Last week we talked about sludge, that silent wintertime nuisance that will stop your truck in its tracks. Now we’re going to talk about how to keep sludge from taking over your fuel tank and leaving you in need of a costly tow.

If you find yourself suddenly stopped and thinking you have a fuel problem, there’s a product you can put into the fuel tank that will break up the sludge and clear your fuel filters. We instruct our drivers to keep some on hand at all times. Our product of choice is called Bio-Blast, made by E-ZOIL. It’s not easy to find, but if you click that link you can track down a distributor close to you. Add the Bio-Blast to your fuel tank and give it about five minutes to work its magic before starting your truck up again.

We give our drivers two simple directives to keep sludge from building up in fuel tanks and clogging filters:

1. Every time you fill up your truck, empty the fuel water separator. Doing so will help to remove the bacteria’s food and stop sludge before it starts. As the water drains out of the separator, you’ll see a clear liquid. When it turns bluish-green, you know you’ve gotten all the water out and are now draining diesel fuel. There’s an excellent video on how to do this available on YouTube.

Video courtesy of The Trucker’s Coach

2. Add Bio-Blast to your fuel tank monthly in the winter. Follow the directions on the product packaging for the proper amount. We find that one bottle of the product lasts about a year.

You may be lucky and never get a tank of contaminated fuel, in which case you won’t have any worries about sludge. The trouble is that there really is no way to know. Your truck may feel sluggish prior to shutting down, but for the most part this will be sudden. By being proactive against sludge, you can keep right on rolling.