So, I'm sitting in a tow truck...
 

Alright, I'm stuck in traffic on my way into work on 395 and suddenly loose power. Kind of like when the fuel filters were clogged. The car starts but has a hard time idling and then dies. I'm thinking a diesel purge is in order. Any thoughts to entertain me while my car is being winched onto the truck? I hope everyone else's morning is better than mine!

Probably a batch of low quality fuel. I'd swap your supply/return lines to blow them free and replace the filters. Don't forget to put the lines back to normal.

Whens the last time you changed fuel filters?

I replaced the filters about a month ago when the tank filter was clogged.

Are you sure you do not still have some crud in the tank (or possibly some algae/bug growth causing issues. Check the primary filter (clear/semi-clear in line first) and see if you have gunk in it. If you do, you might want to drain the tank and check the screen again. Not saying you do, but you MIGHT have gunk in the tank. Look up my post titled SAND in the fuel tank to read about my recent issues.

If the tank filter was clogged and replaced that recently, my money is on algae. Time to replace all the filters and add some biogard, but it might best be done AFTER the tank is removed, drained and thoroughly cleaned.

Were there little soft, BB sized, grey pellets in the tank filter?

Some days just suck out loud. Especially if you have to listen to tow driver drivel about what is likely wrong with your car, for a good chunk of the ride. All tow drivers are secret master mechanics... you knew that, right? :D

Did you add anything to your fuel after you cleaned the tank strainer? One member of another list I was on dumped in some system cleaner after he thought he had cleaned the tank and the chemical basically stripped the remaining crud off the surface and promptly plugged up the strainer again.

If the tank strainer was cleaned recently I think algae would be a stretch so soon.

Make sure the fuel supply and return lines are connected properly in the engine compartment. My w116 had a problem similar to yours, and after replacing all the filters, cleaning the tank and tank strainer I discovered the fuel lines got swapped and it was making the car run like crap

slime from recent fill up is my bet.
pull your primary and see if it's full of clear goo...

Thanks for all of the replies! The car is towed back to my house and I FINALLY made it into work. When I first had the lack of power issue, I changed the two filters. When that did not fix it, I had it towed to a shop and they drained the tank and cleaned the tank filter. They did not clean out the tank completely, I assume, because they did not mention that they did.

I drove the car from PA to DC with no hiccups and I have since driven it around town and on the highway briefly.

I drove it yesterday and it seemed to be ok, at least I did not notice anything to extraordinary.

Today, I was in traffic and the car seemed to struggle and then die. I moved it to the emergency lane and opened the hood. The clear filter does have a layer of black gunk on the screen.

I am going to drain the tank, clean it, do a diesel purge and change the filters.

Thanks everyone for the ideas.

-DC Josh

I'd put in a new clear filter (primary) and dump in a bottle of PS Diesel Clear, or Starton Tank cleaner.

all the black goo will melt away and cleanly flow into the filters.

BLACK GOO/Algae/Fungus/Bacteria/BUGGS etc...

it's just asphalt. Diesel recombining into a portion of crude... it just needs to be recombined...

So, I don't need to clean the tank out???:confused:

From my experience on diesel boats if you add a biocide to kill the algae in the tank you will end up with clogged filters full of black goo. What I have done in the past is to add the biocide, run the engine til it stops due to clogged filters, replace filters and do it again. The primary is cheap to swap out. Its a pain, but you end up with clean fuel. Or have the tank drained and cleaned and filled and drained and cleaned again.

Hope you get it sorted.

Matt