had to pull the engine to fix, which we payed for. I'm surprised they had to pull the engine. I've been reading that you have to.

Besides that the company payed for a new fuel system, and injectors just in my 7.3. The other 6.7s cost like 12 gs to fix.
 
#22 ·
Oil pans aren't known for leaking, and that's from today going all the way back to the '99s. But you do have to pull the motor to do it, go figure. What year was it? Are you sure they didn't pull a fast one and call a leaking bedplate (warranty item if it's still valid) an oil pan that they said was your fault for damaging?

I'm glad for you that the mechanical end of things are being honored/covered by the responsible party... How many times in life does the low man on the totem pole get it up the schitpipe with no lube. What about downtime compensation? I guess you're ahead of the curve just getting things fixed, so I should just shut my mouth ;)
 
#23 ·
My truck had a oil leak for a while coming from the back of the engine and I never knew what it was. I probably could of gotten them to take care of it, but it was before the fuel. I thought it was a rear main. But those supposably never go out either. They fixed the oil drain tube before they did the engine.
 
#24 ·
A pretty common oil leak is at the port where the oil dipstick is located. There are fixes that do not require the pan to be removed, but it can be iffy and tricky.

Also, if the pan is subjected to salt, it is not uncommon for it to rust through. It does take engine removal to replace, which sounds silly but that's the case. I've read of fellas cutting the truck's cross-member and then welding it back together to get the pan out. Wow.
 
#25 ·
Airstreamer67; said:
I've read of fellas cutting the truck's cross-member and then welding it back together to get the pan out. Wow.
I could see that happen, because it's right there. Just the cross member is in the way. And a frustrated or lazy mechanic will cut and weld to save hours of time.

Ford will always take the safe route.
 
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