Bad fuel

[OhBugger]

Since not all countries have a good fuel quality and bad fuel causes all sorts of problems, I'm opening this thread

I'm currently living in Aruba and the fuel quality is very bad.
Does anyone here have any tips to slow the effects this fuel is having on my engine?

[taslucas]

Petrol or diesel mate?

For diesel you could make sure you change your filters regularly, get a good quality water separator and treat it for diesel bugs often.

Whats the usual problems with the fuel?

[OhBugger]

Diesel, at least, that's my problem. All the diesels produce lots of black smoke by not combusting properely. And i would think it clogs up a lot too
I might be asking a stupid question, but what does a water separator do?

[taslucas]

I'm no expert on diesel (I'm a petrol kind of guy!) but a water separator does just that, it takes out any water that had found its way into the diesel. If water gets into the piston chamber, it won't compress on the compression stroke and therefore can bend valves etc.
There is a thread here somewhere with a good explanation of what the different colours of diesel smoke mean. Sorry I can't post a link as I'm on my phone.... Just try searching "diesel smoke" in the search box up the top right of the screen.
Hopefully someone with a bit more info will come along soon. :-)