FYI...

the black gunk in tanks is NOT "fungi" or "bugs" or "mushrooms" or any type of organic life...
it's asphalt. residue from the diesel either naturally breaking down, or from bacteria consuming a portion of the diesel, leaving the asphalt in the tank...

a GOOD tank cleaner like startron, or CLEAR Diesel from power service will reconstitute the asphalt back into the fuel, and let you burn it.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Yes, the black granular stuff is what drops out when diesel fuel ages. Those of us with old diesel boats are quite familiar with it. It is commonly called asphalteens. Some folks have cut open their tanks and scooped it out.

I understand that an extract from asphalt was added to the low sulfur diesel, and it would drop out as the fuel aged. I don't know if this is still done with the ultra low sulfur diesel we now have to use in the US. Maybe not as asphalt has a fair amount of sulfur in it. A good fuel polishing system is often used to get the particles out of the fuel when it is stirred up in heavy seas. Startron is helpful as it seems to redissolve the black solids, but it does plug filters faster for awhile.

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'97 E 300 D