Diesel: How to absorb water?

[LucasDK]

Hi,

I left my diesel engine car with a semi filled diesel tank in the garage for the winter season. I forgot to fill it up. In a month or so I will fire it up and start driving it again however I'm afraid that some condensation has formed inside the tank. Is there a product/additive that will absorb the water (from condensation) that will rest at the bottom of the tank due to density differences? I know that ethanol is used in gasoline tanks for that purpose, but what about diesel?

The car is 35 years old and has a classic rotary vane fuel injection pump.

Maybe I am overthinking it.

Lucas

 

[Chris142]

My truck sat 20+ years and I drove it home. You're is fine.

 

[eljefino]

They make water separating fuel filters if you're really concerned.

 

[y_p_w]

There are products that do that. Of course they don't truly remove water, but will disperse them so they don't pass through as just liquid water that can damage pumps and injectors. Redline claims that their product also lubricates the water phase.

Gold Eagle claims that Iso-HEET can be used with diesel.

 

[tnt_motorsports]

I'm guessing you are fine to run the vehicle as is but if you are really concerned about water then I have a couple suggestions.

You can use Howe's to separate the water but you will need a fuel / water separator filter on your vehicle to use this type of set up. They offer various products to get this done based on your needs. If you want the diesel to absorb the water and you burn it with the fuel (not recommended by me!) then you can use Power Service in the white bottle.

Just my $0.02

 

[Astro14]

My truck sat 20+ years and I drove it home. You're is fine.

You live in a desert.

He lives by the sea.

Very different humidity and condensation.

 

[Chris142]

You live in a desert.

He lives by the sea.

Very different humidity and condensation.

Truck was near the beach

 

[CleanSump]

Did the same with my 1985 240D once. I lived next to a bay, very humid.
Winter isn't usually so bad for humidity. I poured in a dispersant product and added fresh fuel. Did it just to be safe.
Using a good dispersant isn't as big a concern with the old mechanical injectors and IDI as it is with modern Piezo injectors with Direct Injection. It really depends on how much water is in the bottom of the tank.
Safest way is drain the old fuel, add the dispersant and fresh fuel.

 

[UG_Passat]

There's a few different types of additive types for diesels and how they deal with water.

1) Demulsifier: Separate the water from the diesel, so the water collects on the bottom of the tank, and hopefully gets to fuel filter that has a water separatator that you can drain.

2) Emulsifier: Suspends the water droplets in the diesel, so the fuel may look cloudy

3) So-called Solubilizer, mixes the water with the fuel, so the fuel will still look clear. PowerService is a solubilizer. if you want the max amount, then you should try using Diesel 911.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Hi,

I left my diesel engine car with a semi filled diesel tank in the garage for the winter season. I forgot to fill it up. In a month or so I will fire it up and start driving it again however I'm afraid that some condensation has formed inside the tank. Is there a product/additive that will absorb the water (from condensation) that will rest at the bottom of the tank due to density differences? I know that ethanol is used in gasoline tanks for that purpose, but what about diesel?

The car is 35 years old and has a classic rotary vane fuel injection pump.

Maybe I am overthinking it.

Lucas

There are additives which will disperse the water and either allow it to burn off or get filtered out by the water separator if you have one.

Unfortunately I'm not aware of what's available in Denmark.

 

[andyd]

Does the tank sump have a drain plug?