B-Peterson

ON 12/26/02 MY WIFE AND I WERE VISITING FAMILY FOR THE HOLIDAYS. WE HAD SPENT THE NIGHT AND I HADENT PLUGED MY TRUCK IN IT WAS AROUND 5 BELOW 0 I WENT OUT TO WARM UP MY TRUCK AND COULDN'T GET IT STARTED I TRIED ABOUT FIVE TIMES IT JUST WOULDN'T START.<br>I NOTICED WHERE THE MILES READ OUT THE TRUCK WAS READING OUT SOME MESAGES. I AM NOT SURE WHAT IT WAS SAYING DOSE ANY ONE KNOW? ALSO WHY WOULDN'T IT START?

CaptainDD

If you can plug your truck in. When you tried to start your truck did you notice if your amp meter pegged out that would mean your grid heaters where working. The next thing would be your fuel filter and fuel. Look to see if your filter is good. When you turn your ignition on do you hear your lift pump working. Are you running 1# fuel? Did you add anti-diesel gel to your fuel?

B-Peterson

YES I DO HAVE ANTI-GEL FUEL. THE TRUCK HAS 5K I WOULDN'T THINK IT WOULD NEED A NEW FUEL FILTER YET. I DID HAVE TO PLUG IT IN SO THAT IT WOULD START.

diiligaf

I suspect your fuel filter has gelled up. This term is a misnomer. I have started my truck without plugging in at -39F. A poor Chev diesel owner and I were building winter road 80 miles north of Yellowknife in the Canadian Arctic. He offered to jumpstart me, the fool. After I started my truck and he gave up on his, I jumped him.<br>The moral of this is, your truck will start in the cold. <br> If you talk to a bulk fuel dealer he will tell you that the jell temp between winter and summer fuel is 8 degrees. Yup, -28 versus 36 degrees. Now, here's another fact--all fuel contains water in small amounts. At swing temps, +5 to -5, this wil cause the most problems for you. If you can look into the tank of a operating diesel engine at these temps you can see with a flashlight, little twinkles in the fuel. (easier to do in my 18 wheeler) This forms slush in the fuel filter. People call it jelling. If you pour a couple of cups of methanol into the tank it will float on the fuel (try it in a clear glass and see) As the little tiny flakes of ice circulate up to top of the fuel, they touch the methanol and wink out as they turn to water and are trapped in the bottom of the filter where they belong. I figured this out getting caught in the bush with a 6x6 military cummins powered plow truck at -25. Took a long time and even took the tank off and dryed it by a fire, and then I saw the slush when I cut the filter open. It was fun.

latitud_rt

Dosen't the new trucks, maybe even the old, have fuel filter heaters? My manual says my 2002.5 does have.<br><br>Tim