QUESTION 1 : Once a filter becomes plugged with wax drop-out, will the blockage dissolve once the temperature warms, or must one either replace the filter or pour it full of Rescue 911 ??

Question 2 : For you guys using Power Service and actually measuring dosages, how many ounces per 10-gallons of fuel to prevent gelling in sub-zero temperatures ??



Here is my situation :

Until Thursday morning, I had complete confidence in our trucks frigid weather abilities and I have often driven them in much colder times than the ZERO we had Wednesday night.
I have religiously added white-jug Power Service to our fuel at the MEASURED ratio of 3.5-oz/10-gallon as per directions, beginning early November and continuing until April; 1-ounce/gallon of two-cycle oil is added year round.
Prior to last Wednesday nights low of 0*(American), I have never had one of our engines to shut-down due to fuel gelling or icing --- NEVER, and I have often driven in much colder temperatures.

Thursday morning, both trucks plugged in, I started the wife's truck to let it warm prior to her going to work.
It fired off as if it were August and sat there running like a Singer sewing machine for about five minutes; then, it just smothered down and died, as if it had ran out of fuel.
It managed to fire back up and spluttered and spit for about half-a-minute then died again; and again; then it only cranked without trying to hit.
I fired up my truck and same story, except mine ran maybe one minute and hasn't hit a lick since.
Yesterday, it got into the low 30s, and I tried both trucks again; mine only cranked; her's would start --- run about half-a-minute --- then die; it did that maybe five times before completely refusing to fire, this with me working the primer-pump for 50 strokes before each attempt.
I haven't messed with them since.

For what it's worth, fuel-filters on both trucks were replaced in November.
She buys her fuel at a different place than I do.

Thank goodness this happened at home in the driveway.

If I really needed them to be running, I have the knowledge and abilities to do so; it is just too cold for me to be out there messing around when warmer days are in the near future.


3. Up until now, I had 100% confidence in Power Service and in my mix ratio; Could we have gotten a dud jug of Power Service ?? ; the last several jugs we have used have came from Walmart.

4. Has anyone else had a similar experience after constant and dedicated use of measured dosages of Power Service ??

After this episode, I have a new trick up my sleeve involving a valved by-pass reservoir full of Rescue 911 that can be brought into play at the mere twist of a couple valves.

Thanks for reading.

 

1. At 30° your fuel isn't gelled, unless it's waste vegetable oil.
2. At 0° I don't think #2 would gel with PS white in it.
3. Could be water turned to ice.
4. You might have lost prime sucking on a plugged straw.

 

This may not be of any use to you but I'll throw it out there anyway. I use Howe's and they say to double the dosage at 0*F I have used power service in the past and have always doubled the dosage in below 0 weather and never had a problem. I have had fuel gel in company trucks and it usually plugged the filter so cracking the injectors was needed to restart after changing the filter. I've never tried to save a filter by filling it with PS 911. I always figured that if it does not work you are cranking without fuel in the IP which means no lubrication while cranking. Filters are cheap and easy, the IP not so much. Good luck.

 

I quit trusting in additives to prevent fuel jelling a long time ago. I also don't trust the fuel depot to deliver "winterized diesel" in time for cold weather. The only thing I'll trust is a minimum of 50% #1 that I mixed myself.

 

Fuel gel also happens faster with the 5~20% bio at the pump than good old straight untainted diesel. I believe the bottle says to double the dosage if that's what is at your pump. Last winter I was tripling the dosage and still had gel issues at -10~15f. Got stuck twice last winter. Once in Illinois and week before that in Sioux Falls. Now I make it a point to fuel up at a non-bio pump for the winter.

 

Generally, once fuel gells, you have to heat it above ~40 degrees F to get the wax to dissolve again, or add a pretty significant amount of stoddard solvent (CAS 8052-41-3). It depends on a lot of variables, but if you want to be sure, it seems you better get the fuel over 40.

I have NEVER had success with Power Service products, but I only ever tried them the year we went ULSD, and I had a batch of fuel that kept developing floating wax crystals no matter what I did. A gallon of PS & a quart of 911 in the tank (so 30 gal for the sake of argument), and the fuel still plugged a brand new filter.

If you heat up the filter enough, everything should be fine. Overnight in a 50 F shop has always worked, but when using a heat gun on the filter, I go for warm to the touch.

Do you have the fuel heaters on your trucks still? It could be they finally crapped out, and this is the first time you have needed them. In my experience, that heater makes all the difference. But if you have a piston lift pump, the intake screen on the pump can plug up too -- I guess that's why the second gen trucks have the heater/sediment screen before the lift pump.

Also in my experience, after running that hard against a plugged filter, you will have to bleed a couple injectors to get running again.

Somehow I thought you had a fuel pressure gauge on your truck?

I wonder if both truck's fuel came from the same depot, but that doesn't matter much at this point.

What a PITA -- but I'd bet it's not the first time you've had a gelled filter, and at least you were at home!

 

Bio diesel throws a curveball into the gelling problem big time. Especially over 5%. Feedstocks and production quality are major variable at play. If you have any marine terminals nearby or farm coops nearby you might want to see if they sell bulk (hopefully clear) kerosene. And try to run a 10...20% kerosene mix with some upper cyl lube. Road tax issues here.

I'm not big on additives but I've seen good results with Schaeffers. Might want to give them a call to see what they suggest. They are not a snake oil company. They employ real engineers, chemists, tribologisrs and have OEM approvals for their products where necessary.

Schaeffer Oil | Diesel Fuel Hot Line Anti Gel Additive

 

SeaW250 - I have to admit - you REALLY had me goin' with this word "tribologisrs". I had to Google that one for sure!

