Clean Fuel, Happy Engine

You might prefer a dirty martini, but your engines are happiest when they have clean fuel to drink. Debris, sludge, microbes and water can render even the healthiest motor hors de combat, often at the least opportune moment. It doesn’t have to be that way: High-end primary filters will keep solid gunk in the tanks from traveling into your engine and strip out any water in the fuel, and all they ask in return is simple maintenance; it’ll save you a lot of heartache down the road. Adding an inexpensive vacuum gauge will let you monitor the state of your filters at a glance, so you’ll know when to service them. What could be easier?

Dirty fuel has always been kryptonite for diesels. Contaminated fuel will silence even the mightiest compression-ignition engines; modern common-rail diesels are even more susceptible than direct-injected engines. Gasoline engines weren’t always so fussy—back in the days of carburetors, a little water or dirt would often pass right through—but today, with sophisticated high-pressure fuel-injection systems, they’re just as temperamental as diesels. So, the bottom line is, gas or