Truck gelled 4 times this winter

[brods]

.....

The block heater will also have no effect on gelling, as it doesn't heat the tank or filters.

It would seem that the warm fuel in the head going back to the pump cup in the tank at startup and the slightly elevated under hood temps (effecting the engine mounted fuel filter) from using the block heater would help some. No?


Summer 2013 I stopped using additives and stopped plugging the truck in when winter hit and it bit me in the ***. Fuelled up on the Ohio Turnpike and burned about half the tank on the way home. A couple days later it was -16F in the morning. The truck started and ran ok until about a mile or so from the house, then it would not go above 1,000 rpm. At least it limped back home.

Turns out the Ohio Turnpike is forced to sell a biodiesel blend by the state. I recently called a local Michigan fuel supplier about getting diesel at the house and they said the only way to guarantee there is no biocrap in it is to get “premium” diesel for 10 cents more per gallon. I have never seen a choice of diesel grades at the pumps. Is there such a thing as premium diesel?

This is what commercially made biodiesel looks like at 16F.
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So we are not supposed to use additives, yet there is no easy way of knowing what the fuel lubricity is or if there is biodiesel in it when we buy it at the pump. Are we supposed to just roll the dice and hope the truck doesn’t let us down when we need it most??

I’m not comfortable leaving it up to chance, especially in the winter months. This years winter was much worse with many days in the negative numbers (lowest temp was -20F). Plugged the truck in if it was going below zero and used PS white at every fill up. Not one issue.

 

[AH64ID]

It would seem that the warm fuel in the head going back to the pump cup in the tank at startup and the slightly elevated under hood temps (effecting the engine mounted fuel filter) from using the block heater would help some. No?

There is a lot of space for the return fuel to cool between the head and at tank, and anything in the tank will be cold as well.

Return fuel will eventually warm all the fuel, but it won't prevent a cold soaked tank from gelling on the way to the engine.

 

[Newsa]

Anyone know why gelling doesn't start until the fuel starts moving? Moving water won't freeze no matter what temp. I realize that water is a polar molecule and hydrocarbons are nonpolar, but not sure that explains it.
Seems the fuel in the lines is already contacting the cold surfaces in the lines..... all night long

 

[AnOldBiker]

It took me forever to remember what one guy told me, but he swore by using a fuel heater in very low northern winters.
I found this as a demo: https://www.wolverineheater.com/product-p/fh.htm
Has anyone considered using these ?

 

[AH64ID]

Anyone know why gelling doesn't start until the fuel starts moving? Moving water won't freeze no matter what temp. I realize that water is a polar molecule and hydrocarbons are nonpolar, but not sure that explains it.
Seems the fuel in the lines is already contacting the cold surfaces in the lines..... all night long

I have seen stationary fuel gel.

I think what happens is that the fuel is just begining to gel and that is what plugs the filters. Let the fuel get colder and it wouldn't even pump, but that's much colder.

 

[Stab]

Yes, it plugs the filters first.

 

[Newsa]

I like this idea. A resistor-bssed fuel heater will not have time to get warm during your first mile of driving.

http://www.amazon.com/Thermalon-Mic...=sr_1_10?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1425842107&sr=1-10

 

[JR]

I have seen stationary fuel gel.

I think what happens is that the fuel is just begining to gel and that is what plugs the filters. Let the fuel get colder and it wouldn't even pump, but that's much colder.

Interestingly I saw this very scenario play out this winter. We had to be at work early to start a shutdown (3am) and being it was -30F when I pulled into the parking lot my first thought was to get the crane fired up. No crane, no work. So I went out to the yard where we park them in the winter to be able to plug in the block heater and hyd. Oil heater and fired it up. It started relatively easy so I idled it up to about 1200 RPM, turned the heat on medium and walked away from it. About a half hour later I came back to move the crane into the plant to set it up, and it was dead in the water. The fuel gelled and plugged the filter up solid. I looked down into the tank and while it wasn't gelled up it did look like it had some kind of sparklies in it. One of the guys ran up to a local truck stop and bought some PS 911while I pulled the filters off and took them in to heat them up. Once we got some 911 in the tank and drained the filters out and back on we were able to get it started back up by cracking the injector lines with a little cranking

Fast forward about 4 hours and the temp dropped another several degrees and our fuel tank we use to fill the cranes was gelled up prety solid, enough that it wouldnt pump. Those few extra degrees was all it took to gel an entire tank of fuel.

 

[EDankievitch]

I've been using Biodiesel since 2005 the only time that I had an issue with gelling was when the fuel was made from rendered animal fat. The animal fat fuel would gell up as warm as 34 degrees. Fuel from Soy beans blended with winterized diesel has proven good down to 20 below. As for why you can get a few miles before the your filters plug up as the temp falls wax crystals start to form in the fuel. If you look at un winterized fuel it will go from nice and clear to developing a cloudy ness to it. Your filters do a really god job at catching this fog. when in doubt take a sample of your fuel put it in a small clear container and place it in your freezer the average home freezer is aprox -4 to -6. If your fuel starts to show any haze it's not winterized.

 

[DonFitzwater]

It took me forever to remember what one guy told me, but he swore by using a fuel heater in very low northern winters.
I found this as a demo: https://www.wolverineheater.com/product-p/fh.htm
Has anyone considered using these ?

I've never had to run an external fuel heater but I use Wolverine or Catz heating pads on the oil pan and transmission pans. Run #1 and don't worry about it!

