The Monster in Your Engine Room – Diesel Fungus

So here is the monster called Diesel Fungus that may be in your engine room – living in your tanks and in your filter systems! This picture is of a filter system that has not been cleaned for a long time. I am shocked that this boat still runs.

Usually, the evidence is not so obvious and you more often need a flashlight to detect bacteria on the slinger of your Racor filter. That is the white portion above the clear bowl in this picture. See the black specs? That is what you can look for if you suspect that you have bacteria in your fuel tank. They are living organisms and will live wherever there is food and air for them. Brown staining on anything near fuel indicates the presence of bacteria. They crawl right out of the tank.

The big glob in the front of the slinger is a fungus. Fungus really populates along with the usual bacteria. Fungi have really developed in fuel in the last 20 years. They were probably there all along but they seem to have really thrived lately. We are seeing much more and even in gasoline.

This filtration system does not show the element but I would bet that it is black. You really need to look at the whole system when you change the filter.  Even though you may be changing filters annually you really need to clean out the bowl before it gets to this stage OR call us and we can do that for you. It’s a messy job but someone has to do it so that you can have a relaxing and safe cruise.

Here’s hoping that you have smooth sailing and fair weather! Do not let this monster on board.

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