Maximizing Diesel Performance with Proper Filter Maintenance
Maintaining your diesel engine’s performance and longevity hinges largely on the quality and maintenance of your fuel filters. In this blog post, we dive deep into the critical aspects of diesel fuel filter maintenance. We’ll cover factory recommendations, the impact of fuel quality, and practical tips for ensuring your engine runs smoothly. By the end of this post, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of when and why to change your diesel fuel filters.
The Importance of Diesel Fuel Filters
Many factors affect your engine’s performance and longevity, and the quality of the fuel that enters the engine is among the most important. Like the adage, “Garbage in, garbage out,” low-quality fuel can lead to a range of engine problems, so ensuring you use high-quality fuel is critical, as is proper fuel filtering.
Diesel fuel filtering systems remove contaminants such as particulates, bacteria, and moisture from the fuel before they enter the engine to enhance engine performance and longevity. The standard fuel filtering system uses a primary and secondary filter, with the primary filter generally removing particles larger than ten microns. A secondary filter removes smaller particulates and may handle those as small as 2-5 microns.
The larger the particulates your filtering system allows to pass through, the more damage they cause when the injectors blast them against internal engine parts. However, as critical as removing the solid particulates is the need to remove water and entrained air, which standard filtering systems do not handle or do not handle to the level needed for maximum fuel efficiency, power, and engine longevity.
The Quality of Fuel Sources and Its Effect on Filter Life
Diesel fuel is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs moisture from the air at the molecular level, so it almost always contains some water. The challenge is to minimize the amount of water entering your truck’s fuel tank and to filter the remainder to maximize fuel efficiency and protect your engine.
One common source of water entering your fuel supply is fuel retailers and distributors. Some dishonest retailers and distributors may add water to their fuel, while water can find its way into diesel fuel through leaky storage tanks or human error. Poor or degraded tank seals can allow water into storage tanks, and human errors such as leaving a fuel tank cap off also invite water contamination.
All retailers and distributors should use water-detecting filters in their dispensing equipment, but the filters are effective only when adequately maintained. To protect against this problem:
- Buy your fuel from reputable sources with well-maintained facilities and systems.
- Do not buy fuel from locations with storage tanks that show rust or other signs of degradation.
- Feel free to ask suppliers about their procedures for ensuring fuel quality.
Another factor affecting filter life is asphaltenes, which have become more prominent with ultra-low sulfur diesel and hotter-running engines. Asphaltenes are black, tar-like particles that accumulate on the filter fibers, eventually building up to the point that they can plug the fuel filter. While there are additives that disperse asphaltenes, you should monitor asphaltenes since they can affect the usable life of your fuel filter.
Factory-Recommended Specs for Changing Diesel Fuel Filters
The best starting point for determining your fuel filter change interval is to follow the engine manufacturer’s recommendation. Still, it is also essential to understand how your operating conditions compare to the standard usage pattern they assumed when they developed the recommendation. Manufacturers commonly adjust their fuel filter change interval based on the amount of fuel burned, so engines operating under extreme conditions and getting low MPG may need their filters changed at mileage levels one-third that of high-efficiency engines that spend their time on cross-country hauls.
The change interval recommendations also vary by manufacturer, as should be expected given today’s tight specs and hyper-efficient engines. Nevertheless, the manufacturers’ recommendations, the quality of fuel you use, and your experience operating and maintaining your trucks should all contribute to determining the interval that works best for you and your operation.
Practical Tips for Diesel Fuel Filter Maintenance
Manufacturer recommendations, fuel quality, and operating conditions are not the only issues determining how often you should change your fuel filters. Usually, the best approach is to schedule your fuel filter changes as part of your regular maintenance cycle, whether you perform the process in-house or rely on others. Although changing your filters when they reach their maximum lifespan makes sense in isolation, changing your fuel filters when your truck is already in the shop for scheduled maintenance is almost always the sensible plan.
You should also adjust the fuel filter interval for weather variations and routing that make the engine work harder.
Changing Your Diesel Fuel Filter Regularly
Proper fuel filtration is critical to engine performance and longevity. You must maintain your fuel filter system, including changing the filters at intervals that follow the manufacturer’s recommendation and adjusting them for your fuel quality, operating conditions, and maintenance practices. Complying with the manufacturer’s recommendations is critical for keeping your engine at peak performance levels and for warranty purposes. We recommend always keeping a supply of fuel filters on hand for changes whenever and wherever needed. Give yourself or your fleet the best opportunity for a smooth-running engine by acquiring your fuel from reputable sources and optimizing the fuel that reaches the engine by installing an AirDog® fuel system.
If you have questions about fuel filter change intervals, especially those used with AirDog systems, or have other questions about our AirDog® systems, please let us know how we can help by contacting us here.
