Red Sleeper
Active member
That's sweet! The mirrors even fold in.
Truckers, lets see your rigs!
- Thread starter Mr.T
- Start date
BRE
New member
Pluck yes. I’ve had or had possession of a diesel full time since I was 17 years old, ever had one gel. I started mine this morning idled it up, and went back home. It ran for an hour and a half probably. Didn’t make it out of town and I looked over and the pressure was dropping and boom.
I’m still sitting here getting it to thaw out. Great day in the neighborhood. It had to of been the lines. Filters weren’t froze, tanks weren’t froze.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
RockinRam96
New member
What temperature? Do you treat the fuel?
It is such a helpless feeling, especially if you've been so long and never had it happen. My pickup gelled once. I let it warm up for about 10 minutes in the driveway and made it about 10 miles down the road before it quit. Never made sense to me. Always ran treatment, too.
BRE
New member
It’s been cold for here the past couple days with it sitting. My stupid arse did not treat the fuel Friday before I got home when I fueled up. I ran it Saturday and it’s been parked since then.
This morning it was 7 degrees out. Idk why I didn’t treat it.
On the road when it gets cold at all I always treat no matter what what. This time I didn’t.
On a side note, does anyone in here know anything about reefer trailers?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
This morning it was 7 degrees out. Idk why I didn’t treat it.
On the road when it gets cold at all I always treat no matter what what. This time I didn’t.
On a side note, does anyone in here know anything about reefer trailers?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
malibu795
2wd numb nut
Got down to -12 at my place.. filled up last night, block heater is grounded out and needs replaced...
I stuck some plywood in the front covering half the cooling stack and bumped idle to 850-900 let it idle all night
If it did tell.. it wasn't enough to stop the lift pump from sucking it out the tank and through the pump
I stuck some plywood in the front covering half the cooling stack and bumped idle to 850-900 let it idle all night
If it did tell.. it wasn't enough to stop the lift pump from sucking it out the tank and through the pump
Up here in Canada we run straight #1 from about November into March. Don't be scared to run it. It's only 4% less BTUs. Straight #1 should be good to the -35 range. Don't believe the marketing of the additives. I used to park my truck outside in -30 and never added anything because I was running good fuel.
If an engine is really "gelled" it will never start in the first place. Gelling is a bad term really. There's three issues:
1) Wax dropout. Happens before gelling, the fuel gets cloudy and the wax particles drop out of the fuel and plug the filter. Chuck in some additive, change the filter, and pray.
2) Fuel gelling. It turns solid or near solid. The pump cannot move the fuel. You need a tow truck at this point, but most trucks are looooooooooong dead before this happens.
3) Water/ice. If the fuel is clear this is likely your issue. Ice can pile up in fittings. The best way to get rid of it is to manually remove it. Most filters have a drain. I drain my tanks a little bit every fall. One of the most common issues on a newer style dual return fuel system is one tank is more full than the other. Usually thats ice buildup in the T fittings. Some additives can help get rid of water by dispersing it, but alcohol floats on top of diesel while water is heavier.
A note about the red bottle diesel 911. I've seen guys use this stuff as a regular additive. Don't do that. It is extremely harsh on humans and engines. I carry a bottle in case of emergency, if I open it the whole bottle goes in and gets thrown out.
Heated fuel filters (davco 382) are great but aren't the answer to bad fuel. Guys use to run those arctic fox heaters up here and they fell out of favor. One breakdown can completely wipe out your savings of running cheaper fuel.
If an engine is really "gelled" it will never start in the first place. Gelling is a bad term really. There's three issues:
1) Wax dropout. Happens before gelling, the fuel gets cloudy and the wax particles drop out of the fuel and plug the filter. Chuck in some additive, change the filter, and pray.
2) Fuel gelling. It turns solid or near solid. The pump cannot move the fuel. You need a tow truck at this point, but most trucks are looooooooooong dead before this happens.
