Archived CTD died: fuel/water freeze-up, bad fuel, or what?

[ukmuk]

I'm scratching my head on this one . My truck is dead in the driveway. I had to get towed home tonight, second time in a month. Both times, it completely died several blocks after leaving work (conceivably after whatever remaining fuel still thawed under the hood was exhausted). The behavior is identical to running out of fuel, which is essentially what I suspect is happening. I have no gauges. Both break-downs were within several hundred yards of one another. The first time I had ¼ tank (untreated). Tonight was ¾ tank (treated), had just purchased fuel two days ago. The first time it was at -10F. Tonight it was 5F. No issues at temps over 15F. I have no garage, but I plug the block heater in at home every night when it's below 20F. Got to work both times with zero incident, died on the way home both times. The truck sits at work 10 hours a day in the cold, no plug-ins available. All that I can think of is that I have water in my fuel that is freezing. Not sure if it is freezing in the bottom of the tank or in the fuel line(s). Wondering if it is condensation, if I am buying bad fuel with water in it, or if I have external water infiltrating into my fuel system. Or maybe I'm totally off-base and it's something entirely different.



I don't drive the truck many miles in the winter (just back and forth to work, 10 miles each way), and therefore only fill up every 2-3 weeks or so. Could I be getting excess condensation in my tank because of the infrequent fill-ups?



The same tow truck driver picked me up tonight, and he has a sense of humor. It was kinda funny. “Don't I know you?” he asked. After he got me home, he says “See you in a couple weeks. ” I laughed, but I hope I can figure this out so there won't be a next time.



After the first tow, I replaced the fuel filter and began using Power Service anti-gel additive at each fill-up (about 4 oz per 20 gallons). I also pour 4oz of Amsoil Diesel Concentrate lubricity improver for ULSD at each fill-up. Could I be purchasing bad fuel that has a lot of water in it? The anti-gel is not a cure for excess water in fuel (so I'm told) and cannot prevent significant quantities of water from freezing. There was no ice evident in the fuel filter housing in the first incident. I haven't taken a look this time yet, but I suspect same thing. Maybe the service station I'm buying fuel from doesn't sell much diesel and the long-term stagnation allows their storage tank to form more water condensate? I'm reaching for answers.



Can other components in the fuel delivery system other than the pumps and lines freeze at extreme cold temps, preventing fuel from reaching the injectors? My pumps appear to be fine.



I have purchased fuel (#1 diesel) from the same station in both instances. Not sure if it is ULSD or not. After the first breakdown, I let it warm up to maybe 20F and found I was getting fuel at the injector pump. It wasn't enough to bleed the air from the filter to the injector pump inlet. I had to bleed 4 of the injectors. Took me about 10 cranking/bleeding episodes of 15 seconds each to get it to fire. I'm not looking forward to doing that again. I could plug it in, but unless the ambient temp warms up, it is not likely to thaw any blockage upstream of the engine compartment. It's supposed to be -10F to 5F for the next several days. Gonna be getting rides to work until I can sort this out.



Looking for whatever advice you can give to get me operational again. Looking for short term and long term solutions. Maybe a FASS system long term? My plan is to try buying fuel somewhere else to see if that makes a difference. I hope I never have to get towed again over this issue. I can't face the tow truck driver again :-laf.



Thanks in advance for the help.



~ukmuk

Anchorage, AK

 

[fox]

Start looking at the filter. What does it look like?

You can drain the water at the filter.

It could simply be gelling.

Try some 911 or similar product.

 

[rkressg]

1. Change the fuel filter, although I see you have done that.



Does the truck have any codes? It is a 99, so you will need a scan tool to check.



Do you have fuel pressure? A failed LP should still allow the VP44 to run, but a clogged fuel line will not. Also, the screen under the fuel pickup in the tank can become clogged, not allowing fuel to be picked up.



If you have never cleaned this, after 8 years, it is probably pretty dirty.



Just some food for thought.

