Frozen fuel

[scottmcd]

TRUCK WILL NOT STAY RUNNING, HAVE 1/4 TANK FUEL, PUT IN 1 BOTTLE OF 911 and took off filter & filled with 911! will start but will not stay running... All help would be nice. Thx Scott

 

[JLandry]

Scott,



Are you sure you actually have fuel in the tank?



I ask because it's pretty common for these sending units to fail while still showing 1/4 tank when no fuel actually remains.



Checking the fuel pressure after the lift pump will verify if this is the case. Another way to deal with it is to simply add another 5 gallons of fuel to the tank and see what happens.



Good luck,



John L.

 

[mwilson]

When you changed the filter did you cycle the lift pump 4 or 5 times to finish filling the filter housing with fuel??

Sounds like it went dry and has air in it to me provided your lift pump isn't pooched.



Or as John said, you may simply be out of fuel.



Don't put any more 911 in there, you have added plenty already.



How cold is it there???

 

[scottmcd]

i can hear the FASS pump cycling, it is trying to fire, just cant get enough fuel into her to run. got it pushed into the garage and have put 3 space heaters in there to try and warm her up.



So adding more fuel would help?



Thx, Scott

 

[scottmcd]

It is getting fuel to the filter housing, just not enough to keep running. It is now in the garage with the heaters going & the batts are on the charger. Hopefully it will be warmed up enough soon to stay running.

 

[mwilson]

How cold is it there??????



It would have to be at least -20 below here before one would have an episode like you are involved in right now.



Mike.

 

[jelag]

Looking at the weather map, he hasn't lower than +18*F for the past 24 hours... .

If you can see to the bottom of the fuel filter with the filter removed, in that the fuel is clear and not cloudy than you need to look at another area...

When fuel starts to gel it starts to cloud... in most cases the fuel stops are 24 hours behind a cold front moving in... we don't start to blend fuel down here in Spokane unless the weather service is saying 0*F... etc... and than the fuel is blended down at delivery to the station, they don't do a thing with the fuel in the ground...

In Canada they have a federal standard where all fuel must be blended between the dates specified by the government... wish we had it here... but that would add a few cents to each gallon...

I had one of my Fords, and a Freightliner gel up, oh 15 years ago or so... . both trucks stopped... it took something like 18 hours in a 70* heated shop for the Ford to work and close to 30 hours for the Freightliner to come out of it... . from that point on... we always treat all our fuel... .

Andres has the answer, check for fuel flow first... this might be nothing more than a plugged filter...

 

[mwilson]

I have not tangled with a FASS system so it does not occur to me right off that there can be one or two filters back there on that unit.



Kinda' hangs down as well so would be a little more sensitive to the cold air I suppose.



If his fuel is not cut enough it could bother but it's a stretch at 18 degrees unless it is straight summer blend.



One scenario I have witnessed repeatedly is a southern truck will come here to deliver a load in the winter and will realize that if they ever want to get out of here they need to add winter fuel. They fill up at the New Hampshire border or not too far into Maine with our winter blend. They will make it about 100 miles and then gell up.

Truth is in that case they are not gelling but instead are suffering from all the algae and black slime that the cut fuel has sloshed off the inside of the tanks. The tell is when you spin the filters off they will be coated with black slime and other nasty stuff.



Have you just changed to winter blend fuel???

 

[CToney]

I had my truck gel up and to get her to start sucking fuel I applied a little air pressure to the tank to get her to prime.

 

[WM-300]

I never trust treated fuel at the pumps. From November to April, I treat my own fuel with Power Service. 5 cummins running and never a gell up. I have run at 35 below.



WM-300

 

[scottmcd]

She is up and running again, had to fire up the Top Hat propane heaters to get it warm. Once it started it ran fine, smoke at startup, then leveled out.

My FASS pump and fuel lines from pump to filter are covered in ice from doing snow removal on Sunday & Monday.

we got down to -5 last night with a wind chill around -15. Not sure what the cause was, i think it froze/gelled up between the pump and filter. it has a full tank of fuel, with a good dose of Standydyne.

Thanks for all the help and ideas... . Scott

 

[mwilson]

It might be good to rig up some kind of shield, maybe even just a small rubber mudflap to keep some of the ice off.



That build-up on the pump could become a real nuisance everytime you plow in sub-zero conditions.



Mike.

 

[steved]

If it was treated fuel, you might have gotten a little water that froze in the lines... some additives cause water to drop out so it can be scavenged by the filters. If you had treated the fuel; I can't imagine the fuel gelled, especially after adding 911.

I ran my FASS with the 1u filter (HF6604) down into the -25*F range without problems... but my fuel was also heavily treated. On the other hand, I got a batch of summer fuel that caused filter plugging at 8*F... but it took almost 50 miles to show it was a problem.

 

[TCDiesel]

She is up and running again, had to fire up the Top Hat propane heaters to get it warm. Once it started it ran fine, smoke at startup, then leveled out.

My FASS pump and fuel lines from pump to filter are covered in ice from doing snow removal on Sunday & Monday.

we got down to -5 last night with a wind chill around -15. Not sure what the cause was, i think it froze/gelled up between the pump and filter. it has a full tank of fuel, with a good dose of Standydyne.

Thanks for all the help and ideas... . Scott

This happens all the Time with Fass/Airdog around here. We remove them and throw in garbage. They are just not designed to handle all the Ice,sand, and chemicals that are used around here. If you install above tank it works but then The 1/4 or less problems develop.

 

[HOBrian]

It could be that the draw straw was not cut right when you installed your FASS. I know a lot of guys the put in FASS pumps or AD pumps and had the same problem. 1/4 tank issue.

 

[TCDiesel]

It will work, Until you off road or landfill or steep grade ETC... Fass and Airdog work for race or Track, they fail just like any other Pump. . Fass/Dog Make Great Pumps and they have they Place,But they are NOT slice bread.

 

[goodguys75]

Im glad i live in vegas... ... ... ... not even close to being a problem:-laf