Tank Heater

[Firedup1]

I've herd talk in the past there is a tank heater in these trucks, and most diesels for that matter. I have experienced myself and herd from truckers that when running approximately 1/4 fuel or lower in the warmer weather, you start loosing power because the fuel is heating up too much. My question is can/ could you remove the "tank heater relay" from the PDC without any codes or adverse effects. My way of thinking is why do I need a fuel heater in 80+ temperatures.

 

[Whitmore]

I may be wrong but my only knowledge for any type of heating of the fuel is the aprox 80 % re-circ thru the vp-44 and then back to the tank??? correct me if I am wrong... ... ... ... ... ... Kevin

 

[Steve Campbell]

Firedup1, here is an excerpt from the "Fuel Preparator" web site...



"The easiest is to entrain tiny bubbles in the liquid by shaking or agitating it.

The source of the vapor is the fuel itself. Like water, fuel contains a certain amount of dissolved air depending upon fuel temperature and the amount of aeration. ”



The second way to develop air/vapor in a liquid is through vaporization

This can be accelerated by heating the liquid or putting it under a vacuum. As fuel enters the fuel line, it is then placed under a vacuum and vaporization occurs. The hot fuel condition of the electronic engines, combined with the increased flow rate, creates higher vacuum and major vaporization. Hot fuel foams at approximately 2 in hg vacuum. As a fuel filter gets dirtier, it causes increased fuel flow restriction, or simply, it increases the vacuum in the fuel line, increasing vaporization. Pump cavitation also creates vaporization. As vacuum increases, so does pump cavitation.

With the lower fuel level in the fuel tanks, the fuel pump had to create more vacuum to pull the fuel to the fuel pump. This increased vacuum creates more air/vapor. Everyone realizes that a dirty fuel filter creates poor performance/fuel mileage. When fuel is under a vacuum, air/vapor is produced. When vacuum is increase due to a dirty fuel filter, lower fuel tank levels, etc, more air/vapor will be produced creating more of a problem. Why tolerate any vacuum/restriction?"



IMO, this(entrained air) is more of the problem than fuel heat. I do not know if you can disable the fuel heater in the filter head without setting a code.





Whitmore, there is a fuel heater in the fuel filter housing that only works below a certain temperature (I do not know the starting temp for it).



Hope that helps.

 

[illflem]

The fuel heater doesn't run all time, there is a built in thermostat set at around 32° if I remember correctly. Over heated fuel can be a problem on a hot day especially towing when the tank gets low. I have run into a condition almost like vapor lock a few times, only at low tank levels, that I've attributed to hot fuel. My solution has been to keep the tank more than half full.