I here diesel fuel gels in cold temperature. Is that something I should worry about? I probably fill up weekly so fuel be fresh. If it gels what do I do about that? I see products at stores for gel diesel. Should i get some just in case? Is it as simple as pour in the tank and then wait so long or what? I hope this is the right area to post this. Many questions i have seem not to fall in the sub forum groups. The site seems to be to racers or pullers. am I on the wrong site?
Does diesel fuel gel these days
- Thread starter bradpeterson
- Start date
my fuel didnt gel til about -18 degrees but i put some howes fuel treatment in it and didnt have any trouble since and will definately use the same stuff this year
Brad,
You are in the right place. If you post something in the wrong place, one of the admin's will place it correctly for you.
As for fuel gelling, I agree with 03maxpower, it has to get pretty cold for the fuel to gel and you can use a good quality fuel treatment to make sure it doesn't. Personally I use PowerService in my truck. They have a summer time (grey bottle) and winter time (white bottle) formula. The winter time formula includes an anti-gel additive in it. I get mine from Wal-mart but you should be able to find it in other auto stores (check the net). If you do expereince a problem with gelling, PowerService also has a product called Diesel 911. It helps get your truck running again.
Keep asking your questions. Everyone on here can help from the simplest questions to the most extreme. Educating yourself is the best tool you can have.
You are in the right place. If you post something in the wrong place, one of the admin's will place it correctly for you.
As for fuel gelling, I agree with 03maxpower, it has to get pretty cold for the fuel to gel and you can use a good quality fuel treatment to make sure it doesn't. Personally I use PowerService in my truck. They have a summer time (grey bottle) and winter time (white bottle) formula. The winter time formula includes an anti-gel additive in it. I get mine from Wal-mart but you should be able to find it in other auto stores (check the net). If you do expereince a problem with gelling, PowerService also has a product called Diesel 911. It helps get your truck running again.
Keep asking your questions. Everyone on here can help from the simplest questions to the most extreme. Educating yourself is the best tool you can have.
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Where do you live? Northern states you should keep some Power Service 911 in the truck no matter what. The refinery for your area will blend the fuel according to the temperatures in your area. With that said they are still only human and mistakes can be made. Last winter about half of the diesels here in Fairbanks jelled up because the refinery messed up the blend, But this is very rare.
Good to know what fuel you are getting. Try and stick with the same station as much as possible once you know what you are getting. Some may keep #2 fuel all year, many switch to a blend in the winter months.
#2 fuel can actually start to crystallize at as high as 40F, but usually more of a concern below 20F. The blends can go to zero or below, but you just never know. So once you know what fuel you are getting, then you'll know whether to treat.
Also, if you fuel has any percentage of bio in it, this will make it gel a little sooner. The little added expense is worth eliminating a possible headache down the road.
#2 fuel can actually start to crystallize at as high as 40F, but usually more of a concern below 20F. The blends can go to zero or below, but you just never know. So once you know what fuel you are getting, then you'll know whether to treat.
Also, if you fuel has any percentage of bio in it, this will make it gel a little sooner. The little added expense is worth eliminating a possible headache down the road.
Yes, diesel fuel does gel these days. I run additive in every tank. I just put in twice the amount in winter as I do in summer. When I gelled up it was about -30C. Since I started using an additive my truck has seen -50C, and I haven't gelled, yet anyway.
The biggest problem seems to be the mixing of Biodiesel in fuel. Some state like IN mix it in for tax breaks last year it left lots of guys on the side of the road. As of last year a lot of additives weren't stopping the Bio from causing fuel to gel. Howes seemed to work the best, but hopefully a lot of companies got some reformulation done this year.
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my truck was in -25* winters for the past 4 years and I never had any problem with gelling or anything...
FWIW..
ben
FWIW..
ben
I am bring this back to life.......It's two degrees and my truck is not holding rail pressure. I have the truck in the shop to warm it up, but I was thinking of changing my fuel feilters on my fass. Is this always recommend when it is starting to gell. I need to get some part numbers get some new filters, but I am not sure what would be the best to get, what filter micron size and if i should get just napa, baldwin, or cat filters. Does the water separator need replace and what else do i need to do..... I run the normal dose of winter power-service with every tank of fuel.
I would change then if they are past the 1/2 way point of your change interval. Napa, baldwin, and cat all have good filters. They generally don't have a bunch of option on what micron to get. Just make sure you have at least 1 on there that is 2 microns.
Is fuel filter % remaining any indicator of fuel gelling ? Let's say when I leave my driveway the % life remaining is 80%. I'm 10 miles down the road and it now says 70 or less. Will it do this if it's gelling ?
No its not IIRC. It basically uses mileage and throttle % to guesstimate when it should be changed.
The FF minder is just a15k mile countdown. No otherb parameters are involved.
Sent from my SCH-I535
my fuel filter gelled yesterday and it was around 17-18ºF out. fuel filter was old, and I forgot to put additive in on that fill up, so i'm not really surprised.
Windchill is -6 right now, tomorrow morning might suck, but I filled up yesterday with additive.
Also when you trip low rail pressure your filter minder automatically goes to 0% life remaining, regardless of where it was before.
Windchill is -6 right now, tomorrow morning might suck, but I filled up yesterday with additive.
Also when you trip low rail pressure your filter minder automatically goes to 0% life remaining, regardless of where it was before.
Kappa did u have #2 or #1 diesel. I know around here they are lazy to switch over and u can run into problems like this till they fully switch to #1
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk
I gelled up the first time a couple weeks ago. I even had stanadyne in it. (Switched to howes) I highly suggest putting treatment in every tank. Not worth trusting gas station.
As for if your already gelled up. I would dump a little Powerservice 911 in a new fuel filter and change them out. Then dump the rest of bottle in tank. If you don't have a new filter at the time dump out the old one and then fill it up half way with the 911.
I think have a gelling issue is just like getting into some bad fuel in the summer. Its hit and miss.
As for if your already gelled up. I would dump a little Powerservice 911 in a new fuel filter and change them out. Then dump the rest of bottle in tank. If you don't have a new filter at the time dump out the old one and then fill it up half way with the 911.
I think have a gelling issue is just like getting into some bad fuel in the summer. Its hit and miss.
I run straight number 1 after 0 degrees and down number 2 with additives gels every time we try running it in North Dakota so we just run number 1 and call it a day if you never get below zero don't really worry but if it's going into the negatives run 1
i just had gelling this weekend at -24. truck started and would idle fine but about a minute later it died and would not start. my airdog filter and my cat filter were both completely full of nasty separated gelled fuel.