OP - Any updates on your situation. It's really bizarre that both units crapped out on you with fuel from different filling stations. Your temps really aren't that cold, especially with the trucks plugged in. I would like to know what brand and blend of fuel you folks are running, mainly for my own information and learning. Best of luck and hope you resolve things quickly.

I usually run 2 oz of PS White per 7 CDN gallons / 30 litres of fuel, seasonally adjusted for winter or not, year round.

Cheers!

Mike

 

I had plenty of things to keep busy at in here where the wood-stove is usually trying to walk across the floor, so I haven't messed with the trucks since my initial posting.
It is supposed to get close to 40* (American) tomorrow, so I thought I would loosen some injectors, hand-prime the systems, and get them back in action.

Both trucks have mechanical fuel-pressure gauges; I noticed the gauge on one was stuck at maximum pump pressure long after the engine had quit running, so I guess the tiny line and orifices on it are gelled or frozen as well.

I buy the bulk of my fuel at the local JAX at the big truck island and haven't bought any away from home in months; this fuel is delivered from Knoxville, Tennessee. --- Other than the Kroger grocery chain, JAX is the ONLY fuel/gas stop left in our county that is American owned and that fact alone is cause for 90% of their customers.

The wife always fills up at the local Kroger grocery-store; she has a Kroger card and says she gets a lot of savings by doing thus; I have no idea where their fuel originates from, but I figure they go with whoever happens to be cheapest on any given day, since they have many many stores.

I don't think either place has vegetable products in their fuel but I will be double-checking about this at the soonest.

A few years ago, we had four big bulk-fuel distributors right here in our little poverty-stricken town; you could stop at any one of them and buy either a pint of fuel or a whole barge load.
Then, one by one,a big distributor, 85-miles away, started buying them up and closing them down, until now there are none at all.
Last year, that big distributor got bought out by an even bigger outfit.
Now, it is 40-miles to the nearest source for #1 or kerosene --- the old Somerset refinery; and, they have even been taken over by some outfit from Texas.

I don't know of anywhere in our county, nor the adjoining counties, where one can buy a 5-gallon-can's worth of #1 or kerosene.

 

I forgot to add, my engine has the piston lift-pump and I know all about that screen, as I learned that lesson in a way that will never be forgotten.

Needless to say, EVERY truck on the place has an in-line see-thru filter located up between the brake master-cylinder and fender, plumbed ahead of the lift-pump.

The fuel visible in those see-thru filters appeared to be as clear and fluid as it ever is.


We have NEVER had either of these engines/trucks have cold-weather fuel issues before and we have been out in a lot colder times than zero; it makes me kind of think that we got a bad batch of PS.

 

Sorry to hear about your luck.

Had to be a bad batch of something. I plugged mine in and did fine. All I add is white can Power Service and TW-C3 two stroke oil.

My first guess would have been fuel but since they came from different places the only way to know for sure is find out where Kroger got theirs.

You hear of anybody else down there with fuel problems? If it was fuel seems like a lot of other trucks would have issues too.

Supposed to be low 40s* today!

 

Up here we have had a lot of inconsistent diesel fuel. Doesn't matter who you get it from, it all comes from the same refinery.

 

Low of 16* at midnight with temperature steadily increasing throughout the night to 46* right now --- 12:45 American (Central Standard Time --- not that Communist Daylight Savings stuff).

Her truck plugged in; my truck NOT plugged in; the cord that usually goes to my truck was plugged to our son's truck because it was the only one of the three that would start and run during all this episode.

I gave the primer on her truck 50 strokes and watched the pressure gauge climb; it was the one that had stuck because of the cold, now it is working fine.
Without loosening any lines or doing anything else, same fuel filters, no addition of any miracle fluids, her engine first began by acting as if it were trying to hit, then gradually a bit better, and more better, and then it started running on a couple cylinders, and one-by-one the rest of them came into action; it is sitting out there right now running like a genuine 6BT Cummins and has been for at least 30 minutes.

My truck would not offer to fire until I finally (one at a time) loosened and then closed three injector lines.
Each line would foam and bubble without even cranking the engine.
After the third line was bled, she fired on what sounded like one cylinder and gradually leveled off to run smoothly.

A double-dose of PS has now been added to all three and, because I had my head somewhere else, her truck got a triple-dose.


What bothers me far more than the annoyance of them not starting/running is that the real reason for the situation still remains a mystery.
Did the fuel in both trucks gel ??
Did water freeze and stop the flow ??
Did one gel and the other freeze ??
Any evidence has since been vanquished.



Someone mentioned the factory fuel-heater; my engine has had the fuel-heater elimination stud for many years; her's still has the factory-original heater, but I have no idea whether it works or not --- I sort of doubt their effectiveness in the best of times, as no way can much electrical heat be derived from the tiny wire that feeds them; if they made much heat, that tiny wire could not handle it.


Considering how her 1991.5 engine will self-bleed and my 1989 will not (when it is below 60* --- mine usually will self-bleed in warmer weather), the earlier/bigger injectors must take quite a bit more pressure to "pop" them, which probably explains why the earlier engines will fire instantaneously, whereas the later engines will crank a portion of a revolution before firing.


Thanks for everyone's support and input.

 

BEAR- Glad you got them going. The guy that bought my 98 called me night before last thinking he had gelled. Limped it into my shop to warm. Turned out I drained a bit of water and found his shut-off solenoid broken. Sure did sound like gelled at first, I was kinda surprised.

I get my best fuel from a VALERO in Flaherty. No where else in the area gets me the mileage or smooth running. (They also have Kero for $3.69)

 

I don't think gelled fuel will stick a gauge, but water (ice) will.

Do you have any enemies that would **** in your tanks?