Maybe gel, maybe not. I know some of yuo guys live in less hospitable places then me, but last night, with wind we were around -35.
I plugged in, all the same stuff ive done in winters past.

this morning, probably one of the harshest starts i can recall.
took probably 20 attempts to keep it running, then, would bog down, smoke like all hell, and backfire? never heard it backfire before.

I was plugged in, topped off with winter fuel last night.
the only thing i do know, is that like many of us 12v guys, the fuel pre heater burned up long ago, and i never fixed it, never seemed to matter.

did some of my fuel gel, or is that pre heater i never fixed haunting me when we get below -10?

thanks

 

Yes it needs the preheater. One other thing is the ULS fuel= junk.

 

Its been FREAKY cold here too. Do not have a problems with ULSD, except for lack of power and fuel economy. But yes, your fuel needs to be warm.

 

Everyone is eager to blame ULSD for problems, but CA and Canada were ULSD only for a year or more than the 49 other states. Gelled fuel is a possibility, but it sounds more like an over flow valve to me. How old is yours?

 

Really? Better read this:

http://www.enertechlabs.com/ULSD_Col...n_09032007.htm

 

"To make this problem even more difficult, many of the diesel fuel anti-gel additive products that have been on the market for last 5 to 30 years have little or no effect on ULSD. The change in fuel chemistry brought about by changes in the Catalytic Cracking processes and the addition of Hydrodesulfurization have rendered many of the most popular products nearly useless in ULSD.... When the fuel gets to the Wax Dropout temperature, say for example 8°F and stays there for 48 to 72 hours, the wax will suddenly agglomerate and fall to the bottom of the container. This wax plugs filters and fuel lines until it is removed or until the fuel temperature is raised to a point where the fuel will reabsorb the wax."

eee-yup. I have two glass bowl fuel filters inline, one on the auxiliary tank, and one before a rail-mounted lift-pump. This winter, for the first time, I've had fuel-related pumping problems - every time the temperature dips below 15F and the truck has not run for a couple of days, I see wax build-up in the glass bowls, and variable fuel pressure between 5-20 psi. After ten minutes of warm-up while driving, the wax goes away and the pressure becomes consistent.

Changing fuel sources has no effect. I've switched from Powerservice white to a number of other brands - no effect.

 

Yeah right, you really going to believe someone who is trying to sell you something?

We've had ULSD here in Montana for two winters now with temps down to -25°F.
How come I'm not having problems just using Power Service?
How come there aren't trucks broken down all along the road?

When ULSD first came out all the Power Service was pulled from the shelves around here. Couple weeks later it came back with the label saying reformulated for ULSD. Don't know if other anti-gel brands did the same as Power Service is all I ever see in my parts.

 

Get your fuel pre heater fixed

 

i believe the wax bulid up is the synthetic lubricant additives in ulsd. so when this starts waxing/gelling it seperates from the fuel. so the truck may still run good as long a fuel can be pumped but the lubricant might stay behind in the tank or filter. this can create problems down the road.

 

Your saying you had a summer load of fuel, that you just topped off with winter?

That just ain't good enough for a -35.

The ONLY time any of my equipment has any greef in the winter, is a machine or vehicle that has any summer fuel in it, and I needed to run it in the winter.

 

in my eyes.. ULSD is junk.. i had 16 at wot with LSD.. and pulled into a station where i could only get ULSD.. and with in 10 minutes.. my pressure dropped to 5.. and i had to crawl in Indy.. and my truck is still sitting outside with gelled fuel.. im going to throw in some kero and diesel 911.. and if my vp dies b.c of my low fuel psi.. Pilot is paying for it.. the people that feel we need to run ULSD.. need to run it in cold weather.. let it gell up... and see how they feel then.

 

I dunno. I did just skim that article - but thought there were some interesting points on it.

Im in Canada and have been lucky as Ive never been froze up. I am very selective where I buy fuel from. I use power service and usually some 2 stroke thrown in for good measure. I do know a few that have had gelling problems though. Diesel quality varies so much - isnt not hard to get some with a lot of water in it.

 

You beat me to it. "ULSD gells worse than LSD but we just HAPPEN to have the cure"

I try to not drive in subzero temps, but sometimes I have no choice. The only gelling I've ever encountered was an aux tank full of Pearl, MS LSD fuel (55 degrees when I bought it) when I arrived in northern Indiana (+5). I carried that fuel across MN, SD, WY, MT and ID. After crossing the pass into Seattle I saw temps in the lower 30s and a little later the fuel started flowing. Last winter I was stranded in Gillette, WY for 4 days with temps below -10 the whole time. Both tanks were full of ULSD fuel I bought there in Gillette, with no additional additive. I did have a plug where I stayed, but no type of heat for the fuel. From there I went to Great Falls, MT where I topped off, again with no additional additive. From there into Canada, then back down to SLC. Never had any type of gelling problem.

If he had a half tank of summer fuel, then as I said, gelled fuel is a possibility, but if it was then it probably wouldn't have started at all. Still sounds like when my overflow valve failed.

 

I think what the folks in the east are experiencing is water turning to ice in their fuel rather than gelling.
Wasn't the mob involved with watering down fuel a few years back?
Maybe they're up to their old tricks again.

 

"The amount of water that ULSD is able to hold is greater than that of HSD or LSD. One of the characteristics of fuel is that its ability to hold water in solution diminishes as the temperature decreases. Fuel delivered at 70°F with 200 ppm of dissolved water will as the temperature drops begin to push that water out of the fuel into droplets. These droplets can be seen floating in the fuel and as temperatures reach and go below 32°F those droplets freeze becoming ice crystals."

Of course, droplets and ice crystals do not settle on the bottom as waxy yellow particles....