Fuel filter in winter
Fuel system clogging is rare. However, fuel filtration is extremely important, especially in diesel engines.
Gasoline units these days don't usually suffer from fuel contamination. Modern fuel-injected engines are equipped with very efficient and accurate fuel filters, so they rarely fail because of this.
The precise design of injection systems requires clean gasoline - and this gasoline is supplied, and any impurities settle in the filter. Since this device is usually quite deeply hidden, it is easy to forget about it altogether. Is it worth changing them if the engine is still running flawlessly? Still worth it (at least once every two years) because we really don't know how much dirt has accumulated in the filter and whether it creates excessive resistance to the flow of gasoline.
The pressure pump will deal with this, but for a while. In fact, the fuel filter in gasoline engines should be replaced depending on the vehicle's mileage and the purity of the fuel. The last parameter is beyond our control, so let's agree that sometimes we will replace the filter, which was still clean enough.
The situation is completely different with diesel engines. They also need very clean fuel, but in addition, diesel fuel is prone to clouding and increases its viscosity with decreasing temperature, and below a certain value, paraffin is released from it. This happens in the fuel tank and in the fuel filter.
Thus, diesel filters are a kind of sump in which water and heavier oil fractions must be collected. In summer, this is usually irrelevant, but in winter and winter it is necessary to unscrew and clean regularly every few thousand kilometers. The procedure usually consists of loosening the decanter and draining the debris. We must remember to clean this device, especially before a long trip, such as during the winter holidays.
An even better solution is to replace the fuel filter with a new one every year before the winter season. True, during this period we use winter (i.e., paraffin-precipitating at lower temperatures) diesel fuel, depressants (fuel additives that dissolve paraffin) can be added, but even a single attack of severe frost can complicate our life.