3) Water/ice. If the fuel is clear this is likely your issue. Ice can pile up in fittings. The best way to get rid of it is to manually remove it. Most filters have a drain. I drain my tanks a little bit every fall. One of the most common issues on a newer style dual return fuel system is one tank is more full than the other. Usually thats ice buildup in the T fittings. Some additives can help get rid of water by dispersing it, but alcohol floats on top of diesel while water is heavier.
A note about the red bottle diesel 911. I've seen guys use this stuff as a regular additive. Don't do that. It is extremely harsh on humans and engines. I carry a bottle in case of emergency, if I open it the whole bottle goes in and gets thrown out.
Heated fuel filters (davco 382) are great but aren't the answer to bad fuel. Guys use to run those arctic fox heaters up here and they fell out of favor. One breakdown can completely wipe out your savings of running cheaper fuel.
Ram12vcummins
New member
I run additive year round. Tanks get some every fill up. And my drivers are supplied with it to put in the tanks as well. My trucks also get parked in warm shop which would make for condensation in tanks. Knock on wood no issues. Once truck is running for a bit even running -25 the fuel tanks can get warm from return fuel.
chevota84
New member
I run the power service white in the winter and silver in the summer. I've never had a problem since I started running the white, used to get shut down once or twice a year. A couple times getting an electronic cat reprimed on the side of the road when it's -20 made me decide that the power service isn't that expensive. The B wasn't a big deal, just swap the filter and keep going.
Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
If the tanks are full there shouldn't be issues. The only condensation issues I've had are running home when its really warm and raining, then you get a below freezing cold snap. You're sucking in 10 GPH of atmosphere while going down the road at 6 MPG.
Then you fill up, this stuff loosens up, and you're in ****.
A lot of it is water issues and sometimes it doesn't come out of the pump. Canada has good quality winterized fuel. Northern states you have a choice between #1 and #2 "winter treated" pumps. Problem is you don't know how it's treated. You can have a variation state to state.
The other issue is biodiesel which is terrible for winter performance. Minnesota had trucks breaking down everywhere a few years ago when they adopted it.
As far as the batteries here's my take on it:
Unless you're going AGM, go with lower CCA starting/deep cycle batteries
I've had good luck with the Cat 825 CCA batteries because the plates aren't as thin as on other batteries. They're also predictable, they don't short out and give off that sulfur smell. They just slowly get weaker and weaker and you have more than enough warning as to when to replace. Up here they have a full 3 year replacement warranty.
I'm pretty damn hard on batteries. Fridge runs all the time. I run an espar bunk/engine heating combo and don't idle my truck until it hits -25C. It's also pretty damn cold up here in case you haven't heard.
Unless you're going AGM, go with lower CCA starting/deep cycle batteries
I've had good luck with the Cat 825 CCA batteries because the plates aren't as thin as on other batteries. They're also predictable, they don't short out and give off that sulfur smell. They just slowly get weaker and weaker and you have more than enough warning as to when to replace. Up here they have a full 3 year replacement warranty.
I'm pretty damn hard on batteries. Fridge runs all the time. I run an espar bunk/engine heating combo and don't idle my truck until it hits -25C. It's also pretty damn cold up here in case you haven't heard.
malibu795
2wd numb nut
I might swap over to AGM at a later date..
I know frieghtliner has gone from 1900cca to 2850cca for the ISL9..
I Currently at 2300cca with two 1150cca soon will be bumping to 3..
I take it you have at least 4 825? To start and run the Espar or you got a couple additional separate from. The cranking ones?
4 x 825 CCA yes, nothing separate. I run 5w30 oil and don't have issues with pressure in the morning.
My dad runs regular old 15w40 rotella and NO engine heater of any kind. He shuts his truck off most of the time. Those damn Volvo engines are UNREAL in the winter.
Leiffi
New member
Modern high compression engines start easily if fuel is flowing through filters, no pre-heating needed.