Gelled fuel again!

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

Ok this is 2 winters in a row clearing out gelled fuel lines doing snow angels under the truck in zero degree weather just plain sucks.

So windchills were -28 degrees Farenheit yesterday and I had to go dig out a buddy of mine who well chose to venture into a 4' deep snow drift just down the road from my house.

The gelling seems to occur right after a good thrashing of pushing snow around the neighborhood but not really noticing any snow buildup under the frame.
I've already had to restrict air flow thru the radiator to get the temp gauge and heat to move into the truck. The thermostat does operate properly.

Anybody else have these happenings on their rig plowing snow?

I once again heavily dosed the fuel tank with antigel to remedy the situation but this is getting frustrating.

At the price differentiation between gasoline and diesel and the problems experienced, I'm heavily contemplating of pulling the 6.9 back out of Mater and dropping the 460 back in.

Somebody talk me thru this.

Frustrated in Decatur.

 

[razorback]

option 3...


move somewhere it doesnt get to be -28....and keet the diesel..

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Damn, we got only -16 here. But I'm heading out your way tomorrow, guess I better dump a healthy dose of anti-gel in my tanks before I fill up and hit the road...

 

[dakotajeep]

Dude at least you are at home to deal with it.....I am stuck in SD and have no access to proper space and equipment. It was down in the -20s in the area plus windchills......burrr...

Hope they can get my truck running soon....

 

[f350flatbed]

Can you take some of that pipe wrap and cover up the fuel lines?

Paul B

 

[RLDSL]

Throw a couple of gallons of unleaded in there with a full tank and tripple dose the antigel. The european diesels used to list in the manuals up to 30 % gasoline to thin out for winter .
I'm beginning to not feel so bad about the 100+ gallons of bum southern fuel I had to have dumped up in IL a couple of weeks ago that was beyond treating. Aparantly, this new fuel is universally resistant to anti gel treatments. the old tricks just don't seem to be working.

 

[Andylad13]

what kind of anti gel are you using???

 

[dazedandconfused]

Dont feel bad man I've had it happen twice to me this year in my 6.5. I spent this morning with -40 after figuring in windchill trying to get mine running. This time it burnt up my lift pump though.

 

[tonkadoctor]

Are you keeping your fuel tanks full, if not you are most likely getting condensation that is freezing on you, most likely in the fuel lines or tank valve. To compound that, most anti gells force water to drop out of the fuel out and don't absorb it to allow it to burn off like alcohol will.


Ways to avoid gelled fuel.

1. Keep tanks full to avoid condensation
2. anti gell like Howe's or Power Service (white bottle) you have to double dose it to get the anti gell properties. Read the lable, alot of people don't and it gets them in trouble.

 

[h2odrx]

so would adding methanol to the tank help? Something like gas line antifreeze?

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Ok this is 2 winters in a row clearing out gelled fuel lines

I once again heavily dosed the fuel tank with antigel to remedy the situation but this is getting frustrating.

Did you have anti-gel in the fuel-tanks WHEN the gelling occurred ??

If so, how much anti-gel/gallon-of-fuel and what brand/type ??

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Throw a couple of gallons of unleaded in there with a full tank and tripple dose the antigel. The european diesels used to list in the manuals up to 30 % gasoline to thin out for winter.

Would you suggest that as a regular practice during winter? Say $5 of every $40 fuel fillup I do goes for regular 87-octane, that will be about 3 gallons of unleaded per 15 gallons diesel, so 1:5 ratio, essentially half of the max dosage for the european diesels - does that sound about right?

 

[h2odrx]

Would you suggest that as a regular practice during winter? Say $5 of every $40 fuel fillup I do goes for regular 87-octane, that will be about 3 gallons of unleaded per 15 gallons diesel, so 1:5 ratio, essentially half of the max dosage for the european diesels - does that sound about right?

are you adding any lube? cause with ULSD you might be asking for trouble?

 

[LCAM-01XA]

What lube would you suggest? I always dump a quart of ATF in there.

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

OK to clear some things up, yes I had at least a double dose of PS in the tank beforehand. I have access to an unlimited supply at no cost so being a stingy miser on the stuff is not an option.
I put more PS in to aid in recovering use of the truck. to mix it up I blow the lines back into the tank with low pressure air and that aids in mixing the additive.
With an electric pump on this one, I'm not concerned about air intrusions.


The truck sat outside on top of a hill without no protection from the wind.

The tank was half full at the time of the occurrence.

When I put the truck together I cleaned the tank then but yes it has been a year and last year I did fight a bad batch of fuel with water. I now avoid that station and use a trusted station with tanks less than 5 years old and they sell the higher cetane rated fuel and I do not use any WMO in the winter, just straight diesel.

Am I one to put RUG in truck? No, that will not happen. Not gonna chance it.

I've never had problems with my other trucks, just this one that I use for plowing snow.

Thought about adding a second inline heater to the system to aid in warming the fuel.