 

[Brocky]

I agree with Don on the number 1 diesel.. Only it is hard to find south of the upper midwest, northeast, Canada or Alaska.. If you have a cold snap (10 F or colder) coming and cannot find #1 you can always add 20 to 30% kerosene.. But due to fuel tax laws you can NOT drive up to the Kero pump!!! Will have to put it in 5 gal cans and go around the corner out of sight to put it in the truck..

 

[jkern]

Don't be too fast at giving Bio-Diesel a bad name.
1. Does it gel up itself, yes, but there is much more to the story! 100% Bio made from typical sources, (soy, canola, etc) will gell up around the 30*F mark =/- a couple degrees. HOWEVER, when mixed with #2 diesel or Kerosene the cloud point (gel) decreases in a fashion determined by the amount of Bio/Diesel ratio. I have run up to 35% Bio diesel at -15F with no problems.

2. In 2007 when our government mandated ULSD fuel (Ultra-low sulpher diesel) a lot of the lubricating properties of diesel were lost, which is part of the reason that forced manufactures to re-design injection systems and pumps. (emissions was the bulk of the other part). One way the fuel supplies were able to restore this lubricity in the fuel was to add bio-diesel to it. Research has shown that as little as 2% (by volume) of bio-diesel will replace the lubricating properties lost in the ULSD. Now, i am not sure about "everywhere" but here in PA every diesel pump i have run across notes that there is anywhere from 2-5% bio blended with the diesel; this is to restore the lubrication qualities. The change in the cloud point of the fuel is practically none at that small percentage. So if a machine is going to "gel up" that little bit of bio isn't what caused it.

3. In general most people who speak poorly of Bio-Diesel have had bad experiences with it due to poor quality or poor filtration. Then they run to public outlets/social media and complain about the problems they have had. Without getting into details, I have used Bio-Diesel for over a year in 3 different diesel engines with absolutely zero problems, but my Bio is of a high quality, produced and processed slowly and quality tested at every step.

Oh, i don't use additives for anything either.

 

[jhenderson]

The problem seems to be no federally enforced standard for bio. Good bio is fine. Bad bio is a nightmare and its a crapshoot wich one you get. We had a local truckstop that manufactured it's own bio from fry grease. We had it all. Poor mileage, plugged filters, gelled fuel. It was partly responsible for them going under.

 

[brods]

In theory biodiesel should be just dandy. In reality it has issues. I have run several hundred gallons of commercially produced bio through an oil furnace with no problems, but put it in my truck, no thanks, not even when its free.

Ignoring all the feel good, tree hugging nonsense (most of which is misleading if not just plain wrong), what do we know about biodiesel?

Fact: most biodiesel has good lubricity
Fact: biodiesel has a higher centane rating than diesel
Fact: biodiesel acts as a solvent
Fact: good clean biodiesel has a shorter shelf life than diesel
Fact: biodiesel coming in contact with copper or its alloys reduces its shelf life and water also reduces shelf life
Fact: biodiesel will gel at higher temperatures than diesel
Fact: biodiesel is absorbs water more readily than diesel
Fact: biodiesel has less energy than diesel
Fact: biodiesel has a higher boiling point than diesel (causes more crankcase oil dilution)
Fact: biodiesel costs more than diesel (a lot more when you remove the government subsidies)

I could go on for a long time pointing out biodiesel's shortcomings and most of it is based on experience at a few 10-20 MGY (million gallon per year capacity) biodiesel plants over the last 8 years, its not just because of one gelling event. Fresh, in spec bio, handled properly and run through the trucks system quickly (ie not having the fuel sit in the truck for weeks at a time) should not cause problems. I'm not willing to risk the potential consequences to my trucks fuel system if all those requirements are not met, especially since my truck can sit idle for weeks at a time. YMMV

Sorry for the hijack Chris, I'll move on.

 

[AH64ID]

I am not sure higher Cetane is all cool...

 

[jacknife]

I have been using Howes for 30 plus years . Trucking all over the US about 3.5 million miles worth and have never had my fuel gel . They will pay for the tow if you gel up. they wouldn't say it if it didn't work ! JMO

 

[jus2shy]

The problem seems to be no federally enforced standard for bio. Good bio is fine. Bad bio is a nightmare and its a crapshoot wich one you get. We had a local truckstop that manufactured it's own bio from fry grease. We had it all. Poor mileage, plugged filters, gelled fuel. It was partly responsible for them going under.

There is the ASTM standard for Bio, and most commercial/retail fueling stations go by this standard for blending fuel. ASTM D6751 covers the manufacture and properties of bio diesel (B100). However, there really is nothing to force any ma and pa operation to adhere to the ASTM standards. I like fueling at the more commercial fueling stations as they have liability and tend to follow specs to cover their posterior should their fuel ever be called to question.

The standard for B6 to B20 is ASTM D7467. ASTM D975 covers B0 to B5 blends.

 

[jhenderson]

There may be a federal standard, but if no one enforces it, the standard is worthless.

 

[56bty]

I would be sending a sample of that fuel away and getting it checked for water content. I live up in Canada and have ran #2 diesel with bio up here in -40degs and never had a problem with fuel gelling.
The only way your fuel is going to gel is if it has to much water content or paraffin wax in it for the cold temps.
Either way your fuel is crappy and I would be finding a different fuel supplier.

 

[Newsa]

Ram says that the solvent properties of bio might clog your filter. It let's gums and deposits from the fuel system get loosened up and flow through the system . Maybe the cold weather also contributed to filter clogging ? Maybe a mix of filter clogging and gelling ?