-Rich

 

[Hoefler]

Make sure you are using the white bottle of Power Service, not the grey, it does not provide anti-gel protection. On the bottle it states: "96 ounce treats 300 gallons, or for extreme conditions and maximum protection, 96 ounces treats 150 gallons. " The proper dosing for the Power Service is . 32 of an ounce to a gallon of fuel, or 3. 2 ounces for 10 gallons. For extreme conditions or maximum protection the ratio is . 64 of an ounce for every gallon, or 6. 4 ounces for every 10 gallons. You need to up your dosage for proper protection.

 

[DerekW]

I dont know how to help your problem. but one way to to make tow bills cheaper is to work the drivers. my rates have come down big time with my local company. Now we are good buddies. I get calls from them to pick up the $1200 camera and take pictures of employees stealing from the company for their attorney. One of the best things thats come out of any misfortune is establishing good relations with the local towing company. what started off as $500 for 120 miles is now $500 for 310 miles. it may be tough but its a good thing to get good with your local towing company. beware of the ones that will take advantage of you.

 

[CSnyder]

Yep I agree! Ive done my own fair share of smoozing with the local tow truck driver myself. He really appreciated the Sunday evening clutch replacement after an instant failure. He even bought a chip for the truck. :-laf Now I get free wrecker services within 50 miles of home.

 

[mfburns]

This reminds me of a new car I had that froze up while I was driving home the first night. Around zero degrees and 20 miles into the trip home. Next day it was warmer, I went back, I added drygas, started it up went home and filled the tank and added more drygas. No more problems.



I think you are getting water freezing in the line and I would replace the fuel filter, drain the filter daily before starting for a few days, take it for a long run to clean the tank and find a new place to buy fuel where the volume pushed through the pumps keeps the fuel fresher. You need to get good fuel in these to keep them happy.



Just my opinion based on my experience.

 

[DCreed]

along with the other advice here, I would try a heater on the tank. there is a type for heating oil on farm tractors that is magnetic and clings to the tank strap. plug it in with the block heater overnite and run, then with WARM fuel drain and change filters, repeat as needed. Also try to keep tank near full, it will take longer to gel.

 

[JR2]

All the fuel sold in Anchorage in the winter is #1 and is good to about -30 minimum. There are only 2 pumps that I know of that sell #2 in the winter and they are high volume pumps for big rigs that have heated tanks. It is probably not a fuel jell problem, but I don't have any other answers for you either.

 

[WKruger]

2nd P. S. 911. By the way, P. S. in the white jug sucks, use Howes.

 

[ukmuk]

I think I figured it out.



It finally warmed up around here to the 20s, so I did what I've done the last two times when the engine ran out of fuel: bled the injectors and it fired right up. So as I reported before, the truck runs normally at warm ambient temps, and runs out of fuel at cold temps. I use #1 diesel with PS additive.



This time I decided to check some of the related systems, i. e. the fuel heater. I removed the fuel heater relay and it tested fine, but there was no power to the fuel heater wiring harness with the relay in place and the key "on". I checked the 40A fuse -- it was blown. Not having a working fuel heater must have caused the fuel to wax at extreme cold temps (even though it was #1 diesel, I can't think of any other explanation). I replaced the fuse and before connecting the wiring harness, I tested for voltage and had 12V at the wiring harness with the key "on". I plugged in the fuel heater wiring harness -- fuse instantly blows when key turned to "on". So the heating element must be melted/shorted or otherwise toast.



I searched several TDR threads that indicate neither DC nor Cummins makes this part anymore. As other TDR members have said, this seems goofy to me that such an essential part designed to ensure operation in extreme cold climates, is discontinued. I clearly live in an environment that requires fuel heating (for the critical cold start-up/warm-up period anyway). But it is what it is, and I had to find a fix before next winter.



Long story short, I installed my gauges, confirmed that I had zero inlet pressure into the VP44, installed a FASS fuel transfer pump, and an upstream Racor fuel/water separator with 12V heating element. So I took care of several problems at once. Now I've got 13-15psi into the VP44 no matter the engine load or throttle position. Shouldn't have the freeze-up problem again either.



~ukmuk