My truck started fine last night at -5F. I drove for 35 minutes and as I was cresting a very smooth railroad crossing at the top of a very long gentle down hill section, my truck sputtered a little. About 200yds down the hill it just lost power and dropped RPM till it died.

The truck had not gotten up to full operating temp yet and I should have had roughly ¼ tank of fuel remaining.

It cranks fine, doesn’t sound odd or feel abnormal.

I opened the valve on the fuel filter housing and fuel came out. LP runs fine. No codes.

I have never run anti-gel and to my knowledge, have never needed it. I’ve fired right up at -20 without being plugged in all night.

Ideas?

 

today my buddy had full tank of fuel with half gallon of power service and his truck gelled up without warning, warmed it up for about an hour too. Said it has never happened to him.

may be the same problem

 

Mine did the same thing this year. Never before. I think, here anyway, they are using biodiesel in the pumps and it will gell faster than just a blend of 1 and 2. I have been using Power Service Diesel 911 and have had no further problems.

 

update:

I plugged the block heater in when I got home and its been sitting there nearly 40 hours. With a high of almost 40 today, the engine bay was downright toasty.

I dumped the fuel filter canister and got straight liquid diesel (a little more green than I remember, but still very much liquid)

The filter looked better than any filter I've ever changed on this truck

Re-filled with 911 and replaced

bumped and listened to the LP for the full duration (15 seconds) about 5 times then cranked with no luck, repeat x5

cracked open #1 injector line and cranked, bone dry

I wasnt sure how much to open it, so I backed it off all the way loose and cranked, still bone dry

My buddy suggested ether, I'm suggesting that if it wont start without ether at 40 degrees, it isnt going to do it any good for my over-all outlook.

 

If you're not getting any fuel to the #1 injector when you know you have it in the Fuel filter, it seems to indicated a failed injection pump. Sorry to suggest that, but the pump really is the most likely cause that fits your description.

You can find a new pump for about a grand, but you have to look.

jh

 

unfortunately I never believed my fuel to be the issue, I've been coming to terms with a bad IP since the engine started to die.

Finding a new pump isnt going to be nearly as hard as finding someone I trust to replace it. Last time I was @ Dodge, the service writer told me that the ECU has nothing to do with how the engine runs.

 

IT LIVES!

So after throwing everything I possibly could at it, I take it to a shop and they get it to fire. They cracked three injector lines while they were trying to diagnose the problem and got it to bang on a few.

I asked the guy to explain it to me since I was in shock and he basically just said that I'd probably done most of the work myself by the sound of it and that ULSD is some crazy unpredictable stuff. He said another guy had been i that same day who had driven several hours before his truck locked up.

When I dumped my fuel filter canister, I retained some of the fuel in a bottle and I'm a little worried about a thin layer of light blue tint on the top. Other than that, I'm just glad to escape with $112 rather than a couple thousand. They told me they'd never seen anyone so happy to give up $100 before lol.

Oh and I've finally found a shop that I feel I can trust in this area which makes me absolutely giddy. I've also been pointed in the right direction for the winter ECU programming that the dealership absolutely FAILED to put on my rig.

 

I've had trouble with my fuel gelling this year also. I've started using 4x the amount of treatment I used last year . Usually we get -20 #2 winter blend, but I was having issues at zero with enough additive it should have been good to -40 .

 

Glad to hear you got it to fire, SS!

That "blue tint" is completely normal. Don't worry about that at all.

JH

 

I have had gelling problems this year too. Not on my truck but on the grove crane i run. its been a constant battle got the whole chassis of the crane plywooded to the ground and a space heater under it to keep it dependable.
(have a bunch of people working under the boom , cant afford the risk of a flame out in middle of a pick)
Asked my fuel supplier about it and he had no answers. tried anti gel on the onset of problems and worked up to twice the prescribed amount with no improvement. Cat came out to see if it was fuel pump issue and everything is fine. The fuel has changed somehow. i told em to refill the on-site tank with jet-a i know it wont gel.