Hey there DSLDOG...I'm right down the road from you in Anchorage

yeah, fairbanks has more plug-ins than anchorage for good reason...it's been -20 there for the past 2 weeks. My Ford (I know, evil name...I'm getting rid of it) won't start at -5 and it has glow plugs. When it starts at 5 w/o the block heater it's pretty ****** off and I can hear my valves ticking away from lack of oil.

My thoughts are, sure your truck will start at below 0 temps, but how long is it running before your oil warms from sludge to liquid and lubes the valves and bearings? Those bone cold starts every once in a while won't hurt your engine, but if you're in a place where it's cold like that for 4 months out of the year, you're asking for engine problems. I'd have a block heater, oil pan heater, and transmission pan heater for reassurance.

 

Any of you guys run straight #2 w/ Stanadyne mixed in at sub zero temps?
Reason I ask is last week I had about 3/4 tank of unblended #2 with Power Service added and the temp was -20ish. My fp gauge was 7psi at idle and would drop to 2psi under medium throttle then bounce all over the place. I hit a truck stop and put 20 bucks worth of #1 in it and my idle pressure immediately hit 14 lbs and wouldn't go below 10psi under med throttle.
Power Service claims to be equal to a 50/50 mix of #1, #2 but I no longer believe that.
Is there an additive that will keep #2 from gelling at -20 and colder?

 

I had a big long explanation of why there is not an additive that will do that, but decided to erase it in favor of this one:

No, there isn't an additive that will do that. If there was, no one would go to the trouble of blending fuel.

 

Wonder why they state that on the bottle- Isn't that false advertising?

 

Howes Diesel-Treat advertises "If you can't go, They'll pay the tow."

http://www.howeslube.com/products/index.php/category/10

 

Thanks Shovel- Looks like I might have to give it a try.

 

I gotta think it is.

Think about it--wouldn't it be easier for the whole northern 2/3's of the USA to just put an additive in fuel rather than go to all the trouble to blend it? In fact, you could get rid of #1 altogether--its basically only used for blending and running straight in colder temps. What purpose would it serve if the properties it gives (by blending with #2) could be attained by an additive? It wouldn't be needed any longer.

I guarantee that the cost savings the refiners could realize by not having to refine, transport, and store #1 would far, far exceed the cost of putting an additive in #2, if indeed it did the same thing as blending.

I'm open to hear an explanation of why the beneficial properties of additives continue to elude all the chemists at Texaco, Conoco, Shell, BP, et al.

 

I used Stanadyne with the old GM6.5's. This saved the injector pumps. We live in an area where it is below freezing every day and night. We use synthetic 0-40 oil, and start our trucks without cranking any different than in the garage. These new trucks are fantastic for cold starts.

 

Straight #2 plus Power Service just kept me running though a spell of -25°
Power Service also says they will pay the tow if it gels above -40° but you have to buy it by the case for the "warranty".
The winter off road red straight #2 I have delivered to the farm has Power Service pre added, never a problem in the last ten winters.

I'll bet the profit margin on #1 is higher for the refiners, that may be why a blend is offered rather than additive treated fuel at most pumps. Plus they get to sell more of it since it lowers your mpgs. Remember it's a profit driven world out there.

Stanadyne plus straight #2 has also kept me running at -25° but one thing that bugged me about it was that straight Stanadyne gelled up in the can at temps below -10°. Never had Howe's or Power Service do that.

 

We were at Deadhorse, Alaska last summer, and they had electric plugs at most all parking places, In the summer they use them to electrocute the flies an mosquitoes. Have a nice day hah hah, just funning had a wonderful time, beautiful state.

 

I know all the truck stops in Laramie run straight #2 with an additive. I really miss that fuel, this Iowa blended crap kills my fuel mileage.

You have to keep #1 around, because additives only work down to a certain temp, and more importantly, we run #1 in our space heater to keep the shop nice and warm.

 

Just an update, someone wanted to know how I knew the truck wouldn't start easy without the Stanadyne - now I know for sure. The boss offered me a tank of fuel from the company tank because I was running some errands for him on the way home. I was going to buy fuel the next day so I didn't have a bottle of Stanadyne in the truck. I couldn't pass up a free tank with diesel at $1.89 most places. Filled 'er up with straight #2, truck still lights off fine plugged in. This afternoon, at 16 degrees unplugged all day, I couldn't get it to start until I pushed on the accelerator. I had to give it about 1/4 throttle to get it to stay lit, wanted to die on me for the first 30 - 40 seconds. Smoked like a mosquito control truck. This is how I expected the truck to behave without the intake heaters. I'm going to go top off the tank and put some Stanadyne in before Monday.

 

Where do you guys get straight #2 in the dead of winter in places that are regularly below zero? Wouldn't the distributor have handling problems himself if he didn't preblend it?

Not that I doubt you!...

 

Maybe because the tanks are underground where the temp stays at around 55° year round?
Many folks are under the misconception that when diesel gels it turns solid. Not so, what happens is wax particles form that plug filters, the fuel is still pumpable.

You can be almost certain that if the pump doesn't say summer #2 that it's winter blend.

 

It may not get 'solid', but it does get to the point where it will not flow. That's what the definition of pour point is, as compared to cloud point. That's why lots of trucks have heated fuel tanks.