DIY diesel fuel heater?

[GREASE FIRE]

my "fuel filter" light is coming on even though the diesel filter is practically new. The other day i could tell it was losing power just after i got on the highway so i had to turn around and come home. I have plenty of stanadyne additive in the diesel but it seems like it was just so cold, like 5 or 10F the night before, that the fuel is going to partly clog the filter no matter what i add to it. It seems like if there was a way to heat the fuel filter just a little that it would help because the last time i drove the truck before the cold spell it was 20 - 30 F out with no problems at all.
i am not sure if mine had a stock fuel heater but if it did it does not work.
any suggestions? i was considering a flexible silicon heater wrap around the filter but could not find one in the right size.
thanks for any help!
Paul

 

[oldmisterbill]

Put some howes in it-if it still gives you a problem ,most likley it isn't gelled fuel.

 

[93turbo_animal]

you can put a glow plug in your filter if you want some heat

 

[RLDSL]

If you get a crappy enough batch of fuel, you can go through a case of filters one right after another.. All you can do is keep fighting it through or drain the tank and dispose of it. I had to pulll into a truck stop in IL last winter and have them pump off about 120 gal from my bed tank. My switchover valve was frozen from all the water in it so I couldn't switch tanks, I was stuck, till the thing spent some time in the shop.
THis place Has some pad heater that can be used to make some nice filters with the use of a large plumbing dual band clamp.
I second on the howes, use a tripple dose if you have an existing problem.

 

[GREASE FIRE]

you can put a glow plug in your filter if you want some heat

you mean right into the filter head or a pipe T just before it? if it could go right into the head that would be great as long as it was toward the inlet of the filter, that way if something flakes off the glow plug it won't go to the engine.

Paul

 

[Greenie]

I used 3/8" refrigeration tubing wrapped 8 times around the fuel filter, covered it with insulation and then teed into both heater hoses, with valves for the summer. I haven't had a gelling problem since.

 

[93turbo_animal]

you mean right into the filter head or a pipe T just before it? if it could go right into the head that would be great as long as it was toward the inlet of the filter, that way if something flakes off the glow plug it won't go to the engine.

Paul

I put one right in the top of the filter head in the inlet stream. The problem is a glow plug needs a seat to seal against so I used a nut to lock the plug in place but still had to use some JB cold weld to seal it so it wouldn't leak

 

[GREASE FIRE]

I used 3/8" refrigeration tubing wrapped 8 times around the fuel filter, covered it with insulation and then teed into both heater hoses, with valves for the summer. I haven't had a gelling problem since.

could you explain how you did this in a way that makes it possible to change fuel filters? It's hard for me to picture changing filters with all that wrapped around it because it is so tight there (at least on my truck). Any chance you might have a picture?
thanks,
Paul

 

[93turbo_animal]

could you explain how you did this in a way that makes it possible to change fuel filters? It's hard for me to picture changing filters with all that wrapped around it because it is so tight there (at least on my truck). Any chance you might have a picture?
thanks,
Paul

I did this for a while I had to use a couple washers to make enough room for the tubing and insulation but it was a huge hassle changinging the filter. I had enough room to spin the filter off then push the tubbing down and slide the filter out the top. But like I said it was a huge pain and I usually ended up making a mess