Diesel Bug- Is it a Threat?

Often mistaken as the major cause of injection system damage, is the Diesel Bug a real threat to the highly expensive injection systems in our Modern 4WDs?
Diesel and water easily separate from each other, with water always ending up on the bottom of a fuel tank or collection bowl in a fuel filter. It’s in this water that as many as a few dozen strains of bacteria can grow and multiply. What seems like a tiny droplet of water can seem like a lake to a tiny microbe like the Diesel Bug. 

It enters your fuel system via the usual culprit- poor hygiene at the tank or bowser you fill up at. At the right temperature suddenly a dormant bacteria can grow to clog an entire Diesel filter system. So what can you do about this? Where you buy your fuel can be important. A clean service station is a start. That’s generally out of our hands so it comes back to reliable Diesel filtration system. The Original DIesel filtration system in our 4WDs is often blamed as being pretty poor whilst in reality, regular filter changing (about every 10,000km) is the key to keeping the Diesel Bug from taking over. Adding a correctly designed Diesel Pre-filter is another way of assisting if you just want added insurance. This filter should be chosen for a number of reasons with one key feature, a visible water bowl, being the primary one. Where there is water there is bacteria. So if you can gather any water into a clear bowl you will usually see the contamination of bacteria before it gets to an unmanageable stage.
Remember to seek out your Diesel Expert when doing research on the Diesel Bug and find out how even the simplest steps can help you out.

Safe Fourwheeling,

Andrew Leimroth

Berrima Diesel- The Diesel Experts